The club was founded on May 17, 1936, by workers of the
Ayuntamiento (
city hall) of the Guatemala City
municipality, hence the name
Municipal. They were first promoted to the top division, (then called
Liga Capitalina) in 1938. They finished in second place in their debut season, and have since remained in the top division.
Early domestic success (1940s–1960s) The team won its first
national league title in the 1942–43 tournament, the first ever official national league championship in Guatemala. They won three of the following six tournaments, the other three being won by
Tipografía Nacional, whom which they had their first known rivalry. Municipal were coached by Manuel Felipe Carrera, one of the original founders of the club, and whose name was later given to the stadium where the team currently practices. During the 1940s and early 1950s, Municipal's most iconic player was the
forward Carlos "Pepino" Toledo, who wore the red shirt throughout his career. He helped the club win their first four league titles, the last of them coming at the 1954–55 tournament (also the year Toledo retired). His career total of 129 goals remains the fourth-highest in club history. His national level talent called him to the
national team. Later, he became Municipal's coach. In 1948, Municipal won its first international honors at a friendly tournament held in
Havana, Cuba to commemorate the
Cuban Independence. That squad featured Toledo,
Mario Camposeco, and goalkeeper José Pedro "Tarzán" Segura. The end of the 1950s were a darker time for Municipal. Toledo had retired and
Comunicaciones had dethroned them at the top of the league, winning it three consecutive seasons. Municipal struggled through an eight-year title drought. They managed to break that drought with three championships in the 1960s (1963–64, 1965–66, and 1969–70), but Comunicaciones remained Guatemala's dominant team, winning seven titles in 14 years from 1956–72. The Comunicaciones-Municipal match emerged as a high-profile local derby, the biggest in the country. Another rivalry developed with a third Guatemala City club,
Aurora, which also won three titles during this time.
1970s: First international success In 1973, Uruguayan coach
Rubén Amorín arrived at Municipal. He managed a group of players that included defender
Alberto López Oliva,
midfielders
Benjamín Monterroso and José Emilio "Pepe" Mitrovich, and forward
Julio César Anderson. Anderson would become the club's highest-ever goalscorer, and help lead the team to its era of greatest glory. Municipal won league championships in both 1973 and 1974 (their first repeat titles). In 1974, the same year they were marching to a dominant repeat championship, they became the first Guatemalan club to win the
CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The
Rojos then went on to play the
Copa Interamericana against
Argentina's "red team",
Independiente. The first leg was played in Guatemala on November 24, 1974, and Independiente won, 1-0. However, Municipal surprised the continent by winning 1-0 in Argentina two days later. The hero was Argentine-born José Emilio "Pepe" Mitrovich in the second half. With both teams equal in points and
goal difference, the match went to extra time. No further goals were scored, and the match went into penalty kicks. Misses by Julio César "Morocho" Anderson and Benjamín "Mincho" Monterroso allowed Independiente to prevail, 4-2, but Municipal had earned continental respect.
1980s: Almost relegated Municipal's glory years continued with another league title in 1976, but their results began to fade. They finished 8th in 1979-80, and in 1981 they fell even further to 11th, forcing them into a relegation mini-league. Ironically, their safety was secured when old rivals
Tipografía Nacional were relegated instead. In 1982, the club came even closer to oblivion, finishing 9th in the regular season. That result put them back in the relegation mini-league, and this time they escaped only on
goal differential. Over the next several years, Municipal put some distance between themselves and the bottom of the table, but they would not seriously challenge for another title until 1987.
1980s and 1990s: Return to the top 1987 was the year that Argentine coach
Miguel Ángel Brindisi arrived in Guatemala City. A former midfield star who had won two Argentine titles and played a stint in Spain, he came to Municipal with just one year of managerial experience. His two years in Guatemala saw brilliant success. In 1987, they beat Aurora 4-2 on penalties to win a championship playoff and claimed another Guatemalan title since 1976. A year later, they repeated as champs for the first time since the early 1970s. Brindisi moved on to manage Barcelona SC in Ecuador, but successor Walter Ormeño kept the momentum by guiding the team to a third consecutive title. In 1990–91, Municipal came within one match of a fourth consecutive title, but lost 1–0 to Comunicaciones in the championship final. The team defeated Comunicaciones 2–1 in a championship playoff replay during the 1991–92 season, securing its fourth title in five years. Municipal reached the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in December 1993, where the team narrowly lost to Costa Rican champions Saprissa. During the same period, it won the Guatemalan championship, marking its fifth title in seven seasons.
2000s: A Decade of Success In 2000, after the league's competition format was changed to two yearly tournaments on the
Apertura and Clausura fashion, Municipal won the title again after Comunicaciones had set a record by winning the previous four; Municipal surpassed that record in 2006 when they won the 2006
Apertura tournament, their fifth consecutive title, under coach
Enzo Trossero. They also added third and fourth Central American titles by winning the
Copa Interclubes UNCAF in 2001 and 2004. ==Colours and crest==