The club was founded on 1 March 1958 as
Club Deportivo Independiente by Jose Terán, a football fan from
Sangolquí, along with a group of friends including José Díaz, Jorge Atapuma, the
Negro Sanguano, Tomás Zaldumbide and
Marino Guayasamín. In 1977, two years after the death of José Terán, the club's name was changed to
Club Social y Deportivo Independiente José Terán in honor of its founder. The name and initial club colors (red and white) were inspired by Argentine club
Club Atlético Independiente. In 1995 the club reached the
Segunda Categoría (3rd Division) for the second time. After winning the Segunda Categoría in 2007, the club changed its name to
Independiente del Valle and adopted the current colors (blue and black).
Los Negriazules achieved promotion to the
Serie A for the first time ever in the 2010 season, after winning the
2009 Serie B. In the
2013 Serie A, the club finished runners-up on the aggregate table. Independiente del Valle made its first international participation that same year, in the
2013 Copa Sudamericana, where it was eliminated in the second stage by
Universidad de Chile after having beat Venezuelan club
Deportivo Anzoategui in the first stage. The next year, the Ecuadorian club made its first Copa Libertadores participation and second overall international participation, with the
2014 edition. In that edition, the club was eliminated after placing 3rd in their group. In July 2014, the club officially changed its name from "Independiente del Valle" to
Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle. Although the club had changed its name already, it had never been made official by the
Ecuadorian Football Federation until that point. Independiente del Valle unexpectedly reached the finals of the
2016 Copa Libertadores with incredible odds, being compared to
Leicester City's
Premier League title that same year. The club subsequently faced Argentina's giant
Boca Juniors in the semi-final, defeating them 5–3 on aggregate, including a 3–2 victory at the famous
La Bombonera stadium. These feats earned the team the nickname
"matagigantes" (killer of giants). In the
finals, the Ecuadorians faced
Colombia's
Atlético Nacional. In the first leg played at
Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa on 20 July, the match finished 1–1. Independiente's fairy tale story came to a conclusion after a 1–0 loss in the second leg with the series ending 2–1 in favor of the Colombians. In November 2019, Independiente del Valle played their first
Copa Sudamericana final, and only its second ever CONMEBOL final, where they defeated
Club Atlético Colón 3–1 in
Asunción. This was the Ecuadorian club's first historic title. It was considered a major upset because Colón had a richer history and a much bigger fanbase, with around 40,000 fans at the stadium versus only 500 Ecuadorians. In February 2020, the club lost the
2020 Recopa Sudamericana against the champion of the
2019 Copa Libertadores,
Flamengo. The first leg in Quito was a 2–2 draw, but in the second leg at
Estadio Maracana, Flamengo won 3–0 and became the champion with a 5–2 aggregate score. == Performance in CONMEBOL competitions ==