Palestino

The club was founded on 20 August 1920, when they participated in a colonial competition in Osorno. It was founded by a group of Palestinians; the name of the club reflects the origin in Chile's Palestinian community.

According to American historian Brenda Elsey, "Leaders of the Arab immigrant community who hoped to find a niche within popular culture for their organizations decided to participate in football once again in 1940s".

Beginnings in professional football

In 1952, the Football Federation of Chile set up the first professional leagues. Palestino was accepted into the Second Division, which they won to attain promotion to the Primera División.

In 1955, the club won their first national championship under the coaching of Argentine captain Roberto Coll.

1978−present

In 1978, the club won their second league title, this time the team was led by Chilean captain Elías Figueroa. In this campaign they won the Copa Chile to claim the league and cup double.

In 2004, the club became a registered company, but the change of status did not bring the expected improvement in results. In 2006 they finished in 18th place out of 20 teams, forcing them to face a play-off against Fernandez Vial to keep their place in the top flight. Ultimately the club would triumph thus preserving their spot within the Chilean first division.

The club made a surprising run to the final of the Clausura 2008 tournament, where they lost to champions Colo-Colo. Following this success, the club intended to float on the Chilean and Palestinian stock exchanges.

In January 2014, Palestino was fined the equivalent of $1,300 for using a new team jersey in the club's traditional colors, red, green and black, but with the number one in the squad numbers on the back shaped as the map of Palestine prior to the creation of Israel in 1948. Chilean Jewish groups complained about the political significance of this, with a formal complaint to their national Federation being made by Patrick Kiblisky, owner of first-division club Ñublense. The federation banned the club from using the map on the back of the shirts and imposed a fine on the club on the grounds that the Federation is opposed to "any form of political, religious, sexual, ethnic, social or racial discrimination". On its Facebook page, the club stated: "For us, free Palestine will always be historical Palestine, nothing less."