Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
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| Full name | Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield | |||
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| Nickname(s) | El Fortín (The Fort) | |||
| Founded | January 1, 1910 | |||
| Ground | Estadio José Amalfitani (Capacity: 49,540) |
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| Chairman |  Fernando Raffaini |
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| Manager | Ricardo Gareca |
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| League | Argentine Primera División | |||
| Clausura 2009 | 1st (champion) | |||
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Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield is an Argentine sports club best known for its football team, based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires.
The Club is also frequently referred to as The Fort. Its home stadium is the Estadio Jose Amalfitani, in the borough of Liniers. Vélez have won the Primera División Argentina 7 times and have also won 5 international cups.
Vélez was founded in 1910 in the Floresta neighborhood, next to the Ferrocarril del Oeste railroad station Vélez Sarsfield, named after the 1869 drafter of the Argentine Civil Code Dalmacio Vélez Sarsfield (since 1944 the station has been renamed Floresta). The club first participated in the amateur first division league in 1919 (runners-up), and has been a professional first division fixture since the advent of professionalism in 1931. Relegated only once, in 1941, it returned to the first division in 1943. The club clinched their first professional title in the year 1968, after beating River Plate and Racing. After that title, the club spent 25 years without silverware until 1993 when the won the Clausura Tournament. The nineties were the most successful period in Velez's history. In that spell, they won domestic cups and international cups. Their international summit was when they defeated A.C. Milan in the Copa Intercontinental in Japan in the year 1994.
Vélez clinched their last Argentine title in the year 2009 when they won the Clausura tournament.
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[edit] History
Vélez foundation dates back to 1910. It was on a rainy January 1 when three men sheltered from a summer storm in Vélez Sársfield Railway Station (nowadays Floresta station), from the Buenos Aires Western Railway. The three men were Julio Guglielmone, Martin Portillo and Nicolas Martín Moreno. They decided to create a new football club with the name and planned to join a local league.
After the storm subsided, the three headed for Marin Moreno's house, a stone's throw from the railway station, the last call of the Buenos Aires Western Railway, which connected downtown with the 'far west'.
Together, the friends established the Club Atlético Argentinos de Vélez Sarsfield (Argentines of Vélez Sarsfield Athletic Club and appointed Luis Barredo as their first chairman. Their first home was the piece of land located at United Provincies St. (Provincias Unidas, currently Juan Bautista Alberdi), Convention St. (currently José Bonifacio), and Mariano Acosta and Ensenada. During its infancy, the team sported white shirts but soon changed to navy blue shirts with white shorts.
In late 1912, the board decided to rent a new field, located in the neighbourhood of Mataderos, at Tapalque St., between Escalada and Chascomus St. A wind mill provided water for the dressing rooms.
On May 14, 1914, owing to the great amount of Italian immigrants who were members of the club, the kit was changed again. The new colours adopted were green, red and white, the colours of the Italian flag. From then on the club played in green, red and white stripes.
The club was finally elected to the Argentine League in 1918. The club showed promise and played well in their first season, clinching 3rd position, ending the season just 4 points short of River Plate and Defensores de Belgrano. On their league debut, Vélez defeated Independiente 2-1. In 1921 the Argentina national football team selected the first Vélez player, José Bofia, who made his debut against Chile in Valparaiso, a game which Argentina won 4-1.
In 1928, Vélez Sarsfield played the first night game in Argentine football history at their new stadium in neighboring Villa Luro. This stadium would be nicknamed El Fortín (The Small Fort) by the press and is still often referred to that way. The nickname is also used in reference to the club.
In the 1930, Vélez managed to be a powerful force playing at home but struggled away from El Fortín. In 1938 the kit changed to its present colors when a sports-equipment merchant offered the club white jerseys with a blue V on the chest at a discount because a rugby club had not claimed them. The new design has remained unchanged to the present day, forgetting the red, white and green shirt used in the first years of the club.
Vélez clinched their first national championship on the 1968 Nacional. Vélez would have played their first international tournamente in the Copa Libertadores 1969, however they refused to play for economic reasons.
The 1990s was undoubtedly the most successful era in Vélez's history. In the space of a few years, they clinched most of their silverware, having won 9 titles, both domestic and international. Many consider their successes was largely down to coach Carlos Bianchi. As a player he had been part of the Vélez team that obtained its first title in 1968, and Bianchi was Argentine Top scorer in 1970, 1971, and then again during his second tenure in 1981. As team coach, Bianchi drove Vélez to three titles (Clausura 1993, Apertura 1995, Clausura 1996) the 1994 Copa Libertadores, Copa Intercontinental 1994 and Supercopa Sudamericana 1996. Their most notable success to date came in 1994, when Vélez clinched the Copa Intercontinental defeating AC Milan by 2-0. Roberto Trotta (PK) and Omar Asad scored for Vélez. The Paraguayan goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert was the symbol of Vélez throughout those successful years.
During the 2000s Vélez won the 2005 Clausura and the 2009 Clausura. For the 3rd game of the Apertura 2009 Vélez gave 5 players to the different South American national teams for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (Sebastián Domínguez, Nicolás Otamendi and Emiliano Papa for Argentina, Hernán Rodrigo López for Uruguay and Waldo Ponce for Chile). Still, Vélez defeated Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata on their league game.
[edit] Support
Velez are one of the most popular teams in Argentina and their fans are usually known as 'Los Fortineros'. Their fanbase increased tremendously in the nineties, following their great success.
Velez's fanbase is largely drawn from the west of Buenos Aires and the surroundings of Liniers, although Fortineros can be found in Moreno and Merlo as well. Home matches are traditionally well attended, attracting tens of thousands every week.
[edit] Rivals
Vélez Sársfield has no direct rival. Ferrocarril Oeste, based in the neighbourhood of Caballito, is sometimes said to be Velez's historical rival. However, this rivalry has faded out mainly because the teams play in different divisions. They have not faced each other since 2000, when Velez beat Ferrocarril Oeste away 1-0.
[edit] Stadium
The José Amalfitani stadium (named after the club's president for over 30 years) holds 49,747 people, although it doesn't provide seating for all of them. It is also frequently used for concerts and Argentina rugby team matches. The stadium, often referred to as El Fortín, was built in 1947 and later remodeled in preparation for the 1978 FIFA World Cup.
The stadium is located on 9200 Juan B. Justo avenue, in the Liniers neighborhood, a short walk from the Liniers train station.
[edit] Titles
National
- First Division
- Nacional: 1968
- Torneo Apertura: 1995
- Torneo Clausura: 1993, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2009
- Second Division
- Ascenso: 1943
International
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- Copa Libertadores: 1994
- Intercontinental Cup: 1994
- Copa Interamericana: 1994 (played in 1996)
- Supercopa Sudamericana: 1996
- Recopa Sudamericana: 1997
[edit] Records
Players in bold are still active with the club.
[edit] Most appearances
| Nº | Player | Nationality | Appearances |
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| 1 | Pedro Larraquy | Argentina |
455 |
| 2 | Ángel Allegri | Argentina |
384 |
| 3 | Raúl Cardozo | Argentina |
353 |
| 4 | Carlos Bianchi | Argentina |
324 |
| 5 | Luis Gallo | Argentina |
317 |
| 6 | Armando Ovide | Argentina |
310 |
| 7 | Juan Carlos Bujedo | Argentina |
288 |
| 8 | Fabián Cubero | Argentina |
281 |
| 9 | Mario Lucca | Argentina |
281 |
| 10 | José Luis Chilavert |  Paraguay |
270 |
| 11 | Christian Bassedas | Argentina |
267 |
[edit] Top Goalscorers
| Nº | Player | Nationality | Goals |
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| 1 | Carlos Bianchi | Argentina |
206 |
| 2 | Juan José Ferraro | Argentina |
111 |
| 3 | Norberto Conde | Argentina |
108 |
| 4 | Agustín Cosso | Argentina |
95 |
| 5 | Pedro Larraquy | Argentina |
82 |
| 6 | Juan Carlos Carone | Argentina |
76 |
| 7 | Miguel Ángel Benito | Argentina |
74 |
| 8 | Patricio Camps | Argentina |
70 |
| 9 | Daniel Willington | Argentina |
65 |
| 10 | Omar Pedro Roldán | Argentina |
60 |
| 11 | Omar Whebe | Argentina |
56 |
[edit] Top scorers in a League
- Agustín Cosso: 1935
- Norberto Conde: 1954
- Juan Carlos Carone: 1965
- Omar Wehbe: Nacional 1968
- Carlos Bianchi: Nacional 1970, Metropolitano 1971, Nacional 1981
- Jorge Comas: Nacional 1985
- Esteban González: Campeonato 1990-91
- José Oscar Flores: Torneo Clausura 1995
- Rolando Zárate: Torneo Clausura 2004
- Mauro Zárate: Torneo Apertura 2006
[edit] Chairmen
- 1910-1913: Luis Barredo
- 1913-1914: Plácido Marín
- 1914: Roberto Piano
- 1914-1917: Eduardo Ferro
- 1917-1919: Antonio Marín Moreno
- 1919: Eduardo Ferro
- 1920-1921: Antonio Marín Moreno
- 1921-1923: Esteban Aversano
- 1923-1925: José Amalfitani
- 1925-1932: Enrique D'Elías
- 1932-1935: Nicolás Marín Moreno
- 1936-1937: Juan C. Sustaita
- 1937: Narciso Barrio
- 1938-1939: Nicolás Marín Moreno
- 1937-1938: Inocencio Bienati
- 1940-1941: Roberto L. Orstein
- 1941-1969: José Amalfitani
- 1969: Leonardo Pareja
- 1969-1970: Domingo M. Trimarco
- 1970-1976: José R. Feijóo
- 1976: Domingo M. Trimarco
- 1976-1979: Osvaldo Guerrero
- 1979-1985: Ricardo Petracca
- 1985-1991: Francisco Antonio Pérez
- 1991-1993: Ricardo Petracca
- 1993-1996: Héctor Gaudio
- 1996-1999: Raúl Gámez
- 1999-2002: Carlos E. Mousseaud
- 2002-2005: Raúl Gámez
- 2005-2008: Álvaro Balestrini
- 2008- : Fernando Raffaini
[edit] Players
[edit] Current squad
Current squad for Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield as of 29 November 2009 ()
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Manager: Ricardo Gareca
[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] Notable players
- To appear in this section a player must have either played at least 100 games for the club, have made a notable contribution to the team such set a club record and/or have played for their national team.
[edit] 1930s - 1980s
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[edit] 1980s - 1990s
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[edit] 1990s - 2000s
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[edit] 2000s - 2010s
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[edit] Other sports
Vélez has both men's and women's volleyball teams in Argentina's first division. It also competes in basketball, field hockey, and other disciplines.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- (Spanish) Official Site
- (Spanish) VelezSarsfield.NET
- (Spanish) El Portal Fortinero
- (Spanish) La V Azulada
- Velez Sarsfield in BDFA
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