Club Atlético Belgrano

Belgrano

Full name	Club Atlético Belgrano
Nickname(s)	Los piratas, Los celestes
Founded	March 19, 1905
Ground	Estadio Gigante de Alberdi (Capacity: 28,000)
Chairman	Armando Pérez
Manager	Ricardo Zielinsky
League	Primera División
2011 Apertura	4th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Club Atlético Belgrano (mostly known simply as Belgrano or Belgrano de Córdoba) is a sport club from Córdoba, Argentina, best known for its football team, promoted to the Argentine first division at the end of the 2010/2011 season. The football team is very popular and it has one of the largest fan bases outside Buenos Aires. The club also has 18,000 members (season ticket holders) and last season had an average attendance of 35,000 fans.

History

Belgrano was founded in 1905 by a group of teenagers, having 14-year-old Arturo Orgaz as its first president. They named it in commemoration of the Argentine historical figure General Manuel Belgrano, and its colours were taken from the flag of Argentina, created by Belgrano himself.

The first photo of a Belgrano team, taken in 1906.

The team started playing in the second division of the Córdoba league in 1908, winning that championship and the following two, to reach the first division of the local league. Because their precarious field didn't comply with the first division requirements, Belgrano's fans and players used to borrow post, wire and fences from the nearby houses to erect the required protections. Nevertheless, they would return all the material to their owners, leaving things as they were before the match. This kind of borrowing without consent brought them the nickname of Piratas ("Pirates").

After the foundation of the Federación Cordobesa de Fútbol ("Córdoba Football Association"), Belgrano won the first championship of 1913. The following season gave birth to the Córdoba Derby between Belgrano and Talleres. The first round of the league faced both teams, but that first derby match would only last 4 minutes, for Talleres left the field after a doubtful goal given to Belgrano.

On March 17 of 1929, the grounds of the Gigante de Alberdi were finished, one of the first cement stadiums in Argentina. El Gigante would be later renovated in 1997 to meet the requirements of the first and second national divisions.

Within the Córdoba league, Belgrano won all the championships between 1929 and 1937, except for 1934, that was won by Talleres. Then, it won the 1940, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956 (Unión Cordobesa de Fútbol) and 1957.

Belgrano was able to play its way to the Nacional tournament of 1968, and reached the Argentine second division in 1986. The club finally reached first division in 1992, where it played until 1996. In 1998 the team was promoted again to first division, to be relegated after the 2001/02 season.

Beating Olimpo de Bahía Blanca at the 2005-06 Promoción, Belgrano returned to first division for the 2006-07 season. Belgrano were relegated to the second division after narrowly missing out on a Promotion play-off berth. Belgrano played another promotion series in 2011, against River Plate, which they won.

Uniform

Shirt worn during the 80s

Since the first match the club played in 1905 it has always worn the traditional blue shirt for home games.The away shirt did varied using black,yellow,red,white and gray.

• Home Kit: Blue shirt,black shorts with blue socks.
• Away Kit: White shirt, black shorts with blue socks.
• Third Kit: An all red attire.

Sports Brand

Years sponsors 1980 - 1985 Adidas 1985 - 1993 Topper 1993 - 1994 Hummel 1994 - 1995 Nanque 1996 - 2000 Le Coq Sportif 2000 - 2004 Mitre 2004 - 2005 TBS 2006|- Lotto 2006 - 2008 Signia 2008 - 2010 Topper 2010 - Lotto

Sponsor

Years Sponsors 1983-1985 Bracco Mercedes Benz 1986-1988 Georgalos 1988-1990 Luxsa 1990-1992 Yasta 1992-1994 Intercable 1994-1996 Esco 1996-1998 Maxima AFJP 1998-2000 Lotería de Córdoba 2000-2001 CTI Móvil 2002 TSU Cosmeticos 2002 India Seguros 2003-2009 Tersuave/Banco de Córdoba 2009-2010 Tersuave/Banco Julio 2010- Tersuave/Banco de Córdoba

Current squad

Current squad of Club Atlético Belgrano as of February 25, 2012 (edit)
Sources: Argentine Soccer

No. Position Player 1 ARG GK Juan Carlos Olave 2 URU DF Alejandro Lembo 4 ARG DF Hernán Grana 5 ARG MF Guillermo Farré 6 ARG DF Luciano Lollo 7 ARG FW César Pereyra 8 URU MF Ribair Rodríguez 9 ARG MF Lucas Parodi 10 COL FW Marco Pérez 11 ARG MF César Mansanelli 12 ARG FW Tobías Figueroa 13 ARG MF Gastón Álvarez 14 ARG FW Federico Almerares 15 ARG MF Lucas Pittinari 16 ARG DF Juan Leandro Quiroga 17 ARG DF Hugo Padilla

No. Position Player 18 ARG MF Iván Etevenaux 19 ARG MF Juan Carlos Maldonado 20 ARG GK Pablo Heredia 21 ARG DF Joan Paul Ramos 22 ARG FW Andrés Silvera 23 ARG DF Claudio Pérez 24 ARG DF Pier Barrios 25 ARG DF Gastón Turus 26 ARG MF Federico Mancuello 27 ARG FW Giuliano Bardín 28 ARG GK César Rigamonti 29 ARG DF Fernando González 32 ARG MF Esteban González 33 ARG MF Matías Giménez 34 ARG MF Emanuel Orquera

Manager: Ricardo Zielinski

Former players

Main category: Belgrano de Córdoba footballers

Honours

Regional

• Liga Cordobesa de Fútbol
  • Winners (31): 1913, 1914, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1940, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1984, 1985, 2003
• Segunda División Liga Cordobesa
  • Winners (3): 1908, 1909, 1910
• Unión Cordobesa de Fútbol
  • Winners (1): 1956
• Primera División ACF
  • Winners (2): 1984, 1985.
• Campeonato Provincial ACF
  • Winners (3): 1983, 1984, 1985
• Torneo Regional (Córdoba)
  • Winners (9): 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1985.
• Torneo del Interior (Córdoba)
  • Winners (1): 1985–86
• Torneo Regional de AFA
  • Winners (10): 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1986

External links

• Bergantin Pirata (fan site) (English)
• Soy Celeste (fan site) (Spanish)
• Portal Celeste (fan site) (Spanish)
• Belgrano Querido (fan site) (Spanish)
• Celeste Cordobés (fan site) (Spanish)