Racing Club de Avellaneda
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| Full name | Racing Club de Avellaneda | ||
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| Nickname(s) | La Academia (The Academy) | ||
| Founded | 25 March 1903 | ||
| Ground | Estadio Presidente Perón, Avellaneda, Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina (capacity: 53,389) |
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| President | Gaston Cogorno | ||
| Manager | Luis Zubeldía | ||
| League | Primera División | ||
| 2012 Inicial | 5th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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Racing Club is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a suburb of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered one of the "big five" clubs of Argentine football. Racing currently plays in the Primera División, the top division of the Argentine league system.
Racing has won the Primera División 16 times (with a record 7 consecutive championships during the amateur era), apart from winning many domestic competitions such as five Copa Ibarguren, four Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires and one Copa de Honor Adrián Beccar Varela. Due to those achievements the team was nicknamed "La Academia" ("The Academy of Football") which still identifies the club and its supporters.[1]
On the international stage, the club won in 1967 both the Copa Libertadores, the first edition of the Supercopa Sudamericana in 1988 and the Intercontinental Cup, therefore being the second Argentine team to become South American champion, and the first to become club world champion. During the amateur era Racing also won two Copa Aldao and one Copa de Honor Cousenier, both tournaments organized by AFA and AUF together.[2]
The first team plays its home games in the Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón, nicknamed El Cilindro de Avellaneda (in English: "The Cylinder of Avellaneda"). Other sports practised at Racing are basketball, boxing, martial arts, roller skating, tennis and volleyball.
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History [edit]
Origins [edit]
On 12 May 1901, a group of students of Colegio Nacional Central founded the Football Club Barracas al Sud, being Pedro Werner its first president. Less than one year after the establishment, an internal conflict about what color of jersey should be adopted caused a group of members to found Colorados Unidos, due to wanting to use a red jersey uniform. This division did not last too long so on March 1903 both clubs agreed to merge into a new club under the same name.
The first uniform worn by Racing was completely white, until on 25 July 1904 it was decided to use a yellow and black vertical striped jersey. Nevertheless the New Jersey only lasted a week, being replaced by a design proposed by president Luis Carbone. The jersey had four squares, two lightblue and two pink.
This lightblue and pink design would be worn until 1910, when one of Racing founding members, Germán Vidaillac, displayed a French sports magazine where a team named "Racing Paris" was portraited. The suggestion was well received and the name "Racing Club" was immediately approved. Unlike its French homonym, Racing Club would not adopt the light blue and white colors from its French homonym until 1910, in commemoration of the May Revolution 100th anniversary due to being the first football team formed by criollos.
The first years in football [edit]
Racing affiliated to Argentine Football Association in 1905 to play at the lower divisions of Argentine football league system. In 1908 Racing played against River Plate to promote to Primera División. River won 2-1 but Racing asked the Association to annul the match due to River fans had jumped to the field several times during the game. The request was accepted therefore a new match had to be played. River finally thrashed Racing by 7-1 promoting to Primera División.
One year later Racing played another playoff for a place at Primera División, but lost to Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires. The team finally would promoted to Primera in 1910, winning the final over Boca Juniors with an attendance of 4,000. The line-up that won the promotion was: Fernández; Seminario, Allan; Winne, Juan Ohaco, Angel Betular; Oyarzábal, Ohaco, Firpo, Frers and Juan Perinetti. Frers and Ohaco were the scorers for Racing. That same year the squad also changed its colors to the definitive light blue and white that have remained since.
"The Academy" [edit]
The first game in Primera was played on 7 May 1911 against San Isidro, which ended 1-1. The first goal in Primera was scored by Carlos Scarone. The first victory of Racing was on 18 June 1911, a 2-1 over Quilmes. That season Racing also achieved a great victory over legendary team Alumni by 3-1 although the team from Belgrano would later defeat Racing by 5-1 two months later. That was the last time both teams played against because Alumni dissolved at the end of the championship.[3]
Racing won its first title in 1913, defeating San Isidro at the final in a playoff series after finishing at the first place along with that team and River Plate. Racing first eliminated River by 3-0 and then played the final against San Isidro, which defeated by 2-0 (two goals by Ohaco). Some of the most notable players were Ohaco, Marcovecchio, Perinetti and Ochoa. In 1913 Racing won its second title, with a mark of 42 goals scores and only 7 received in 12 games. The runner-up was Estudiantes de Buenos Aires.
In 1915 Racing won its 3rd consecutive title, defeating San Isidro 1-0 at a championship playoff as they had played two years before. The game was played at arch-rival Independiente stadium and Racing line-up was: Arduino; Presta, Reyes; Betular, Olazar, Pepe; Canavery, Ohaco, Marcovecchio (who scored the only goal), Hospital, Juan Perinetti. Racing also achieved an outstanding record of 95 goals scored with only 5 received in 24 matches played.[4]
Racing won the following title, the 1916 championship, totalizing 34 points in 21 games with 39 goals converted and 10 received at the end of the tournament. Platense was the runner-up with 30 points. The 5th consecutive title was in 1917 where Racing totalized 35 points, being River Plate the runner-up with 30 points. The team scored the mark of 58 goals with only 4 received in 20 fixtures. The 6th. title found Racing unbeaten after 19 games played, with 49 goals scored and 9 received.
By 1919 Racing moved to dissident league "Asociación Amateurs de Football", where the team won the tournament unbeaten again. Racing only disputed 23 fixtures, winning its 7th. consecutive title with 26 points, 43 goals scored and 10 received. The runner-up was Vélez Sarsfield which totalized 20 points.[5] River Plate finished the extraordinary sequence of Racing's 7 titles, when winning the 1920 championship. Racing was the runner-up only 2 points to River. Racing remained in the Asociación Amateurs league, where the team won the 1921 title, disputing 38 matches and totalizing 66 points. Racing also scored 73 goals receiving 16.
The last title won by Racing during the amateur era was in 1925, with 39 points in 24 fixtures played. San Lorenzo was the runner-up. During its first 22 years of existence, Racing won 9 Primera División championships (seven of them consecutively, which is still a record in Argentine football). Due to those extraordinary campaigns and its style of playing, the squad was nicknamed "The Academy of Argentine football", which has been adopted by its supporters as a mark of identity, still used nowadays.
Apart from Primera División titles, Racing also won the Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires 4 times (1912, 1913, 1915 and 1917), the Copa Ibarguren 5 times (1913, 1914, 1916, 1917 and 1918). The international titles came with Copa de Honor Cousenier in 1913 and Copa Aldao in 1917 and 1918. Some of the most notable players of the amateur era were Alberto Ohaco, Antonio Marcovecchio, Pedro Ochoa (known as "The King of dribbling" -"El Rey de la gambeta" in Spanish and a very close friend to Carlos Gardel who wrote the tango "Patadura" honoring Ochoa in 1928) and Natalio Perinetti.
The 1930-1940s [edit]
During those years Racing won the Copa Beccar Varela in 1932 and the Copa de Competencia one year later. The team did not win any domestic championship, being its best performances the third position in 1932, 1933 and 1936. Evaristo Barrera was the top scorer with 34 goals in 1934 and 32 in 1936.
Some remarkable players of the time were Fernando Paternoster, Enrique Chueco García and Vicente Zito and Barrera himself.
During those years Racing did not win any title, being its best positions a 5th. place in 1940 and two 4th. places in 1946 and 1948. During the 1948 tournament Racing was leading followed by Independiente and River Plate until a strike happened. Most of the dissident players went to play outside Argentina and they had to be replaced by players from the youth divisions. Moreover, points awarded to Racing were deducted from the matches against Banfield and San Lorenzo; as a result, Racing lost the chances to be champion and arch-rival Independiente would finally obtain the title.
In 1945 Racing won the Copa de Competencia Británica defeating Boca Juniors by 4-1 at the final. Some remarkable players for Racing were José Salomón, Chilean Sergio Livingstone and Paraguayan striker Delfín Benítez Cáceres.
The tri-championship [edit]
In 1949, Racing won its first Primera División championship in the professional era, with Llamil Simes as the top scorer of the tournament. Racing also won the 1950 title with Simes as scorer again with 20 goals. That same year Racing inaugurated its stadium, named "Presidente Perón", defeating Vélez Sarsfield 1-0
In 1951 Racing obtained its third consecutive title, playing two playoff matches against Banfield, which ended 0-0 and 1-0 (goal by Mario Boyé). With this victory Racing became the first tri-champion in the professional era of Argentine football. The coach was Guillermo Stábile.
In 1952 Racing finished 2nd after River Plate. The team did not won the title although Racing received the least goals during the championship. After another good performance in 1953 when the team finished 3rd, Racing placed 10th in 1954, far from champion Boca Juniors.
In 1955 a sort of amnesty allowed dissident players to return to Argentine football to play for any team. Racing won its 13th title in 1958, being coached by José Della Torre. In 1959 the team finished 2nd.
During those years Racing Club had many notable players that made their contribution to the successful campaigns. Some of them were Norberto Mendez, Rubén Bravo, Llamil Simes, Mario Boyé, Alberto Rastelli, Pedro Dellacha, Ezra Sued, Manuel Blanco, Ernesto Gutiérrez, Pedro Manfredini, Arnaldo Balay, Juan José Pizzuti, Rubén Héctor Sosa and Oreste Corbatta.
International success [edit]
Racing finished 4th in 1960 being the most scorer team with 72 goals. During this tournament Racing also achieved its largest victory in Primera División, an 11-3 against Rosario Central.[6]
In 1961 Racing won another championship totalizing 47 points, being coached by Saúl Ongaro. The team was also the highest scorer with 68 goals. The next year, Racing finished 9th and was also eliminated from the Copa Libertadores de América in the first stage.
In 1964 Santiago Sacol became President of the institution. Racing won a new title in 1966 totalizing 61 points and being the highest scorer team with 70 goals. Racing also received the least goals with only 24. Moreover, the team also remained 39 matches undefeated, a record by then although Boca Juniors later would break that mark. Racing was coached by Juan José Pizzuti.
In the 1967 Torneo Metropolitano Racing reached the final where the squad lost to Estudiantes de La Plata by 3-0. That same year Racing won the 1967 Copa Libertadores after beating Uruguayan team Nacional 2-1 at the final. Norberto Raffo was the top scorer with 13 goals. Racing was the first Argentine team to win the Copa Libertadores.
At the end of the year Racing won the Intercontinental Cup defeating Celtic Glasgow by playoff. The first match had been played at Glasgow where Racing was beaten 1-0 while La Academia won by 2-1 the second game in Buenos Aires. The playoff was played at Montevideo where Racing achieved its second continental championship winning 1-0 with a goal scored by Juan Carlos Cárdenas.
Some notable players of that time were goalkeeper Agustín Mario Cejas, Rubén Sosa, Roberto Perfumo, Alfio Basile, Norberto Raffo, Rubén Díaz, Nelson Chabay, Jaime Martinoli, Juan Carlos Cárdenas, Juan Carlos Rulli, Juan José Rodríguez, Humberto Maschio, Federico Sacchi and Oreste Corbatta, who is regarded as the best Argentine right winger of all-time.
Relegation [edit]
During the 1970s Racing did not win any title, although the team finished 2nd to San Lorenzo in 1972 Metropolitano, with 43 points in 34 matches. That year debuted Ubaldo Fillol, who some regard as the best Argentine goalkeeper ever. Fillol set a record of 6 penalty-shoot stopped in the same season. From 1974 and 1978 Racing made poor campaigns, being near to be relegated in 1976 when the team finished penultimate (San Telmo was finally relegated).[7]
In 1981 the stadium was closed due to its poor conditions of maintenance. Two years after, Racing was relegated to the Primera B. The first year at the second division, Racing finished second to champion Deportivo Español so the team had to play a promotion playoff, where Racing elimininated Deportivo Morón and Lanús but lost to Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) at the finals (1-3 and 2-4).
One year later Racing would achieve its main objective since the team was relegated. After two seasons in the second division, Racing returned to the top division in 1985 when disputing a playoff for the second promotion place against Atlanta; Racing won 4-0 the first game and the second match finished 1-1[8] (both played at River Plate) therefore the Avellaneda team returned to Primera. The coach was Alfio Basile and creative midfielder Miguel Colombatti its most notable player.
Return to international success [edit]
Racing won its third international competition in 1988, when the team obtained the first edition of the 1988 Supercopa Sudamericana, defeating Brazilian team Cruzeiro at the finals, with Alfio Basile still as coach. That same year Racing won the Supercopa Interamericana (a tournament than disofficialized) beating Sportivo Herediano from Costa Rica by 3-0. Racing also returned to Copa Libertadores in 1989 being eliminated by Atlético Nacional.
Racing also played another Supercopa final being defeated by Cruzeiro 4-0 in Belo Horizonte. Racing won the 2nd match 1-0 but the cup was awarded to the Brazilian team by goal average. Racing was near to the title in the 1993 Apertura, where finishing 2nd to champion River Plate. Some notable players of that era were Ubaldo Fillol, Gustavo Costas, Néstor Fabbri, José "Toti" Iglesias, Rubén Paz ("Best South American player" winning-award in 1988), Claudio García, Claudio López and Fernando Quiroz.
Bankruptcy and resurrection [edit]
Racing faced economical problems that erupted in 1998, when the club declared bankruptcy attending to a request of president Daniel Lalín. In 2000, Racing switched management to the Blanquiceleste S.A corporation. Despite the financial crisis that ruined the club, Racing won the 2001 Apertura title, 35 years after its last local championship in 1966. The team was coached by Reinaldo Merlo who became an idol due to this achievement. Maximiliano Estévez, Gabriel Loeschbor, Claudio Ubeda, Adrián Bastía and Rafael Maceratesi were part of that team.
During the successive tournaments, Racing made poor campaigns with few exceptions (such as 2005 Clausura when the squad finished 3rd.). In 2008, the club switched back management to become a civic association again. On 21 December, Rodolfo Molina was elected as new president of the club so during the period when the club was managed by the S.A. its members were not allowed to vote.
Since then, Racing was coached by Ricardo Caruso Lombardi and then by Miguel Angel Russo. During this era the club hired talented playmaker Giovanni Moreno and striker Gabriel Hauche, although the team did not a good performance that season. The irregular campaigns forced the left of Russo, replaced by Diego Simeone.
In 2012, Racing reached the final of the 2012 Copa Argentina Final although the squad lost to Boca Juniors by 2-1.[9]
Stadium [edit]
Racing Club plays its home games at "Estadio Presidente Perón" (named in honor of former President of Argentina Juan Domingo Perón), popularly known as El Cilindro de Avellaneda" and the "inodoro de Avellaneda" due to its cylindrical shape. It was opened in 1950 and restructured in 1997.[10]
The measures of the field are 105 x 70 mts. The Racing stadium is the 2nd. largest after River Plate stadium. At the beginning the venue could host a capacity of 120,000 but subsequent restructurings reduced its capacity to 64.161.[11]
Players [edit]
Current squad [edit]
Current squad of Racing Club de Avellaneda as of February 7, 2013 ()
Sources: Official website
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Manager: Luis Zubeldía
Player records [edit]
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1 There are no records about amateur years (1903-30) so this rank only consists of records from 1931 to date.[12]
Primera Division topscorers [edit]
Notable former players [edit]
The following list contains some of the most notable players of Racing who have played at least 50 games for the club:[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
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Gallery [edit]
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Alberto Ohaco, the all-time topscorer.
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Pedro Ochoa, also known as "the king of the dribbing".
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Natalio Perinetti was a notably skilled right-winger.
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Norberto Méndez won 3 titles in 8 years with Racing.
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Pedro Dellacha was an acclaimed centre-back.
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Humberto Maschio made a successful campaign in Italy also.
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Juan José Pizzuti, player and coach during the international success.
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Alfio Basile, 3 titles as player and 4 runs as coach.
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Oreste Corbatta is considered the best right-winger ever.
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Roberto Perfumo played 9 years for Racing winning 3 titles.
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Juan Carlos Cárdenas played 321 matches for the club.
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Agustín Cejas made the most appearances with 334 matches.
Coaches since 2000 [edit]
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Kit evolution [edit]
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(1) This model was worn again in 1973, although just for one match.
(2) A new version of this model was the away jersey in the 2005–06 season, paying tribute to the historic kit.
Honours [edit]
- Domestic
- Primera División (16)
- Copa Ibarguren (5)
- Copa Adrián Beccar Varela (1)
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- 1932 [22]
- Copa de Competencia Liga Argentina de Football (1)
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- 1933 [23]
- Copa de Competencia Británica George VI (1)
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- 1945 [24]
- Primera B (1)
- International
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- 1913
- Copa Aldao (2)
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- 1917, 1918
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- 1988
References [edit]
- ^ Los apodos de los clubes en Fútbol de Argentina, 21 September 2008
- ^ a b Racing titles at official website
- ^ Argentina 1911 at RSSSF
- ^ Argentina 1915 at RSSSF
- ^ Argentina 1919 at RSSSF
- ^ http://www.universofutbol.com.ar/plantillas/informes/records.php
- ^ Argentina 1976 at RSSSF
- ^ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/arg2-85.html
- ^ Historia de Racing at official website
- ^ "Estadio Presidente Perón". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- ^ Características del estadio at Club's official website.
- ^ "More games played" at Claudio Ubeda webpage
- ^ Goleadores de torneos de Argentina at RSSSF.
- ^ - Idolos de Racing Club. - Racing Club Sitio Oficial..
- ^ - Idolos en la Historia de Racing Club - official site.
- ^ - Idolos del Racing Club de Avellaneda - racingclubweb..
- ^ - Jugadores legendarios - FIFA.com
- ^ "Bedoya, el ídolo del Racing Campeón" at Clarín
- ^ Bedoya y el gol del campeonato at Diario Olé
- ^ "Los ídolos colombianos de Racing Club" at Futboltotal
- ^ "Murió un ídolo: El Marqués Rubén Sosa", Clarín, 14 September 2008
- ^ Copa Beccar Varela at RSSSF
- ^ 1933 Copa de Competencia at RSSSF
- ^ Copa de Competencia Británica at RSSSF
External links [edit]
- Official website (Spanish)
- Racing blog (Spanish)
- Solo Racing (Spanish)
- La Comu de Racing (Spanish)
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Racing Club de Avellaneda |
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Coordinates: 34°40′03″S 58°22′07″W / 34.66750°S 58.36861°W
