Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield

Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield () is an Argentine sports club based in Liniers, Buenos Aires. Its football team plays in Primera División, the highest level of the Argentine league system. Founded in 1910, the club has spent most of its history in the top tier of Argentine football. The club's home ground is the 49,540-capacity José Amalfitani Stadium, where they have played since 1951.

One of the most successful clubs in Argentine football, Vélez Sarsfield had their first major success in 1968, when they won the league championship, and subsequently made regular seasons between 1970 and 1990. The club have enjoyed their greatest period of success in the past two decades, winning 15 trophies since 1993. Domestically, Vélez have won ten Primera División titles, while in continental competitions have won five international cups (including both the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup). It is one of eight teams to have won CONMEBOL's treble.

Vélez Sarsfield's regular kit colours are white shirts and shorts, with some details in blue. The club's crest has been changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club and modernise its image. It is one of the most supported clubs in Argentina. Apart from football the club takes part in other sports such as athletics, basketball, gymnastics, handball, field hockey, martial arts, tennis, roller skating and volleyball.

History

The beginning

Vélez foundation dates back to the last days of 1909, when rain interrupted an informal football game played near the Vélez Sarsfield railway station of the Buenos Aires Western Railway, which served the barrio of Vélez Sársfield, named after jurist Dalmacio Vélez Sarsfield. (Vélez Sarsfield station is in Floresta barrio and was renamed Floresta station in 1944.) Three of the young men whose game got interrupted, Julio Guglielmone, Martín Portillo and Nicolás Marín Moreno, sheltered in the station and discussed the possibility of founding a football club to practice the sport more seriously. The club was officially founded on 1 January 1910, in Marín Moreno's house. The founders decided to call the new club ''Club Atlético Argentinos de Vélez Sarsfield'' (in English: Argentines of Vélez Sarsfield Athletic Club), and appointed Luis Barredo as their first chairman. They also decided to form two teams (one for the Argentine third division and the other for the fourth) and chose to sport white shirts, that were easy to obtain for everyone. In 1912, however, the directive board decided to change the uniform to navy blue shirts and white shorts. Vélez Sarsfield first home ground was a piece of land located between the streets of Ensenada, Provincias Unidas (currently Juan Bautista Alberdi), Mariano Acosta and Convención (currently José Bonifacio). This block is in Floresta barrio, where it meets Vélez Sársfield and Parque Avellaneda barrios.

First steps in the league

Vélez affiliated to the Argentine Football Association (AFA) in 1912. Nonetheless, on 5 September, the board decided to disaffiliate the club from AFA and affiliate it to the recently created Federación Argentina de Football (FAF), citing as reason AFA's detrimental attitude towards the club. In that same year, the team was strengthened by the joining of some former players of San Lorenzo de Almagro, who had left that club due to its internal problems. With this help, Vélez reached the Federation's second division championship final on their first year of affiliation, losing 2–4 to Tigre in GEBA's ground.

On 7 February 1913, 10 new people were accepted as members of the club. Among them was José Amalfitani, who later would go on to be club president for 30 years. Subsequently, on 23 November, the board of directors decided to shorten the club's name, eliminating the term "''Argentinos''" and leaving the club with its current name: "Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield". The board also decided that players from the different teams had to contribute an initial membership fee of $1 Argentine pesos, plus a monthly $0.50 of the same coin. In that year, Vélez rented a terrain in the neighbourhood of Mataderos known as ''Quinta de Figallo'', located in the Tapalqué street, between Escalada and Chascomús streets. This new ground had the advantage that a wind mill could provide water for the dressing rooms. The club's stay in Mataderos was short however, as they moved again in 1914, this time to the neighbourhood of Villa Luro. There, they bought a terrain between the streets of Bacacay, Víctor Hugo and Cortina, and the Maldonado Stream (parallel to what today is the Gaona avenue).

In 1915, Vélez re-affiliated to AFA after the disappearance of FAF. One year later, on 14 March, and owing to the great number of members of the club who were Italian immigrants, 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. During the decade, the team fought to achieve promotion to Primera División, the Association's first division. On 2 December 1917, Vélez lost the Intermedia (second division) final to Defensores de Belgrano in GEBA's ground. The club regularly took part in the Copa de Competencia Jockey Club, in which both first and second division teams could compete. In 1919, however, Vélez left AFA in protest of alleged discriminatory policies that hindered the club's prospects of achieving promotion. Another 6 teams protested against these maneuvers and were expelled from the Association, while another 7 were expelled for protesting the expulsion of the first 6. All together, the expelled clubs formed a rival association, the Asociación Amateurs de Football (AAF).

Primera División

Therefore, in 1919 Vélez competed in the first division for the first time in their history, in the AAF's inaugural season. The team played their first game against Independiente, winning 2–1 with two goals scored by Martín Salvarredi. On their debut season, the club finished as runner-up, behind Racing Club, who were seven times consecutive champions of AFA's league. During the campaign, Vélez won 9 games, drew 2 and lost 2; scoring 21 goals and conceding 8.

The most frequent line-up was: Acacio Caballero, Atilio Braneri, Atilio Barderacco, Miguel Fontana, José Luis Boffi, Julio Giachi, Juan Bru, Humberto Bassadone, Marcelino Martínez, Martín Salvarredi, Alberto Granara.

Vélez made its debut in Primera División playing at dissident Asociación Amateurs de Football in 1919, where the team finished 2nd to Racing. The following championship Vélez finished 6th, and team's forward Salvador Carreras was the first player of the club to become top scorer in an Argentine league. In 1921, José Luis Boffi became the first player of the club to represent the Argentina national football team, playing against Chile in Valparaíso, a game which Argentina won 4–1.

On 13 March 1923, José Amalfitani was elected president of the club for his first two-year period. One year later, the club rent a new field to establish its home ground, staying in the neighbourhood of Villa Luro, but this time in the intersection of the streets Basualdo, Schmidel, Pizarro and Guardia Nacional. The stadium's main wood stand was finished in November of that year, and was inaugurated on 16 March 1924, in a 2–2 draw with River Plate (Vélez' scorer was Ángel Sobrino).

Four years later, in 1928, the Basualdo St. stadium hosted the first night game in Argentine football history, between the Argentina Olympic national team (silver medalist in that year's Olympics) and a team formed by players from the AAF's league. The Olympic team won 3–1, with goals by Roberto Cherro, Manuel Ferreira and Cesáreo Onzari for the Olympics, and Manuel Seoane for the AAF.

Vélez Sarsfield was also the first Argentine football team to have a manager. The job was held by Luis Martín Castellano (a physical education teacher) from 1928 to 1936.

Between 1930 and 1931, Vélez made a Pan-American tour playing against teams from Chile, Peru, Cuba, Mexico and the United States. The team played a total 25 games, winning 20, drawing 4, and losing 1 (against Fall River in Rhode Island); scoring 84 goals and conceding 32. The team was formed with 17 players, 10 from the club and another 7 loaned freely by other teams, a common practice during the amateur era. The club's players were: Celio Caucia, Eleuterio Forrester, Manuel de Sáa, Alfredo Sánchez, Rodolfo Devoto, Norberto Arroupe, Saúl Quiroga, Alberto Álvarez, Eduardo Spraggón and Ernesto Garbini; while the loaned players were Fernando Paternoster (Racing Club), Bernabé Ferreyra ( Tigre), Francisco Varallo ( Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata), Carlos Volante ( Platense), Gerónimo Díaz and Agustín Peruch (both from Newell's Old Boys) and Alberto Chividini (Central Norte de Tucumán). Varallo (who had played the inaugural World Cup previously that year) and Ferreyra (who was later sold by Tigre to River Plate) were the top scorers, scoring 16 and 38 goals respectively.

In 1931, Vélez Sarsfield and another 17 clubs broke away from the official AFA league (that remained amateur) to form the Liga Argentina de Football, the first professional league in Argentine football. The team debuted on the first fixture of the 1931 inaugural championship, in a 0–1 defeat to Platense. Vélez would eventually finish the competition in the 9th place.

In 1932, the club's nickname ''el Fortín'' (in English: "the Small Fort") was coined by journalist Hugo Marini (''Crítica'') in reference to the club's Villa Luro stadium, to describe Vélez strength while playing at home. Vélez had a 24 games unbeaten run at the old Villa Luro stadium between 1934 and 1935. However, the club's home unbeaten record of 28 games was achieved at the current Liniers stadium, the José Amalfitani Stadium, between 1967 and 1969.

In 1933, the club changed their kit to the present colors, when a sports-equipment merchant offered a white jerseys with a blue " V" on the chest ordered by a rugby union team that had not claimed them. The new design has remained unchanged to the present day, replacing the red, white and green shirt used since 1915. However, Vélez has used the original Italian flag colors in alternate jerseys throughout their history. On 1935, Agustín Cosso became the first Vélez' player in the professional era to become Primera División top scorer. During the following year, Vélez toured South America again, playing games in Chile, Peru and Brazil.

Relegation and return

During the 1940 season, Vélez was relegated from the first division for the only time to date. Vélez finished penultimate, one point behind Atlanta that defeated Independiente on their final fixture for 6–4 (being 6–0 at the end of the first half, on a match suspected to be fixed). With the club on the second division, it entered a crisis and was forced to vacate the stadium's lot. José Amalfitani returned to the club's presidency, and eventually the team moved to the Liniers neighbourhood.

Vélez stayed three seasons in the second division, returning to the Primera División in 1943 after winning the Segunda División championship on the category's first professional season. Vélez confirmed the championship on 20 November by defeating Dock Sud 5–2 at home at Ferro Carril Oeste's stadium. The team's manager during the season was the former club captain Victorio Spinetto, while Juan José Ferraro was the top goal scorer. During that same 1943, the club inaugurated the Liniers' stadium on the ground over the Maldonado Stream, the same spot where now stands the subsequently rebuild José Amalfitani Stadium. On 1945, Vélez achieved its biggest win in history by defeating Independiente 8–0 (goals from di Bella (3), Scliar (3), Bottini and Cano).

That team was formed by Miguel Ángel Rugilo, Héctor Cuenya, Blas Angrisano, Armando Ovide, Víctor Curuchet, Héctor Herrero, Marco Aurelio, Eduardo Heisecke, Juan José Ferraro, Ángel Fernández and Alfredo Bermúdez, being Victorio Spinetto the coach. Other players were Osvaldo Bottini, Jorge Cano, Alfredo Costa, Salvador di Bella, Emilio Díaz, Simón Fredotivich, Adriano Garrone, Luis Orué, Pedro Perrota, José Puisari, and José Scorzo.

Decade of 1950s

During 1949, Vélez' goalkeeper Miguel Ángel Rugilo, formed at the club's youth divisions, saved 5 penalty kicks in 5 consecutive games. Moreover, in 1950, he saved two penalties in a match against River Plate. The club's player represented Argentina 5 times, most notably in a 1–2 away defeat by England at Wembley. Despite the defeat, journalist Luis Elías Sojit nicknamed him ''El León de Wembley'' (The Lion of Wembley) for his performance.

On 22 April 1951, Vélez reinaugurated the Liniers' stadium, rebuild to be almost entirely made of cement. On the reinauguration, the team defeated Huracán 2–0 with goals by Raúl Nápoli.

On the 1953 championship, Vélez Sarsfield was runner-up for the first time in the professional era of Argentine football, finishing 4-point behind River Plate. The team was coached by Victorio Spinetto (the same who had achieved promotion in 1943), and had a strong forward quintet formed by Norberto Conde, Ernesto Sansone, Juan José Ferraro, Osvaldo Zubeldía, and Juan Carlos Mendiburu. Conde was subsequently Argentine Primera División top scorer in the 1954 season. The line-up in those years was: Nicolás Adamo, Oscar Antonio Huss, Ángel Allegri, Armando Ovide, Jorge Ruiz, Rafael García Fierro, Norberto Conde, Ernesto Sansone, Juan José Ferraro, Osvaldo Zubeldía and Juan Carlos Mendiburu, coached by Victorio Spinetto. The rest of the squad were Juan Carlos Cerretani, Emilio Espinoza, Argentino Geronazzo, Roberto Iglesias, Pablo Mallegni, Joaquín Martínez, Carlos Sardá and José Viglienghi. On May 24, 1959, the first official change of goalkeeper in a First Division match took place, when at 45 minutes, Floreal Rodríguez replaced Roque Marrapodi at the Velez Sarsfield fence, in a 1-0 defeat against San Lorenzo in the gasometer of Avenida La Plata.

First championship

During the 1960s decade, Vélez finished among the top positioned teams in the 1966 championship (5th), the 1967 Metropolitano (3rd in its group) 1967 Nacional (3rd), and the 1968 Metropolitano (1st in its group and eliminated in the semi-finals by Estudiantes de La Plata). Moreover, in 1965 the team's striker Juan Carlos Carone finished as the league's top scorer.

Vélez Sarsfield clinched its first national championship on the 1968 Nacional. Coached by Manuel Giúdice, the team finished first on the final league standings, sharing the position with River Plate and Racing Club. Therefore, the three teams had to play a championship playoff, where Vélez drew 1–1 with River (goal by José Luis Luna) and defeated Racing 4–2 (goals by Omar Wehbe (3) and Roberto Moreyra). Vélez finished tied with River, who had defeated Racing 2–0, in both points and goal difference. However, Vélez won the championship for having more goals for in the regular championship (39, over River's 35). During this tournament, Vélez also achieved its biggest victory in official matches, 11–0 against Huracán de Bahía Blanca. Moreover, Omar Wehbe was league top scorer with 16 goals. In total, the team played 17 games, winning 11, drawing 3, and losing another 3; with 44 goals for and 17 against.

The 1968 champion line up was: Miguel Marín, Luis Gallo, Iselín Santos Ovejero, Luis Atela, Eduardo Zóttola, Alberto Ríos, Roberto Moreyra, José Solórzano, Daniel Willington, José Luis Luna, Omar Wehbe, Carlos Bianchi, Mario Nogara. Manuel Giúdice was the coach, and the rest of the roster were Osvaldo Biaggio, Carlos Caballero, Juan Carlos Carone, Juan Manuel Gómez, Roque Nieva, Jorge Pérez, Néstor Sinatra, and Carlos Zeballos.

Vélez would have played its first international tournament in the 1969 Copa Libertadores, however the club refused to play for economic reasons. The team did however play internationally during the decade, both a friendly against Pelé's Santos (played in the José Amalfitani Stadium to re-inaugurate the lighting systems), and a friendly tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay against Nacional, Torpedo Moscow, and Sparta Prague. During the final tournament of the decade, Vélez finished 3rd in its group in the 1969 Metropolitano.

1970s and 1980s

During the 1970 Nacional, Vélez came 3rd in its group and was unable to challenge the title (only the first two of each group advanced to the semi-finals). One year later, on the 1971 Metropolitano, the team came second to Independiente after losing its first place on the last two fixtures of the championship (1–2 defeats with Racing and Huracán). On both of the mentioned championships, Vélez' striker Carlos Bianchi was the overall top scorer.

The club also had good participation in the 1972 Nacional (3rd in its group), 1973 Nacional (again 3rd in its group), 1974 Nacional (first in its group and 3rd in the final tournament group), 1977 Metropolitano (3rd overall), and 1978 Nacional (2nd in its group and eliminated by River Plate).

Vélez was again runner-up in the 1979 Metropolitano, after losing the tournament final with River Plate. In that year's Nacional, the team was first in its group but was again eliminated by River Plate (this time in the quarter-finals through a penalty shootout). Vélez did however defeat Unión in the runners-up play-off to define the second team qualified for the Copa Libertadores.

Vélez started the year 1980 by playing its first Copa Libertadores. The team came first on its group (over River Plate and Peruvians Sporting Cristal and Atlético Chalaco), but was eliminated in the semifinals (ending last its group behind Brazilian Internacional and Colombian América de Cali).

In the local league, Vélez reached the semi-finals of the 1981 Nacional, where it was eliminated by Ferro Carril Oeste. Vélez' striker Carlos Bianchi, who had returned to the club after a period in French football, was for the third time league top scorer. Subsequently, the club was third in its group in the 1982 Nacional, and fifth in the 1982 Metropolitano. The following season, Vélez' was eliminated in the round of 16 of the 1983 Nacional, and came fourth in the 1983 Metropolitano, 4 points behind champions Independiente.

The team was again runner-up of the Argentine Primera División during the 1985 Nacional, losing the final to Argentinos Juniors. Vélez striker Jorge Comas was the tournament's top scorer with 12 goals.

The beginning of greatness

The 1990s decade started with Vélez finishing third in the 1990 Apertura tournament. In the last fixture of the championship, Vélez defeated River Plate 2–1 (goals from Ricardo Gareca and Esteban González) at the Monumental, thwarting River's chances of winning the title. Vélez goalkeeper, former Argentine international Ubaldo Fillol, saved a penalty kick during the game, and retired at the age of 41. The 1990–91 season also saw the team's striker Esteban González finish as league top scorer, with 18 goals. Subsequently, the club finished fourth in the 1991 Apertura and second in the 1992 Clausura.

In December 1992, former striker Carlos Bianchi was appointed as the club's manager. Bianchi, who had been league champion and three times top scorer with the team, had no coaching experience in Argentine football. In his first tournament as manager (the 1993 Clausura), Vélez won the Argentine Primera División title after 25 years. The championship was defined in the penultimate fixture (8 June), when the team drew 1–1 with Estudiantes de La Plata (with goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert scoring his first goal in Vélez). The team played 19 games, winning 10, drawing 7 and losing 2, with 23 goals for and 7 against. Its most frequent line-up was: José Luis Chilavert, Héctor Almandoz, Roberto Trotta, Víctor Hugo Sotomayor, Raúl Cardozo, José Basualdo, Marcelo Gómez, Christian Bassedas, Walter Pico