Club San Albano is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

from the

Burzaco Burzaco is a city in Almirante Brown Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It has an area of 22.77 km2, holds a population of 98,859 (). It is 27 kilometres from Buenos Aires city, to which it is linked by the Ferrocarril General Roca Sou ...

district of

Almirante Brown Partido Almirante Brown is a partido of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, located at the south of the Gran Buenos Aires urban area, at coordinates . It has an area of and 555,731 inhabitants (), and its capital is Adrogué. Name The partido is na ...

. San Albano is mostly known for its

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team, which currently plays in Primera División A, the second division of the

Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires The Buenos Aires Rugby Union ( es, "Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires"), usually referred as URBA, is the Argentine governing body that organises and controls the rugby union in the Buenos Aires Province (including the main district, Buenos Aires a ...

league system. The

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

team competes at tournaments organized by the

Buenos Aires Hockey Association The Buenos Aires Hockey Association ("Asociación de Hockey de Buenos Aires" - AHBA) is the Argentine amateur governing body that regulates the practice of field hockey over the Buenos Aires autonomous city and its urban sprawl Urban sprawl (a ...

. As of 2023, the club had more than 350 female

players registered. Other sports currently practised at San Albano are

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. San Albano has 1,800 members, is regarded as one of most emblematic British-origin clubs in southern

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...

History

left, Team of 1960 that promoted to Primera Divisiòn San Albano was founded on 10 February 1923De festejo: San Albano cumple 100 años de historia
on ESPN.ar, 10 Feb 2023 by alumni of the Quilmes Grammar School and the later Saint Alban's College. Originally born as a

club with the name of "Old Philomathian Club" (the name refers to the inscription of Philomathes Polymathes in the school badge). Nevertheless it was not until 1928 when the institution starting the practise of sports when it registered a

team to the

Argentine Cricket Association The Argentine Cricket Association (Spanish: ''Asociación de Críquet Argentino''; ACA), also branded Cricket Argentina, is the governing body of the sport of cricket in Argentina. The organization was founded in 1913, and has been an associate mem ...

. The team was captained by Otto Hawkins. One year later, Old Philomathian registered a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team to the British Saturday Football League, an amateur local league, to play in the second división. A.W. Hopson and Errol Merness were the captains of that team that played their home venues at

Argentino de Banfield Argentino Football Club de Banfield mostly known as Argentino de Banfield was an Argentine football club from the Banfield district of Greater Buenos Aires. The team played in Primera División during the 1920s and 1930s before merging with Clu ...

. Between 1939 and 1945, 124 former students of St. Alban's fought for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Old Philomathian fielded a rugby team for the first time in 1949, being mentored by BAC&RC and

Old Georgian Old Georgian (ႤႬႠჂ ႵႠႰႧႭჃႪႨ, ''enay kartuli'') was a literary language of the Georgian monarchies attested from the 5th century. The language remains in use as the liturgical language of the Georgian Orthodox Church and for ...

.Reseña histórica: El rugby
on Club San Albano The club registered with the Argentine Rugby Union that same year,El centenario club de rugby cuyo semillero sale de casas como las de Hogwarts
on Clarín, 10 Feb 2023 starting to play in the third division. After two consecutive seasons finishing 2nd., in 1956 Old Philomathians promoted to Segunda División after finishing unbeaten. In 1960 the club promoted to the first division, although it went straight back down a year later. For the first years of its existence, Old Philomathian achieved more success in the sevens version of the game, winning the Argentine Rugby Union tournament in 1958.

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

started being played at the club in 1967, taking part in men's and women's tournaments. The institution would be later forced to change its name in 1974 from the former Old Philomathian Club to "Asociación de Ex-Alumnos del Colegio San Albano" due to administrative regulations.San Albano despide a John Vibart
by Juan P. Zenoni on A Pleno Rugby, 17 Jun 2017 From humble beginnings, San Albano reached the first division in 2002 and has remained there since then. In 1981, San Albano acquired a land on Av. Espora, in the "Corimayo" neighborhood of Burzaco, that would remain as its definitive location up to present days. San Albano built a

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

field hockey pitch A hockey pitch is the playing surface for the game of field hockey. Historically, the game was played on natural turf (grass) and nowadays it is predominantly played on an artificial turf. The transition onto artificial pitches came during the 1 ...

in 2009, which facilitated the growth of the sport in the club. That same year the club also inaugurated new

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

s that hosted the "Copa Almirante Brown", a tournament where notable players such as

David Nalbandian David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine retired professional tennis player who played on the ATP Tour from 2000 until his retirement in 2013. He reached the highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006. Nalban ...

Juan Mónaco Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Miami Masters, and achieved a career-high singles ranking ...

, and Ignacio Chela took part.

Facilities

Maurice Runnacles Oval, main cricket field of San Albano Club's headquarters are located on Av. Espora in

, where the rugby, cricket and field hockey fields are located. There are two grounds for cricket (the "Maurice Runnacles Oval", named after a notable cricketer of the club, and "Cancha 2"). The Maurice Runnacles Oval was one of the venues that hosted the 2023 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier.

Notable players

* John Edward Vibart (1931–2017), the only San Albano rugby footballer that played for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He was with San Albano since the club started its steps in rugby in 1947, being part of the team that made its official debut in 1949. After his retirement as player, Vibart was president of the club in two periods (1964–66, and 1974–78). He is considered the most legendary figure of the club. The club organised a competition ("Copa John Vibart") in his honour.

Honours

Cricket

San Albano is one of the most successful teams in Argentine cricket, having won 11 championships to date.Primera División (campeones)
on Cricket Argentina website * Primera División (11): ** 1992–93, 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19

References

External links

*
St. Alban's College
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