Flores Athletic Club was 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

Flores, Buenos Aires Flores is a middle-class ''barrio'' or district in the center part of Buenos Aires city, Argentina. Flores was considered a rural area of the Province of Buenos Aires until 1888 when it was integrated into the city. Flores is the birthplace of P ...

. The club was pioneer in the practise of some sports that would become popular in Argentina, such as

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 ...

(competing in some of the first official championships held),

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 ...

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 ...

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

, 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 ...

History

Origin: the polo years

In 1860 a great English community lived in the "

porteño In Spanish, the term (feminine: ''Porteña'') means "port city person". It is used to refer to residents of port cities such as Buenos Aires, Argentina; El Puerto de Santa María, Spain; Valparaíso, Chile; Mazatlán, Veracruz, Acapulco and Tamp ...

s" neighbourhoods of

Caballito Caballito (; Spanish for "little horse") is a ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is the only ''barrio'' in the administrative division ''Comuna'' 6. It is located in the geographical centre of the city, limited ...

and

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

, most of them working in commerce activities. They usually spent summertime in their

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

s located in

Barracas, Buenos Aires Barracas is a ''barrio'', or district, in the southeast part of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located between the railroad of Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano and the Riachuelo River, and the streets ''Regimiento de Patricios'', ' ...

Belgrano, Buenos Aires Belgrano is a northern and leafy '' barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Location The barrio of Palermo is to the southeast; Núñez is to the northwest; Coghlan, Villa Urquiza, Villa Ortúzar and Colegiales are to the sout ...

and Flores, which was the favourite place of Argentine high society families to spend their free time. Some of the biggest palaces (such as "Miraflores", built in 1886 and currently a school, or "Las Lilas") had been erected in that zone.''Una investigación sobre la Historia del Flores Athletic Club'' by Rubén Ayala at the C.E.H.R., Buenos Aires (1997) Flores ac 1899

The Flores Athletic Club was born in Caballito neighbourhood, next to current club

Club Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its footb ...

. Flores established in the same lot where in 1875 the first

match had been played in Argentina.''El polo en la Argentina. Primera parte: Las prácticas iniciales en el país'', Ernesto Ceballos, Buenos Aires (1969)''100 años de polo en la Argentina 1888–1988'', Elsa Boglione, Buenos Aires, 1988 Flores AC was cited for the first time by

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

newspaper ''The Standard'' on 15 January 1893, referring to a

match that would be disputed between Flores and Buenos Ayres al Rosario Railway. So the data of foundation of the club could be established between 1892 and 1893, so Flores AC had been never mentioned before by the English community in Buenos Aires. Other matches recorded by ''The Standard'' were against

Lomas Athletic Lomas (Spanish for "hills"), also called fog oases and mist oases, are areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. About 100 lomas near the Pacific Ocean are identified between 5°S and 30°S latitude, a nort ...

that same year, and the only title won by the club, the 1894

Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo The Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo (Spanish for Argentine Open Polo Championship) is an international polo championship at club level, organised every year since 1893 at the Campo Argentino de Polo of Palermo, Buenos Aires. It was known as t ...

, defeating local team Cañada de Gómez by 6–0 at the final. The line-up was: J. Bennett, F.J. Bennett, T. Scott-Robson and Hugo Scott-Robson. Other polo match covered by the newspaper was played in 1896 against Rangers Polo Club.

Football

Flores AC also had a football team, which played its home games in Caballito. The club was one of the founding members of the

Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association ( es, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torn ...

(with football pioneer

Alexander Watson Hutton Alexander Watson Hutton (10 June 1853 – 9 March 1936) was a Scottish teacher and sportsman who is considered "The Father of Argentine football". In 1893 he founded the "Argentine Association Football League" (current Argentine Football Ass ...

as first president) in

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

.''Alumni: Cuna de Campeones y Escuela de Hidalguía'', Ernesto Bavio, Buenos Aires, 1953 The football team debuted on 22 April 1893, being defeated by Quilmes Rovers (now

Quilmes Atlético Club Quilmes Atlético Club () is an Argentine sports club based in the Quilmes district of Greater Buenos Aires. Established in 1887 (although the date of foundation is still under dispute), Quilmes is the oldest club of Argentina still competing i ...

) by 4–2. The line-up was: Brown, Gordon, Syer; Gahan, Goddard, Murphy; Fothergill, Jordan, Allen, Bartman, Wilson. Flores AC took part in

Primera División Argentina Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

from

to 1897, achieving a 2nd position in the year of its debut. Flores would be also placed 2nd. in

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

. 1897 was its last year in

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

Rugby

The first registered rugby union match played by Flores was on July 19, 1896, against Buenos Aires FC (then merged into

Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club, sometimes known simply as Buenos Aires, is an Argentine sports club based in San Fernando, Buenos Aires. Having set its official date of foundation on 8 December 1864, the club claims to be the oldest club sti ...

). The game was disputed in the Caballito stadium, and the line-up was: B.F. Taylor, G.F. Elliot, Leslie Wilson, P.M. Roth, F.W. Fothergill; D. King, F. Chantriel; F.E. Jones, J.B. Faram, A.D. Jones; R. Colson, E.G. Kinch; C. McKenzie, D.R. Henderson, S. Willes. The Flores AC stadium was also used by the Buenos Aires FC (where the team had played its first match against Southern Railway, in 1886) to dispute the derby with Rosario Athletic Club. On 10 April 1899 the "River Plate Rugby Championship" (current

Unión Argentina de Rugby The Argentine Rugby Union ( es, Unión Argentina de Rugby, abbreviated "UAR") is the governing body for rugby union in Argentina. It is a member of World Rugby, with a seat on that body's Executive Council, and a founding member of Sudamérica Ru ...

) was established in Argentina, organising the first rugby tournament (

Torneo de la URBA The URBA Top 13 (formerly "Torneo de la URBA", named "Top 13" since the 2022 season)Belgrano AC, Rosario AC,

Lomas Lomas (Spanish for "hills"), also called fog oases and mist oases, are areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. About 100 lomas near the Pacific Ocean are identified between 5°S and 30°S latitude, a nort ...

and Buenos Aires FC while other sources (including bodies

and

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 ...

) do not include Flores as a founding member, as they do with the other four team mentioned."Hechos históricos de la Unión" at UAR website
"Historia de la Unión", at URBA website
/ref>''Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina'', by Jorge Iwanczuk. Published by Autores Editores (1992) - It was one of the founder members although the club only played in the first edition held in 1899. The team debuted against

Belgrano Athletic Belgrano Athletic Club is an Argentine amateur sports club from Belgrano, Buenos Aires. One of Argentina's oldest institutions still in existence, Belgrano was one of the four clubs that founded the Argentine Rugby Union in 1899. The senior t ...

and the line-up for that historic game was: N. Murphy, A. Coste, F. Leitch, George F. Elliot, J.Elliot, D. King, W.H. Goddard, C. Mackenzie, B. Gwyn, E.N. Neild, B. Campbell, H. Hampson, C. Thurner, A.O. Jones, and J. Negrón.

Dissolution

In 1907 Flores Athletic sold some of its facilities to Club Ferro Carril Oeste, for m$n 700. It is believed that the club was dissolved after this transaction.

Titles

(1): 1894

Notable sportsmen

* George Fleetwood Elliot: He practised

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

and

(1896–99). *

James Gifford James Gifford (10 January 1864 – 18 April 1931) was an Argentine sportsman who played football and first-class cricket. Career Gifford was born at Buenos Aires in January 1864. He played club cricket for Buenos Aires Cricket Club and also pl ...

: He played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

and football. *

Charles Douglas Moffatt Charles Douglas Moffatt (5 July 1870 – 1 March 1953) was an English footballer, considered one of the pioneers of the sport in Argentina, active in the country as a player between 1891 and 1901. Career Born in London, Moffatt arrived in Arg ...

: Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1870, he arrived to Argentina in 1889, being a pioneer of Argentine football so he played for St. Andrew's during the first Primera División tournament held in 1891. He then played in

and Flores before moving to Banfield where he retired from football in 1901.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Association football clubs established in 1893 Rugby union clubs in Buenos Aires Rugby clubs established in 1893 Polo clubs in Argentina Defunct football clubs in Buenos Aires Association football clubs disestablished in 1907 Defunct Argentine rugby union clubs 1907 disestablishments in Argentina British association football clubs outside the United Kingdom Diaspora sports clubs in Argentina British Argentine English diaspora Cricket teams in Argentina