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Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima (also known for its acronym GEBA) 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 ...
multi-
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 ...
placed in the city of
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
. The institution is one of the oldest in the country, having been established in 1880. Gimnasia y Esgrima is also one of the largest clubs of Argentina, with around 30 different disciplines hosted in the three buildings that the institution owns in Buenos Aires.


History

The institution was founded as "Club Cosmopolita de Gimnasia y Esgrima" on 11 November 1880, by
fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
and
gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
enthusiasts in the "Confitería del Aguila", a traditional
coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...
of Buenos Aires. Léon Marchand was designed as the first president of the club. Three years later, in 1883, the club changed its name to "Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima". In 1909 Ricardo Camilo Aldao became president of the institution."Un ejemplo de dirigente" by Jorge Cermesoni
''
La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...
'', 1998-2-3
The
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 took part in the Primera División championships since 1909, when the squad won the
second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
title, therefore promoting to the top division. Gimnasia played in Primera from 1910 to 1917 when the team was relegated to the División Intermedia (second division) after finishing 20th of 21 teams. The club disaffiliated from the Association soon later, although football has remained as one of the sports practised up to present days. In 1912, Gimnasia y Esgrima was part of the first break up in Argentine football, due to a conflict caused by the position of the club about the sales of tickets for football matches. Gimnasia stated that its members should not pay for tickets because of their membership, which allowed them to take part in all the activities, including free access to the stadium. The club also claimed a higher percentage of the income for tickets sold. The conflict persisted until Gimnasia decided to disaffiliate from the Association on July 14, 1912, establishing a new league, the "
Federación Argentina de Football The Federación Argentina de Football (FAF) was a dissident football association of Argentina that organised its own championships from 1912 to 1914. The Argentine Football Association did not recognised those championships until both associations ...
", presided by Ricardo Aldao himself. Other clubs followed Gimnasia y Esgrima joining the new league, such as
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 ...
,
Estudiantes de La Plata Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "Students from La Plata"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata , is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, wh ...
, Independiente, and other teams from the second division. The new league organized its own championships from 1912 to 1915, when both leagues merged into the "Asociación Argentina de Football", putting an end to the conflict.''Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina'' by Jorge Iwanczuk - Publisher: Autores Editores (1992) - The club's stadium (which has a capacity of 18,000 spectators) was the field where the Argentina national team played its home games since 1910, making its debut during the
Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo The Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo was an international football tournament, held in Argentina from 29 May to 12 June 1910, and organized by the Argentine Football Association. It was the first international tournament in South America where ...
held there. In the final match of that tournament, played against
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, a riot occurred after the suspension of the match was announced, and part of the grandstands –made of wood– were destroyed by fire. After the stadium was rebuilt, many football games held there, even when Gimnasia had disaffiliated from the Association. In 1920 Gimnasia y Esgrima disaffiliated from all the football associations of Argentina to organize its own championships. By 1928 GyE had more than 120 members with 8 teams formed. Ten years later there were more than 400 members registered to play football. Because of the growth of the activity, the club built one field more. After leaving the official football leagues in the decade of 1920, rugby union was one of the predominant sports of Gimnasia y Esgrima, winning the
Torneo de la URBA The URBA Top 13 (formerly "Torneo de la URBA", named "Top 13" since the 2022 season)Grupo II, 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. In 1942 president Aldao moved to the club's distinguished guest apartment, establishing it as its permanent home. The only condition required by Aldao to live there was the payment of a monthly rent which would be 6% of the investments made by the club when the apartment was built. In 1947 and after 40 years as president of the institution, Aldao resigned due he was afraid of a possible intervention of the Argentine military government in the club. Gimnasia has gained a good reputation in women's
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 ...
due to its successful campaigns during the decade of the 2000, having won 7 Torneo Metropolitano titles, six of them consecutively being the last in 2012. In September 2014, the rugby union senior squad returned to the first division (Grupo I) after defeating
Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...
by 23–16 at playoffs (Zona Reubicación). The team had been relegated in 2007."Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires y su historia, a Primera" by Jorge Búsico
''
La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...
'', 25 Sep 2014


Facilities

The club has three facilities to host the practice of different sports. All of them are located in the city of Buenos Aires. * San Martín: The biggest facility, with 139,000 m2, on
Figueroa Alcorta avenue Avenida Figueroa Alcorta is a major thoroughfare in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a length of over along the city's northside. History The rapid northward growth of the city of Buenos Aires during the late nineteenth century was facilitated by ...
. Some of the sports practiced there are football, roller skating, rugby union, table tennis and volleyball. * Aldao: named in honour of Ricardo Aldao (1863–1956), one of the most prominent presidents of the institution, also the founder of the dissident league "
Federación Argentina de Football The Federación Argentina de Football (FAF) was a dissident football association of Argentina that organised its own championships from 1912 to 1914. The Argentine Football Association did not recognised those championships until both associations ...
" in 1912. Aldao also donated the trophy (named "
Copa Aldao The Copa Ricardo Aldao (English: ''Ricardo Aldao Cup''), popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official AFA- AUF football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions of ...
") for the tournament held from 1913 to 1955 played between
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 ...
and
Uruguayan Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
association teams. With 35,000 m2, the facility is located on Bartolomé Mitre street of the city of Buenos Aires. The sports practiced there are basque pelota, boxing, contract bridge, chess, martial arts, artistic gymnastics and yoga. * Jorge Newbery: named honoring Argentine aviation pioneer
Jorge Newbery Jorge Alejandro Newbery Malagarie (27 May 1875 – 1 March 1914) was an Argentine aviator, civil servant, engineer and scientist. Early and personal life His father, Ralph Lamartine Newbery Purcell (born 1848) was a dentist who emigrated from ...
, who was also a notable fencer (he won the first South American championship at Gimnasia y Esgrima in 1901), died in 1914. The facility occupies 55,000 m2 on Dorrego Avenue, near to Galileo Galilei planetarium in the
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
district. Athletics, swimming and water polo are some of the sports hosted there. Here is located the club stadium, where the football and rugby union teams from the club played their home games. The
Argentina national rugby union team The Argentina national rugby union team (Spanish: ''Selección de rugby de Argentina'') represents Argentina in men's international rugby union; it is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union ( es, Unión Argentina de Rugby). Nicknamed the Pumas ...
also played there in the 1970s. The stadium (known in Argentina as "Estadio GEBA") is currently used for concerts.


Stadium

The "Estadio GEBA" is the main venue of the club, with a capacity for 12,000 spectators. Placed in the "Jorge Newbery" seat, it was the main
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 ...
venue during the 1900s and 1910s, having held matches of the Argentina national team. The football team of the club (that played in Primera División from 1911 to 1917) also used the stadium for its home games. After the arson of 1916, the stadium would be used for
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 ...
purposes mainly. Nowadays, Estadio GEBA is used for music concerts, having host a large number of artist performing there.


Notable athletes


Uniforms

Gimnasia y Esgrima's teams have also worn a white jersey with a horizontal light blue band. The most used alternate jersey has been the dark blue model, leaving the horizontal band the same as the original.


Honours


Basketball

* Primera División (2): 2006, 2014


Football

*
Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
(1): 1909 *
Copa Bullrich The Copa de Competencia Adolfo Bullrich, or simply Copa Bullrich, was an official football tournament held from 1903 to 1934 in Argentina. From 1905 to 1915 the championship was contested by clubs playing in the second division of Argentine league ...
(1): 1907 *
Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...
(2): 1906, 1912


Field hockey

;Women's * Metropolitano de Primera División (9): 1965, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017


Rugby union

* RPRU (4): 1911, 1912, 1932, 1939


References


External links

* {{Authority control Sports clubs established in 1880 Football clubs in Buenos Aires g Rugby union clubs in Buenos Aires Rugby clubs established in 1880 Multi-sport clubs in Argentina 1880 establishments in Argentina G G