Racing Club De Avellaneda

Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered one of the "big five" clubs of Argentine football, and is also known as "El Primer Grande" (The first big club), for becoming the first club in the world to win seven league titles in a row, first Argentine club to win a national cup, and the first world champion (Intercontinental Cup) Argentine club. Racing currently plays in the Primera División, the top division of the Argentine league system, and plays its home games at Estadio Presidente Perón, nicknamed ''El Cilindro de Avellaneda'' (in English: "The Cylinder of Avellaneda").

Racing has won the Primera División 18 times, with a record of seven consecutive championships between 1913 and 1919, five of which were won undefeated.Juventus salió campeón y se sumó al club de los heptacampeones
on Bolavip, by Juan Arias Montoya, 13 May 2018 Not only does Racing hold the record for the most consecutive titles in Argentine football history, but it is also the only team in South America to achieve such a feat, along with being one of only four clubs (the others are Olympique de Lyon, Bayern Munich and Juventus) to be a seven-time champion of world-cup winning nations.

The club also has 14 National cups to its name, which include five Copa Ibarguren, four Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires and one Copa Beccar Varela. Due to those achievements the team was nicknamed ''La Academia'' ("The Academy of Football") which still identifies the club and its supporters.

On the international stage, the club has won 6 titles, with 3 of them organised by CONMEBOL and other international bodies. Those achievements include one Copa Libertadores, one Intercontinental Cup and the first edition of the Supercopa Libertadores.

The team's home colors are sky blue and white striped, similar to the national team. The shorts and socks have shifted between black, navy blue or white. Apart from football, other sports practised at Racing are artistic gymnastics, basketball, beach soccer, boxing, chess, field hockey, futsal, handball, martial arts, roller skating, tennis and volleyball.

History

Origins

The origins of the club can be traced to the end of the 19th century, when a group of Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway employees asked for permission to play football in a field belonging to the company. As the request was approved, they started to play their first matches there, mostly against teams formed by British immigrants.

In 1898, they founded a club, "Argentinos Excelsior Club", which lasted three years until in 1901, three new clubs were established "Sud América Fútbol Club de Barracas al Sur", "American Club" and "Argentinos Unidos", with Barracas al Sur the most notable of them. Nevertheless, the club was soon disbanded, establishing "Colorados Unidos" on 16 March 1902. On 25 March 1903, both clubs met at Mercado de Hacienda with the purpose of merging again.

The club took its name from a French auto racing magazine owned by Germán Vidaillac (a founding partner of French ancestry). The suggestion was well received and the name "Racing Club" was immediately approved. Racing was the first football team integrally formed by criollo people.

The first jersey worn by the emerging club was white, until 25 July 1904, when it was decided a yellow and black vertical striped jersey would be used. Nevertheless, the recently adopted uniform only lasted a week due to its similarity to Uruguayan club CURCC, being replaced by a design proposed by president Luis Carbone. The jersey had four squares, two light blue and two pink. This light blue and pink design would be worn until 1908, once again replaced by a design with three horizontal bars (two blue and one white). Finally, Racing adopted the light blue and white colors in 1910, in commemoration of the May Revolution's 100th anniversary that same year.

First years in football

Racing affiliated to the Argentine Football Association in 1905, and began playing in the lower divisions of Argentine football league system. In 1906 the club registered to play in Segunda División.

In 1909, Racing competed in a playoff to promote to Primera División, but lost to Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires. Racing finally promoted to the first division in 1910, winning the playoff final against Boca Juniors with an attendance of 4,000. The starting line-up that won the promotion was: Fernández; Seminario, Allan; Winne, Juan Ohaco, Angel Betular; Oyarzábal, A. Ohaco, Firpo, Frers and Juan Perinetti. Frers and Ohaco were the scorers for Racing.El ascenso fue un paso necesario
by Alejandro Fabbri on Perfil.com, 8 March 2015 The popularity of the club raised after that promotion, increasing its number of supporters.

"The Academy" and the seven consecutive

In 1911 Racing debuted in Primera División, finishing in fourth place.

One year later, Racing won its first domestic cup, the Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires after beating Newell's Old Boys 3–0. Racing also played its first international match, versus Uruguayan team River Plate.

The first league title came in 1913 when Racing defeated San Isidro and River Plate in a playoff. Racing first eliminated River Plate (3–0), and then played the final against San Isidro, winning 2–0.

In 1914, Racing won its second league title, having scored 42 goals and only 7 received in 12 games. The runner-up was Estudiantes (BA). That same year Racing won its second consecutive Copa Ibarguren, defeating another ''Rosarino'' team, Rosario Central, by 1–0 in Buenos Aires. The line-up for the match: Arduino; Reyes, S. Ochoa; Pepe, Olazar, Betular; Canavery, Ohaco, Marcovecchio, Juan Hospital, Juan Perinetti.Copa Ibarguren overview
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi at RSSSF

Racing became Primera División champion in 1915 when they defeated San Isidro 1–0 in a playoff at Independiente's stadium. Their line-up was: Arduino; Presta, Reyes; Betular, Olazar, Pepe; Canavery, Ohaco, Marcovecchio (who scored the only goal), Juan Hospital, Juan Perinetti. Racing finished unbeaten, with 22 games won and 2 drawn, with and 95 goals scored with only 5 conceded.

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 after totalizing 35 points, being River Plate the runner-up with 30 points. The team also scored the mark of 58 goals with only 4 received in 20 fixtures. In addition, the squad achieved its third Copa Ibarguren with a smashing victory over Rosario Central by 6–0 in Avellaneda. The line-up was: Arduino; Ohaco, Reyes, Viazzi Olazar, Ricardo Pepe; Canavery, Vivaldi, Marcovecchio, Juan Hospital, Juan Perinetti.

That same year Racing won another edition of Copa Ibarguren, defeating by 2nd. consecutive time Rosario Central by 3–2 at GEBA stadium. The line-up was: Crocce; Castagnola, Reyes; Vivaldi, Olazar, Pepe; Natalio Perinetti, Ohaco, Marcovecchio, Minondo, Juan Perinetti.

One year later, Racing won its 6th. league title, remaining unbeaten after 19 games played, with 49 goals scored and 9 received. Racing also won another edition of Copa Ibarguren (5 in total) with a large victory over Newell's Old Boys by 4–0 at GEBA. The line-up: Crocce; Castagnola, Reyes; Ohaco, Marcovecchio, Macchiavello; Natalio Perinetti, Zabaleta, Vivaldo, Juan Hospital, Juan Perinetti.

In 1919 Racing moved to the dissident league "Asociación Amateurs de Football", winning the tournament whilst remaining unbeaten again. Racing played 23 fixtures, winning its 7th. consecutive title with 26 points and 43 goals scored. They won further titles in 1921 and 1925.

The 1930–1940s

Racing was one of the founding members as the first professional league in Argentina, Liga Argentina de Football, that split from the AFA to organise its own championships. During those years Racing won the Copa Beccar Varela in 1932 (defeating Boca Juniors 3–0 in the final) and the Copa de Competencia (LAF) one year later, thrashing San Lorenzo de Almagro 4–0 in the final match. Despite the national cups won, Racing could not win any domestic championship during that period; its best performances were third places in 1932, 1933 and 1936. Evaristo Barrera was the top scorer with 34 goals in 1934 and 32 in 1936.Argentina: List of Topscorers
by Ricardo Gorosito and Osvaldo Gorgazzi on RSSSF

In 1945 Racing won the first edition of Copa de Competencia Británica defeating Boca Juniors by 4–1 in the final. Despite its domestic cup achievements, Racing didn't win any league title until 1949, starting with another brilliant era of three consecutive championships.

Return to league titles

Racing won the championship three years running between 1949 and 1951. In 1949 Racing finished with 49 points. Besides, two players of the club, Juan José Pizzuti and Llamil Simes, were the topscorers of the tournament with 26 goals each. In 1950, Simes was the topscorer of the time again. That same year, Racing inaugurated its new venue, Estadio Presidente Perón, the second largest stadium of Argentina. Racing won its third consecutive league title in 1951 after beating Banfield 1–0 in a two-leg series. The starting line-up was Héctor Grisetti; Higinio García, José M. Pérez; Juán Gimenez, Alberto Rastelli, Jorge Gutiérrez; Mario Boyé, Manuel Ameal, Rubén Bravo, Llamil Simes, Ezra Sued, with Guillermo Stábile as coach.

Racing could not achieve a four-consecutive title after in 1952 the team finished 2nd to River Plate. The next league title came in 1958, and they were runners-up to San Lorenzo de Almagro the following year.

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, Roberto Blanco, Ernesto Gutiérrez, Pedro Manfredini, Arnaldo Balay, Juan José Pizzuti, Rubén Héctor Sosa and Omar Oreste Corbatta