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Club Atletico Belgrano
Club Atletico Belgrano is a sport club from Cordoba, Argentina, best known for its football team, currently playing in the second division. The club is very popular and it has one one of the largest fan bases outside Buenos Aires. The club has 10,000 members (season ticket holders) and last season had an average attendance of 32,000 fans.
History
The club was founded in 1905 by a group of teenagers, having 14-year-old Arturo Orgaz as its first president. They named it after the Argentine historical figure General Manuel Belgrano, and the colours are taken from the flag of Argentina, created by Belgrano.
The team started playing in the second division of the Cordoba league in 1908, winning that championship and the following two, to reach the first division of the local league. Because their precarious field didn't comply with the first division requirements, Belgrano's fans and players used to borrow post, wire and fences from the nearby houses to erect the required protections. Nevertheless, they would return all the material to their owners, leaving things as they were before the match. This kind of borrowing without consent brought them the nickname of Piratas ("Pirates").
After the foundation of the Federacion Cordobesa de Futbol ("Cordoba Football Association"), Belgrano won the first championship of 1913. The following season gave birth to the Cordoba Derby between Belgrano and Talleres. The first round of the league faced both teams, but that first derby match would only last 4 minutes, for Talleres left the field after a doubtful goal given to Belgrano.
On March 17 of 1929, the grounds of the Gigante de Alberdi were finished, one of the first cement stadiums in Argentina. El Gigante would be later renovated in 1997 to meet the requirements of the first and second national divisions.
Within the Cordoba league, Belgrano won all the championships between 1929 and 1937, except for 1934, that was won by Talleres. Then, it won the 1940, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956 (Union Cordobesa de Futbol) and 1957.
Belgrano was able to play its way to the Nacional tournament of 1968, and reached the Argentine second division in 1986. The club finally reached first division in 1992, where it played until 1996. In 1998 the team was promoted again to first division, to be relegated after the 2001/02 season.
Beating Olimpo de Bahia Blanca at the 2005-06 Promocion, Belgrano returned to first division for the 2006-07 season. Belgrano were relegated to the second division after narrowly missing out on a Promotion play-off berth.
External links
Fan's blog (English)
Chief Fan's site (Spanish)
Another Fan's site (Spanish)
News, pictures, Fan's site (Spanish)
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Club Atletico Belgrano
