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Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield
Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield is an Argentine sports club best known for its football team, based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires.
The Club is also frequently referred to as The Fort. Its home stadium is the Jose Amalfitani Stadium, in the borough of Liniers. Velez have won the Argentine Primera six times and 5 international cups.
It was founded in 1910 in the Floresta neighborhood, next to the Ferrocarril del Oeste railroad station Velez Sarsfield, named after the 1869 drafter of the Argentine Civil Code Dalmacio Velez Sarsfield (since 1944 the station has been renamed Floresta). The club first participated in the amateur first division league in 1919 (runners-up), and has been a professional first division fixture since the advent of professionalism in 1931. Relegated only once, in 1941, it returned to the first division in 1943. The club clinched their first professional title in the year 1968, after beating River Plate and Racing Club. After that title, the club spent 25 years without silverware until 1993 when the won the Clausura Tournament. The nineties were the most sucessful period in Velez's history. In that spell, they won domestic cups and international cups. Their international summit was when they defeated AC Milan in the European-South American Cup in Japan in the year 1994.
Velez clinched their last Argentine title in the year 2005 when they won the Clausura tournament.
History
Velez foundation dates back to 1910. It was on a rainy day when three lads sheltered in Velez Sarsfield Railway Station because of a summer storm. These three guys were Julio Guglielmone, Martin Portillo and Nicolas Martin Moreno.They themselves decided to establish a new club with the mere plan of joining and taking part in some league.
After the storm, the lads headed for Marin Moreno's house, which was a stone's throw from the railway station, the last call of the Buenos Aires Western Railway, which connected downtown with the 'far west'.
The guys, with the help of a bunch of other men, decided to establish Argentines of Velez Sarsfield Athletic Club(Club Atletico Argentinos de Velez Sarsfield) and appointed Luis Barredo as their first chairman. Their first field was the piece of land located at United Provincies St.-Provincias Unidas-, currently Juan Bautista Alberdi, Convention St, currently Jose Bonifacio, and Mariano Acosta and Ensenada.
After founding a club, a kit is needed. That was why they chose white shirts(they were easier to get). However, that kit was changed two years later. On February 3rd 1912 they chose navy blue shirts with white shorts.
In spite of the enthusiasm of all this revolution in the neighbourhood, things were not looking as expected. They couldn't join the Argentine League. The name was also changed; Argenitinians was rubbed away from the original name of the club.From that they on, the club holds the same name, Velez Sarsfield Athletic Club.
Nearly at the end of 1912, the board decided to rent a new field, located in the neighbourhood of Mataderos, at Tapalque St., between Escalada and Chascomus St. A wind mill provided water for the dressing rooms.
On May 14, 1914, owing to the great amount of Italian inmigrants who were members of the club, the kit was changed again. The new colours adopted were green, red and white, which were the colours of the Italian flag. From then on, the club played in green, red and white stripes.
The club was finally elected to the Argentine League in 1918. The club had a breathtaking performance in their first year in the top-flight. Velez ended up in the 2nd position, just 4 points upper than River Plate and Defensores Belgrano. In their debut, Velez defeated Independiente one nil. In 1920, the club ended 6th among 19 sides.Apart from that, Velez boasted their only top scorer in the amateur era, that's Santiago Carreras slotting 20 goals.Some months later, the Argentine National team calls up the first Velez player. This man was Jose Bofia, who on May 25th 1921 played the game in which Argentina hammered Chile 4-1 in Valaparaiso.
One of the most important facts in Velez's history took place in the twenties; on March 23rd 1923, Jose Amalfitani was appointed as the new president of the club.
In 1928, Velez Sarsfield played the first night game in Argentine football history at their new stadium in neighboring Villa Luro. This stadium would be nicknamed "El Fortin" (The Small Fort) by the press.
Already recognised as a popular club, Velez toured America with breathtaling results. They played 25 games in Chile, Peru, Cuba, Mexico and the United States.The outcome of their tour was 20 wins, 4 draws and only 1 loss.
Professional footbal started in 1931 and Velez were one of the clubs that took part in the new trend. Their field at the neighbourhoid of Villa Luro was becoming a fort. Not many teams proved successful after playing there.
On September 13th 1932, Velez played San Lorenzo at home. At that time, one of the newspapers called La Critica said 'Can San Lorenzo make it at Villa Luro?'. The author of that heading was the reporter named Hugo Martin, one of the most respected journalists of that time. That game against San Lorenzo ended up in a 1-1 draw. Velez's next home game was a goalless draw against River Plate. From that day on, the nickmane The Fort was to last forever.
In the thirties, Velez managed to be a powerful force playing at home but struggled away. Vicotrio Spinetto and Agustis Cosso were some of the most representative characters for the club. Both Spinetto and Cosso took part in the first game game that Velez wore the white shirt with a blue V. Those had originally been rugby shirts that the club adopted when they went to renew their kit. In 1938 the kit changed to its present colors when a sports-equipment merchant offered the club white jerseys with a blue V on the chest at a discount because a rugby club had not claimed them. The new design has remained unchanged, forgetting the red-white and green shirt used in the first years of the club.
The 1990s was undoubtedly the most important era in Velez's history. In this decade, they clinched most of their silverware, having won 9 titles, both domestic as international. Their successes in this era were largely due to coach Carlos Bianchi. As a player he was part of the Velez team that obtained its first title in 1968, and Bianchi was Argentine Top scorer in 1970, 1971 and then again during his second tenure in 1981.
As team coach, Bianchi drove Velez to three titles the 1994 Copa Libertadores, Copa Intercontinental 1995 and Supercopa Sudamericana 1996.
The most important of these cups was the Copa Intercontinental won vs AC Milan in 1994, when they beat the Italian side by two goals to nil, Roberto Trotta (PK) and Omar 'The Turk' Asad were the scorers of that game.
Support
Velez's fans are usually known as 'Los Fortineros'. Velez's fanbase has increased tremendosuly in the nineties after winning so much silverware. One of the latest surveys shows Velez is the 6th most popular club in the country.
Velez's fanbase, largely drawn from the west of Buenos Aires and the surroundings of Liniers, with home matches traditionally attracting high attendances in the thousands. The fact that the club is at a stone's throw from Liniers Railway Station, helps fans to travel long distances by train.
Fans travel by train from General Rodriguez, La Reja, Moreno, Merlo, San Antonio de Padua, Castelar, Moron, Ramos Mejia up to Liniers.
There are also supporters clubs in Moreno and Merlo.
Rivals
Velez Sarsfield has no direct rival. Ferrocarril Oeste, based in the neighbourhood of Caballito, is sometimes said to be Velez's historical rival. However, this rivalry has faded out mainly because the teams play in different divisions. They have not faced each other since 2000, when Velez beat Ferrocarril Oeste away 1-0.
Recently, a rivalry between Velez and Nueva Chicago has begun, mainly due to the locations of their neighbourhoods rather than rivalry on the pitch. Velez's heart is in the neighbourhood of Liniers whereas Nueva Chicago's is at Mataderos.
Historically, Velez has beaten Nueva Chicago nine times while Nueva Chicago beat Velez once.
Velez also has minor rivalries with Argentinos Juniors, San Lorenzo, River Plate, Estudiantes de La Plata, and Boca Juniors.
About San Lorenzo, there is a curious play developing in the last twenty five years or so. Since the moment San Lorenzo went down to B Division and Velez started winning its international cups, San Lorenzo fans would not accept Velez as a rival, perhaps because the obvious comparison does not favor them, not only internationally, but also locally. However, San Lorenzo's fans tend to partake even in "private" Velez Sarsfield discussion forums trying to hide what cannot be hidden and showing that they really care for this rivalry.
Stadium
The Jose Amalfitani stadium (named after the club's president for over 30 years) holds 49,747 people, although it doesn't provide seating for all of them. It is also frequently used for concerts and Argentina rugby team matches. The stadium, often referred to as El Fortin, was built in 1947 and later remodeled in preparation for the 1978 FIFA World Cup.
The stadium is located on 9200 Juan B. Justo avenue, in the Liniers neighborhood, a short walk from the Liniers train station.
It was also used in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
Titles
National
First Division
*Nacional 1968
*Clausura 1993
*Apertura 1995
*Clausura 1996
*Clausura 1998
*Clausura 2005
Second Division
*Ascenso 1943
International
*Copa Libertadores 1994
*Intercontinental Cup 1994
*Copa Interamericana 1995
*Supercopa Sudamericana 1996
*Recopa Sudamericana 1997
Top Scorers
Most appearances
1- Pedro Larraquy (455)
2- Angel Allegri (384)
3- Raul Cardozo (353)
4- Carlos Bianchi (324)
5- Luis Gallo (317)
6- Armando Ovide (310)
7- Juan Carlos Bujedo (288)
8- Fabian Cubero (284)
9- Mario Lucca (281)
10- Jose Luis Chilavert (270)
11- Christian Bassedas (267)
Top Goalscorers
1- Carlos Bianchi (206)
2- Juan Jose Ferraro (111)
3- Norberto Conde (108)
4- Agustin Cosso (95)
5- Pedro Larraquy (82)
6- Juan Carlos Carone (76)
7- Miguel Angel Benito (74)
8- Patricio Camps (70)
9- Omar Pedro Roldan (60)
10- Omar Wehbe (56)
11- Jose Oscar Flores (45)
Top scorers in a League
Agustin Cosso: 1935
Norberto Conde: 1954
Juan Carlos Carone: 1965
Omar Wehbe: Nacional 1968
Carlos Bianchi: Nacional 1970, Metropolitano 1971, Nacional 1981
Jorge Comas: Nacional 1985
Esteban Gonzalez: Campeonato 90-91
Jose Oscar Flores: Torneo Clausura 1995
Rolando Zarate: Torneo Clausura 2004
Mauro Zarate: Torneo Apertura 2006
Chairmen
1910-1913: Luis Barredo
1913-1914: Placido Marin
1914: Roberto Piano
1914-1917: Eduardo Ferro
1917-1919: Antonio Marin Moreno
1919: Eduardo Ferro
1920-1921: Antonio Marin Moreno
1921-1923: Esteban Aversano
1923-1925: Jose Amalfitani
1925-1932: Enrique D'Elias
1932-1935: Nicolas Marin Moreno
1936-1937: Juan C. Sustaita
1937: Narciso Barrio
1938-1939: Nicolas Marin Moreno
1937-1938: Inocencio Bienati
1940-1941: Roberto L. Orstein
1941-1969: Jose Amalfitani
1969: Leonardo Pareja
1969-1970: Domingo M. Trimarco
1970-1976: Jose R. Feijoo
1976: Domingo M. Trimarco
1976-1979: Osvaldo Guerrero
1979-1985: Ricardo Petracca
1985-1991: Francisco Antonio Perez
1991-1993: Ricardo Petracca
1993-1996: Hector Gaudio
1996-1999: Raul Gamez
1999-2002: Carlos E. Mousseaud
2002-2005: Raul Gamez
2005-2006: Alvaro Balestrini
Other sports
Velez has both men's and women's volleyball teams in Argentina's first division. It also competes in basketball, field hockey, and other disciplines.
Players
Current squad
As of February 11, 2008
Notable former players
Norberto Alonso (1981~1983)
Jose Basualdo
Carlos Bianchi
Vladislao Cap (1966)
Lucas Castroman
Jose Luis Chilavert
Jorge Comas (1981~1985)
Jose Luis Cuciuffo (1982~1987)
Luis de la Fuente (1940~1942)
Federico Dominguez (1993~1998. 2002~2004)
Ubaldo Fillol (1989~1990)
Jose Oscar Flores (1990~1996)
Fabricio Fuentes
Ricardo Gareca (1989~1992)
Esteban Gonzalez (1990~1994)
Sergio Goycochea (1996~1997)
Claudio Husain (1993~2000)
Daniel Killer (1982~1983)
Pedro Larraquy (1975~1987)
Omar Larrosa (1980)
Carlos Navarro Montoya
Ermindo Onega (1972)
Mauricio Pellegrino
Nery Pumpido (1981~1983)
Cesar Augusto Ramirez (1999)
Oscar Ruggeri (1990~1992)
Carmelo Simeone (1955~1961)
Diego Simeone (1987~1990)
Leandro Somoza (2001~2006)
Roberto Trotta (1992~1996)
Jose Yudica (1962~1963)
Mauro Zarate (2004~2007)
Rolando Zarate
Daniel Alberto Willington
External links
Official Site
VelezSarsfield.NET
El Portal Fortinero
La V Azulada
Velez Sarsfield in BDFA
World Stadiums entry
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield
