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Rosario Central
For the former train station, see Rosario Central Station.
Club Atletico Rosario Central (usually simply Central) is a football club in Rosario, Argentina.
History
The Central Argentine Railway Athletic Club was founded in December 24, 1889 by English railway workers of the British-owned Central Argentine Railway company. The first president was Colin Calder, and all club activities were carried out in the English language. When the company took over the Buenos Aires and Rosario Railway company in 1903, the name of the club was formally changed to Club Atletico Rosario Central.
The original jersey colors were red and white; later, the club would change to a checkered blue and white, and finally settle on the blue and gold vertical stripes design used to this day.
The team played in the local Rosario league until it joined the Argentine league in 1939 together with rivals Newell's Old Boys.
Rosario Central was relegated in 1942 and again in 1951; both times, it was promoted on the very next season.
Rosario Central won the Nacional championship in 1971 with Angel Labruna as coach, and again in 1973, being the first of many such achievements won by the coach Carlos Timoteo Griguol.
For the 1974 season, Central acquired striker Mario Kempes from Instituto Atletico Central Cordoba (Kempes and Instituto mate Osvaldo Ardiles were to be reunited in the national team that won the 1978 World Cup).
After seven years whitout titles, Central won the 1980 Nacional with veteran Angel Tulio Zof on the bench. That team was called "La Sinfonica" (the symphony orchestra) because they played very good, beautiful football.
After a few years with bad seasons, the team was relegated in 1985, but returned to first division the following year, and won the 1986/87 Championship. This was a first in Argentine football .
In 1995 Rosario Central won their only international title to date, the CONMEBOL Cup (one of the antecessors of the actual Copa Sudamericana).
It has participated in ten editions of the Copa Libertadores, third behind Boca Juniors and River Plate.
Stadium
Rosario Central plays in the Gigante de Arroyito stadium, located in the confluence of Avellaneda Boulevard and Genova Avenue, in the Lisandro de la Torre neighborhood (popularly known as Arroyito), in north-east Rosario.
It has an official capacity of 41,654, but crowds of 45,000 have been accommodated after it underwent major conditioning for the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina.
In that tournament, all three second-round games of the Argentine squad were played in the Gigante. Local hero Kempes enjoyed the support of the fans and went on to become the top scorer of the tournament.
Nicknames
Central's common nickname is canallas because it is said that they refused to play a charity match for a leprosy clinic in the 1920s; rival side Newell's acquired their leprosos (lepers) nickname when they did play in that event.
In a January 2007 press conference presenting the new jersey, Rosario native Roberto Fontanarrosa revised the definition and spelling of Central's nickname. The new spelling he gave was canaya, because according to him, people from the city of Rosario don't use the Spanish word canalla for any other reason than referring to the club.
Central are also known as La Academia (like the Argentine team Racing Club) due to the amount of players that become professional from their youth teams, and to the amount of consecutive Rosario's League titles that the club won in the amateur era, in comparison to Racing Club (called La Academia), that won a lot of championships in the Buanos Aires League at the same time too.
Honours
National Titles
Argentine First Division
*Winners: (4) Campeonato Nacional 1971, Campeonato Nacional 1973, Campeonato Nacional 1980, Argentine Primera 1986/1987
International Titles
Copa Conmebol (currently known as Copa Sudamericana)
*Winners (1): 1995
Players
Current Squad
As of 16 February 2008
Notable former players
Oscar Agonil (1975~1981)
Carlos Aimar (1971~1978)
Pedro Argota (1982~1988)
Daniel Arico (1970s)
Edgardo Bauza
David Bisconti (1988~1993)
Roberto Bonano (1991~1996)
Ramon Boveda (1970s)
Horacio Carbonari
Martin Cardetti (1995~1997)
Daniel Carnevali (1979~1982)
Juan Alberto Castro (1950s)
Jose Chamot
Carlos Colman (1970s)
Eduardo Chacho Coudet
Oscar Craiyacich (1970s & 1980s)
Ariel Cuffaro Russo (1983~1991)
Ruben Da Silva (1995~1998)
Marcelo Delgado (1990~1994)
Daniel Alberto Diaz (2000~2003)
Hernan Diaz (1985~1989)
Osvaldo Escudero (1986~1989)
Alberto Fanesi (1968~1972)
Paulo Ferrari (2001~2005)
Luciano Figueroa (2001~2003)
Jose Luis Gaitan (1970s & 1980s)
Walter Gaitan (1997~1998)
Juan Ghielmetti (1970s & 1980s)
Cristian Kily Gonzalez
Jorge Jose Gonzalez (1966~1978)
Ezequiel Gonzalez
Raul Gordillo
Patricio Graff (1995~1996)
Carlos Timoteo Griguol (1966~1969)
Juan Enrique Hayes (1907~1926)
Mario Kempes (1974~1976)
Daniel Killer (1970~1976)
Mario Killer (1970s)
Alejandro Lanari (1986~1991)
Fernando Lanzidei (1980s)
Leopoldo Luque (1972~1973)
Federico Lussenhoff (1992~1995)
Victor Marchetti (1980~1982)
Cesar Luis Menotti (1960~1963)
Ivan Moreno y Fabianesi (1998~2001)
Diego Gaston Ordonez (1993~1998)
Felix Orte (1978~1981)
Omar Palma
Aurelio Jose Pascuttini (1966~1976)
Juan Antonio Pizzi
Aldo Pedro Poy (1965~1974)
Jose Luis Puma Rodriguez
Ruben Rodriguez (1971~1975)
Marco Ruben (2004~2006)
Pablo Sanchez
Eduardo Solari (1969~1976)
Daniel Sperandio (1979~1984)
Guillermo Trama (1978~1980)
Juan Jose Urruti (1986~1988)
Federico Vairo (1950~1954)
Jose Van Tuyne (1974~1979)
Paulo Wanchope (2006)
Hector Zelada (1975~1979)
Angel Tulio Zof (1940s)|}
see also
Famous Supporters
Che Guevara
Alberto Olmedo
Roberto Fontanarrosa
Fito Paez
Jorge Siminovich
Juan Carlos Baglietto
Libertad Lamarque
Cesar Luis Menotti
Liz Solari (top model)
Osvaldo Bayer (writer and publicist)
Ayelen Stepnik (hockey player)
Antonio Agri (tango violinist)
Silvina Luna
Alejandro Levit (famous TV actor)
Luis Rubio (famous comedian and actor)
Ernesto Sabato (famous writer)
Joan Manuel Serrat (famous Spanish singer)
External links
Rosario Central Stadium at Worldstadiums.com
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Rosario Central
