Rosario Central

Rosario Central

Full name	Club Atlético Rosario Central
Nickname(s)	El Canalla (The Scoundrel) La Academia Rosarina (The Academy of Rosario)
Founded	24 December 1889 (1889-12-24)
Ground	Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
Ground Capacity	41,824
Chairman	Norberto Speciale
Manager	Miguel Angel Russo
League	Primera División
2013 Inicial	10th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Club Atlético Rosario Central (Spanish pronunciation: [roˈsaɾjo senˈtɾal]) is a football club based in Rosario, Argentina that currently plays in the Argentine Primera División. Rosario Central is one of the most successful football teams not based in Buenos Aires. The club has won the Argentine's First Division four times; its last domestic title was the 1986–87 season. In addition, Rosario Central won the Conmebol Cup (the precursor of the current Copa Sudamericana)^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} once, in 1995, being the only team in Santa Fe province which has won an official international title.

It is considered by FIFA, as one of the most traditional clubs in the Argentine football.^[8]

The club was officially founded in 1889, being one of the oldest Argentine teams, and took its name from the British-owned Central Argentine Railway company. Rosario Central has a strong rivalry with Newell's Old Boys. The matches played between them are named "El Clasico Rosarino", and is amongst the most heated rivalries in the sport due to both teams and due to Rosario Central's local popularity. Rosario Central's home stadium is Estadio Dr. Lisandro de la Torre, known simply as "El Gigante de Arroyito", which is the largest stadium in the city.

History

The beginning

Central Argentine Railway Athletic Club was founded on December 24, 1889 by 16 British railway workers of the British-owned Central Argentine Railway company as a football club. They wanted to be unlike Rosario Cricket Club (then Club Atlético del Rosario) which was focused on rugby union.

The first President was the British Scotsman Colin Bain Calder. And the First VicePresidente was British Englishman Thomas Hooper.

The recently created club played its first match thanks to the efforts of Mr. Mulhall, who searched for rivals at the port zone.

He arranged a match with the crew of an English ship, playing it on May 1890. The game ended 1–1. A new game was played, with Central Argentine the winner by 2–1.

During many years Central Argentine played only internal matches or facing Rosario Cricket Club occasionally. The British-owned railway did not allow people outside the company to become a member. In 1904 the railway companies Central Argentino and Buenos Aires merged so the club's members decided to modify the name of the institution. The club changed to Club Atlético Rosario Central and also decided to accept new members with no restrictions.^[9]

Amateur era: 1905-30

The Liga Rosarina de Fútbol (Rosario´s Football League) was created in March 1905, formed by teams from the city of Rosario, Santa Fe. The first tournament managed by the league was the "Copa Santiago Pinasco", named that way because the Mayor of Rosario, Santiago Pinasco, donated the trophy.

Central debuted on May 21, 1905, defeating Atlético del Rosario 3–1. On June, Central played a friendly match against English team Nottingham Forest, losing 5–0. Rosario Central won its first regional title in 1908. In 1913 the club disaffiliated from the league, although Central would return in 1914. That same year Central played 20 matches, winning 19 games with 1 draw. The team scored 99 goals and only conceded 10, being Harry Hayes the top scorer of the tournament with 51 goals.^[10] The team also won the 1915 and 1916 titles, becoming three-champion. Its last title in the league was in 1919, so in 1920 Rosario Central left the league again.

Once Rosario Central left the league, it joined other clubs to form the Asociación Amateur, although Central and the dissident clubs would return again to the league one year later. Central won the 1923, 1927, 1928 and 1930 championship, becoming the most successful team in Liga de Rosario's history.

National Cups

In 1915 Central won its second national title, obtaining the Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren. That was a trophy contested by the champions of Buenos Aires and Rosario. Central defeated Racing Club 3–1 in the final match.^[11]

In 1916 Central won the Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires after beating Independiente 1-0. That same year the Rosarino team won the Copa de Competencia Jockey Club defeating Independiente again. A new national title would come in 1920, when Central won the Copa de Competencia against Almagro.

Professional era

In 1931 football became professional in Argentina, so a new Association, the Asociación Rosarina de Fútbol was created in Rosario to organize the first professional championships. The Copa Nicasio Vila changed its name to Torneo Gobernador Luciano Molinas, honoring then Governor of Santa Fe Province Luciano Molinas. Rosario Central won the 1937 and 1938 titles.

In 1939, Rosario Central and arch-rival Newell's Old Boys requested Argentine Football Association to be added to national championships of Argentina. The Association accepted the requirement.

In 1941 Rosario Central was relegated to Primera B, after losing 20 matches with only 6 won. Nevertheless, Central only lasted one season in second division, returning one year later, after 25 matches won and only 4 lost. In 1950 Central was relegated again after a poor campaign in Primera. As its precedent relegation, Central promoted to the top division one year after being relegated, so the team returned to Primera in 1951.

First championships in Primera

Rosario Central won the Nacional championship in 1971 with Angel Labruna as coach defeating San Lorenzo in the final game. Central had previously defeated arch-rival Newell's 1-0 in semi-finals with a goal scored by Aldo Poy, who dove to head the ball (what is known as "la palomita" in Spanish). That goal is still remembered by Central supporters who usually reunite on December 19, to recreate the goal. Many times Poy himself has taken part of the celebration.^[12]

The second professional title for the club came two years later, winning the 1973 Nacional with Carlos Griguol as coach. Some of the most notable players were Poy, Carlos Aimar and Eduardo Solari. The most frecquent line-up was: Carlos Biasutto, Jorge González, Aurelio Pascuttini, Daniel Killer, Mario Killer, Carlos Aimar, Eduardo Solari, Aldo Poy, Ramón Bóveda, Roberto Cabral and Daniel Aricó.

For the 1974 season, Central acquired striker Mario Kempes from Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba (Kempes and Instituto mate Osvaldo Ardiles were to be reunited in the national team that won the 1978 World Cup).

The 1980s

After seven years without titles, Central won the 1980 Nacional with Ángel Tulio Zof on the bench. That team was called La Sinfónica (the Symphony Orchestra) because of the exquisite playing displayed by the team on the field. Central defeated Racing de Córdoba 5–0 in the first final game, and lost 2–0 in the second match but proclaimed champion due to goal average. Daniel Carnevali, Juan Carlos Ghielmetti, Edgardo Bauza, Oscar Craiyacich, Jorge García, José Gaitán, Daniel Sperandío, Eduardo Bacas, Félix Orte, Víctor Marchetti and Daniel Teglia was the frecquent line-up on the fields.

After a few years with bad seasons, the team was relegated in 1984, but returned to first division just one year later after winning the Primera B championship, coached by Pedro Marchetta. Central returned to Primera to play the 1986–87 season, winning the title at the end of the tournament but coached by Zof again. This was a first in Argentine football (oddly, Central Español performed a similar feat in Uruguay in the years 1983–84, also a first).

The 1986–87 team was formed by Alejandro Lanari, Hernán Díaz, Jorge Balbis, Edgardo Bauza, Pedernera, Omar Palma, Adelqui Cornaglia, Roberto Gasparini, Osvaldo Escudero, Fernando Lanzidei and Hugo Galloni.

International titles

The first years of the decade of 1990 Central did not make good campaigns in domestic tournaments, although the team won the CONMEBOL Cup (the precursor of the current Copa Sudamericana) in 1995, being the only international title achieved by a Santa Fe Province based team to date. Central defeated Brazilian squad Atlético Mineiro 4–0 in Arroyito after losing by the same score in the first match in Brazil. Finally Central won the Cup by Penalty shoot-out, with a score of 4–3.

The club has participated in ten editions of the Copa Libertadores, and is currently tied for fifth place with Estudiantes de la Plata and Vélez Sársfield, all of which trail participation leaders Boca Juniors, River Plate, Independiente, and San Lorenzo de Almagro.

Decline and resurrection

After the 2010 Clausura, Rosario Central's poor form over the past three years forced it into a relegation/promotion play-off against Nacional B side All Boys, which won the tie over two legs 4–1 on aggregate (defining the series with a thrashing 3-0 in Arroyito), relegating Rosario Central to Primera B Nacional, the second tier of Argentine football. It was the fourth time the club was relegated to play in the second division.

Rosario Central spent several seasons in the B Nacional until 19 May 2013, when the squad secured the promotion to Primera División after beating Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy by 3-0. The three goals were scored by Javier Toledo. The team was coached by Miguel Ángel Russo.^[13][14]

Kit and badge

Uniform evolution

1890-1903

1903-04 [lower-alpha 1]

1904-present

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Since July 2012, the clothing of Rosario Central is provided by the company Olympikus, who takes from the sports uniform up to the extra-sports clothes. In turn, the jacket is sponsored by the company City Bank Ingeconser from August 2011

Kit manufacturer Period Brand 1977–1982 Adidas 1983–1992 Topper 1992–1993 Uhlsport 1993–1995 Penalty 1995–1998 Le Coq Sportif 1998–2000 Umbro 2000–2006 Puma 2006–2009 Kappa 2009–2012 Puma 2012- Olympikus

Shirt sponsor Period Brand 1985–1986 Zanella 1986 Aurora Grundig 1987–1992 Zanella 1992–1998 General Paz Seguros 1998–2001 Cablehogar 2001–2002 - 2002–2005 Transatlántica 2005–2009 Paladini 2009–2011 Ciudad Ribera 2011- Ingeconser

Badge evolution

• 

  1903-73 ^{[a] [1]}

• 

  1973–present ^{[b] [1]}

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Stadium

Rosario Central plays in the Gigante de Arroyito stadium, located in the confluence of Avellaneda Boulevard and Génova Avenue, in the Lisandro de la Torre neighborhood (popularly known as Arroyito), in north-east Rosario. It has an official capacity of 41,654.

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 ("scoundrels", which is a rather mild insult in Argentina) because it is said that the club refused to play a charity match for a leprosy clinic in the 1920s; rival side Newell's acquired the leprosos (lepers) nickname when it did play in that event.

Another version states that in 1928 the Central supporters burned down some canvas near the Club Belgrano stadium (which Central had a strong rivalry). When the Belgrano supporters saw that, they started to shout to them: "you're scoundrels! scoundrels!".^[15]

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 do not use the Spanish word canalla for any other reason than referring to the club.

Central is also known as La Academia (like the Argentine team Racing Club) due to the amount of players that become professional from the 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 Buenos Aires´ League at the same time too.

Supporters

Rosario Central's supporters are considerated one of the most significant of Argentina. The Newspaper Olé was published last January 5, 2008 by a recent study realized by the English magazine UK Football. The same one, published that a ranking with the 50 most vibrant supporters of the world. The results were the following ones: as first, Milan represents the supporters of the AC, then that of Real Madrid, and third that of the Galatasaray of Turkey. Between the Argentinians that of Rosario Central turns out to be like first in the position 14, second that of River Plate in the position 20, third turn out to be the supporters of Boca Juniors in 23, and fourth that of Racing Club in the place number 48.^[16]

It is provided also with certain proper rituals, as being the « Throwing of Towel », on November 23 in recognition to the party that Rosario Central imposed on his rival for 4 on 0 and this one was considered finished to 11 minutes of the second half, is known as the day of the abandonment, or the celebration of the « Day of the Friend Canaya », which is celebrated on July 19 (date of death of Roberto Fontanarrosa) and the most important, the celebration of the Little dove of Poy, who celebrates all on December 19 in different cities of the world, raised an order so that between to the book Guinness as the most celebrated goal of the history

In popular culture

Rosario Central has featured in many films, books, songs and plays. The club has also featured on several occasions in prose. Roberto Fontanarrosa's story 19 de diciembre de 1971 is about a fan who travels to Buenos Aires for a Semi-Final match against Newell's Old Boys.

Celebrity fans include Alberto "El Negro" Olmedo, Rita la Salvaje, Libertad Lamarque, some writers such as Osvaldo Bayer and Roberto Fontanarrosa, and some musicians as well as Fito Páez, Juan Carlos Baglietto, Joaquín Sabina are all fans of the club.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a major figure of the Cuban Revolution, was a Rosario Central fan.

Players

Current squad

Current squad of Rosario Central as of September 22, 2013 (edit)
Sources: Official website and BDFA

No. Position Player 1  ARG GK Mauricio Caranta 2  ARG DF Alejandro Donatti 3  ARG DF Rafael Delgado 4  ARG DF Paulo Ferrari 5  ARG MF Matías Ballini 6  ARG DF Franco Peppino 7  ARG MF Hernán Encina 8  ARG MF Federico Carrizo 9  ARG MF Carlos Luna 10  ARG FW Antonio Medina 11  ARG MF Diego Lagos 12  ARG GK Manuel García 13  URU FW Sebastián Abreu 14  ARG MF Lucas Lazo 15  ARG DF Lisandro Magallán 16  ARG MF Guillermo Fernández

No. Position Player 17  ARG MF Walter Montoya 18  PAR MF Eduardo Ledesma 19  ARG FW Gonzalo Castillejos 20  ARG MF Pablo Becker 21  ARG DF Jonatan Schulze 22  ARG FW Franco Niell 23  ARG MF Nery Dominguez 24  ARG DF Tomás Berra 25  ARG DF Lucas Acevedo 26  ARG MF Bruno Zabala 27  ARG MF Jonás Aguirre 28  ARG FW Walter Acuña 29  ARG DF Victor Salazar 30  ARG MF Franco Cervi 31  ARG GK Jeremias Ledesma 32  ARG MF Federico Flores

Manager: Miguel Ángel Russo

Former players

Honours

Domestic

• Argentine Primera División (4): 1971 Nacional, 1973 Nacional, 1980 Nacional, 1986–87
• Copa Competencia "La Nación" (1): 1913 ^{[lower-alpha 2] [17]}
• Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren (1): 1915 ^[17]
• Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires (1): 1916 ^[17]
• Copa de Competencia Jockey Club (1): 1916 ^[17]
• Copa de Competencia (Asociación Amateurs) (1): 1920 ^[17]
• Primera B Nacional (1): 2012-13
• Primera B (3): 1942, 1951, 1985

International

• Copa Conmebol (1): 1995

Regional

• League of Rosario (12):

1908, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1937, 1938*

• Since 1939, Rosario Central begun to participate in the Argentina`s First Division into the AFA tournament.

Managers

• Hugo Galloni
• Juan José López (interim) (1995–96)
• Miguel Ángel Russo (1997–98)
• Juan José López (2001–02)
• César Luis Menotti (1 July 2002–15 Nov 02)
• Miguel Ángel Russo (2002–04)
• Víctor Púa (1 July 2004–23 Aug 04)
• Carlos Ischia (26 March 2007–23 Oct 07)
• Leonardo Madelón (1 July 2007–30 June 08)
• Pablo Sánchez (1 July 2008–5 Oct 08)
• Gustavo Alfaro (10 Oct 2008–2 March 09)
• Reinaldo Merlo (2 March 2009–14 May 09)
• Miguel Ángel Russo (17 April 2009–13 July 09)
• Leonardo Madelón (28 March 2010–30 June 10)
• Reinaldo Merlo (5 July 2010–24 Oct 10)
• Héctor Rivoira (24 Oct 2010–28 March 11)
• Omar Palma (29 March 2011–30 June 11)
• Juan Antonio Pizzi (1 July 2011–5 July 12)
• Miguel Ángel Russo (6 July 2012–)

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rosario Central.

• Official Site
• RosarioCentral.org (not official)
• Canalla.com
• Canalla a Muerte
• La Akd (fan site)
• De Rosario y de Central
• De Central

v t e Primera División 2013-14 teams All Boys Argentinos Juniors Arsenal Atlético de Rafaela Belgrano Boca Juniors Colón Estudiantes (LP) Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Godoy Cruz Lanús Newell's Old Boys Olimpo Quilmes Racing River Plate Rosario Central San Lorenzo Tigre Vélez Sarsfield Former teams* Almagro Alumni Argentino (B) Argentino (Q) Atlanta Banfield Sportivo Barracas Belgrano AC Sportivo Buenos Aires Barracas Central Central Córdoba (R) Chacarita Juniors Colegiales Defensores de Belgrano Del Plata Dock Sud El Porvenir Estudiantes (BA) Estudiantil Porteño Ferro Carril Oeste Flores Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA) Huracán Independiente Instituto Lomas Nueva Chicago Sportivo Palermo Platense Porteño San Isidro Talleres (C) Talleres (RE) Tiro Federal Seasons Calendar-year seasons 1891 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 Metropolitano and Nacional 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 European-style seasons 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 Apertura and Clausura 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 Inicial and Final 2012–13 2013–14 Other articles Amateur era All-time table Players Records Top scorers Fillol Award * Former teams with 50 games or more played in the division, ordered alphabetically.

v t e Copa CONMEBOL winners 1992: Atlético Mineiro 1993: Botafogo 1994: São Paulo 1995: Rosario Central 1996: Lanús 1997: Atlético Mineiro 1998: Santos 1999: Talleres