| Clubname: | Belgrano |
| Current: | 2023 Club Atlético Belgrano season |
| Fullname: | Club Atlético Belgrano |
| Nickname: | El Pirata (The Pirate) El Celeste (The Sky-blue) La "B" (The B) |
| Ground: | El Gigante de Alberdi |
| Capacity: | 35,000 |
| Chairman: | Luis Fabián Artime |
| Manager: | Juan Cruz Real |
| League: | Primera División |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Position: | 13th |
| Website: | https://www.belgranocordoba.com/ |
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Club Atlético Belgrano (pronounced as /es/; mostly known simply as Belgrano pronounced as /es/ or Belgrano de Córdoba pronounced as /es/) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba, best known for its football team, which currently plays in the Primera División, the first level of Argentine football league system, after being promoted from the 2022 Primera Nacional.
Belgrano's stadium is called Julio César Villagra and is also known as El Gigante de Alberdi; it is located in Barrio Alberdi, in the central area of the city of Córdoba; it has a capacity of 35,000 spectators. The club occasionally uses the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, which has a capacity of 57,000 spectators.
Belgrano was founded on 19 March 1905 in Barrio Alberdi.[1] It was named in commemoration of the Argentine historical figure Manuel Belgrano,[2] and its colours were taken from the flag of Argentina, created by Belgrano himself. Arturo Orgaz was named as the first president.[2]
The club settled on a land given by Ramón Moreno. Days after its foundation, Belgrano started to play friendly matches against neighboring clubs; one of them was vs. an homonymous club and the winner earned the right to keep the name. As Belgrano de Alberdi won the match 2–1, they could retain their name.
In 1913 Belgrano was one of the founding members of "Nueva Federación Cordobesa de Fútbol", predecessor to "Liga Cordobesa". One year later, the team played the first Clásico cordobés vs. Talleres, a match held on 17 May and suspended after the players of Talleres abandoned the field in protest after a goal scored by Belgrano forward José Lascano.[3] Some months later, Belgrano won the clásico 8–1, which remains as the largest win between both clubs.[4]
In 1933 the Liga Cordobesa became professional, with Belgrano winning its first title of the new era.[5] The 1930s marked a strong supremacy of the team, winning all the championships between 1933 and 1937 with the exception of 1934 (won by Talleres). In 1938 Belgrano toured Bolivia, winning 3 of 4 matches (1 draw), scoring 18 goals. The highlight of that tour was a 6–0 win over Club Bolívar.[6]
Between 1940 and 1957 Belgrano won 14 league titles, with a powerful attacking line nicknamed Quinteto de Oro. It was formed by Héctor Carrizo, Justo Coria, Oscar Mona Peralta, Dardo Lucero, and Francisco García, which is regarded as the best group of forwards in the history of football in Córdoba.
In 1968, the club participated for the first time in a national tournament, finishing ninth in the table. In 1980, Belgrano won the Copa Cordoba, which was an international tournament consisting of Fluminense from Brazil, Servette from Switzerland, Budapest Honvéd from Hungary, and Instituto and Talleres from Cordoba. In the final, at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Belgrano defeated Honved in extra time to win the title.[7]
In 1991, Belgrano achieved promotion to the Primera Division for the first time, being there for five years until being relegated in 1996. In 1998, the club was promoted again, but in 2001 the club played the relegation playout and barely achieved permanence based on sporting advantage after a draw to Quilmes on aggregate. The following year, things did not improve and Belgrano were relegated.
Since then the club has spent various seasons in both the first and second divisions, but there have been some notable promotions, such as the promotion achieved in the 2011 season. Belgrano had a good start to the 2011 season, finishing fourth in the league and qualifying to the promotion playoffs. Powerhouse River Plate were having one of the worst seasons of its history and were sent to the relegation playoff against Belgrano. Despite River's poor season, many people did not think it was possible for River to get relegated, mainly due to the "sporting advantage" rule existing at the time. However, on 26 June 2011, Belgrano drew 1–1 with River at Estadio Monumental and sent the club down to the second division for the first time in club history, after having won the first leg 2–0 a few days earlier. This caused massive riots after the match, and this match became one of the most notable of Argentine football and football history.[8] [9]