In the birth of the 20th. century, the sport of association football in Argentina developed an exponential growth, with a high number of clubs created mainly in the Buenos Aires area, plus the expansion of the sport in the city of Rosario. Among the clubs established in the 1900s were Boca Juniors, River Plate, Independiente, Racing, and San Lorenzo. which would be later known as the Big Five
The new decade was marked by the hegemony of Alumni, a club raised from the Buenos Aires English High School,Historia at the BAEHS which would become the most successful team of those times, being considered the first great team in the country.Alumni, sigue estando entre los más ganadores by Oscar Barnade at CIHF. Despite having been dissolved in 1913, their 22 titles place Alumni as one of the most winning team in the history of Argentine football.Alumni: Cuna de Campeones y Escuela de Hidalguía by Ernesto Escobar Bavio. Editorial Difusión, Buenos Aires (Published 1953)
The large number of titles (including the seven consecutive Primera División titles) by Racing during the second decade of the 20th. century earned them the nickname the Academy apart of being regarded as the successor of Alumni, which had been dissolved in 1913.
The new century also brought the first breakup in Argentine football when several clubs left the official AFA to form a new league, Federación Argentina de Football, in 1912. This dissident league would run for three years until the conflict ended and both associations merged into one.Historia at afa.com.ar Nevertheless, a new breakup would occur in 1919 when dissident clubs formed the Asociación Amateurs de Football, which organised its competitions until 1926.
Development and expansion: clubs The early years of the 20th century saw a large number of new clubs formed; by 1907, there were over 300 teams in Argentina.EFD Deportes Most of the major clubs were created around this period.Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina, by Jorge Iwanczuk. Published by Autores Editores (1992) -
Among the large number of clubs established in early 20th. century there were some institutions that would later earn not only several achievements but the biggest number of supporters. Those clubs, known as the Big Five,Cómo nacieron los cinco grandes del fútbol argentino at Ambito Financiero. 5 Aug 2025Los cinco grandes de Argentina: presente, urgencias y lo que viene en la Liga Profesional at espn.com.ar. 25 Oct 2025 were River Plate (1901), Racing (1903),Historia del fútbol argentino, por Juvenal. Capítulo I (1857 -1886) by Julio C. Pasquato (Juvenal) on El Gráfico. published online on 28 Dec 2024 Boca Juniors (1905), Independiente (1905),Historia at clubatindependiente.com.ar and San Lorenzo (1908).Historia de San Lorenzo on sanlorenzo.com.ar
Apart from those institutions, other clubs founded in the Buenos Aires are during those times were Tigre (1902), Argentinos Juniors (1904), Atlanta (1904), Ferro Carril Oeste (1904), Barracas Central (1904), San Telmo (1904), Platense (1905), Estudiantes de La Plata (1905), Chacarita Juniors (1906), Defensores de Belgrano (1906), Argentino de Merlo (1906), Huracán (1908), Vélez Sarsfield (1910), Excursionistas (1910), Almagro (1911), Nueva Chicago (1911), Temperley (1912), Almirante Brown (1912), All Boys (1913), Sportivo Barracas (1913), Ferrocarril Midland (1914), Lanús (1915), El Porvenir (1915), Lugano (1915), Dock Sud (1916), Los Andes (1917).
Clubs that were founded by those years but then disappeared or disaffiliated from AFA include San Isidro (1902), Estudiantil Porteño (1902), Progresista (1902), Alvear (1903), Reformer (1903), Kimberley (1906), Liberal Argentino (1906), Boca Alumni (1907), Sportivo Palermo (1908),Columbian (c. 1911), Honor y Patria (1911), C.A. Palermo (1914), Argentino de Banfield (1915), Del Plata (1915), Eureka (1915), Sportivo Villa Urquiza (1916), Sportivo Alsina (1916), Sportivo Buenos Aires (1918), Sportivo Balcarce (1919). All of those clubs participated at least once season in Primera División.
By this time, matches had a considerable attendance and as the popularity of the game increased the British influence on the game waned. In 1911, Alumni folded and by 1912 the Association was renamed in Spanish as the "Asociación del Fútbol Argentino", although the tradition of giving the clubs English names continued for many years.
Apart of Primera División tournaments, in 1900 AFA organised the first cup competition, Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires, contested by team from Buenos Aires and Rosario. Other cups were soon added to the annuar calendar such as Copa de Competencia Jockey Club (1907), and Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren (1913).
The rise and success of Alumni (1900–1911)
The so-called "father of Argentine football"Lomas marcó el rumbo, Clarín, 2001-07-15 was a Glaswegian schoolteacher Alexander Watson Hutton, who first taught football at St Andrew's School in Buenos Aires in the early 1880s. On 4 February 1884,"Alumni Athletic Club" - RSSSF. URL accessed on June 6, 2006. he founded the Buenos Aires English High School (BAEHS), where he continued to instruct the pupils in the game.
The BAEHS would be the homebirth of Alumni, founded by graduates and students of the school. Through their short life, Alumni became legendary due to the large number of titles won by the team not only at domestic but at international level. Alumni was also the first Argentine team to defeat a British side –South Africa– in 1906.A cien años de un triunfazo on Clarín, 24 June 2006
The squad was active until 1911 and was disbanded in 1913 due to internal problems. During the years Alumni was active, the team won a total of 22 titles, which positioned Alumni as the most winning team of that era and one of the most successful clubs in the history of Argentine football."Alumni: en el nombre del fútbol" on Clarín, 2003-04-21Historia y curiosidades de Alumni, el primer gran campeón argentino by Alejandro Fabbri on TyC. 24 Apr 2020
Alumni was not only a football giant but a symbol of fair play. Members of the Brown family (five brothers Jorge, Alfredo, Carlos, Eliseo, Ernesto, and cousin Juan Domingo) were notable players for the club and also for Argentina.
The legacy of Alumni has survived through many clubs that adopted the Alumni's red and white stripes for their shirts, such as Estudiantes de La Plata, Unión de Santa Fe, Talleres de Remedios de Escalada, San Martín de Tucumán, Barracas Central, and Instituto de Córdoba.
British teams touring Argentina (1904–1919)
British football clubs tours over South America contributed to the spread and develop of football in Argentina during the first years of the 20th century. The first club to tour on the country was Southampton F.C. in 1904 who were captained by George Molyneaux. They beat the Buenos Aires High School Alumni team 3–0 with Molyneaux remarking 'how far the Argentines were ahead of their European counterparts in France and Denmark.' Several other teams came afterwards (mainly from England although some Scotland clubs also visited South America) until 1929 with Chelsea F.C. being the last team to tour.South American Trip of Chelsea FC 1929 by Pablo Ciullini at the RSSSF
British teams were considered the best in the world by then, and some of them served as inspiration to establish football clubs in Argentina.El origen británico del deporte argentino (1806-1880) by Víctor Raffo. Publisher, Editorial Dunken, 2025 During the first years, the British sides showed a huge superiority over the Argentine teams, with outstanding performances by Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur. Nevertheless, within those 25 years of tours British teams' performances were decreasing while the South American squads' style of playing improved. Indeed, Southampton won all of their matches in 1904 with 40 goals scored in 1904British and Irish Clubs - Overseas Tours 1890-1939British Clubs in Argentina and Uruguay (1904-1929) (RSSSF)British and Irish Clubs - Overseas Tours 1890-1939 by Javier García on RSSSF while Chelsea (the last time to visit the country) was defeated eight times (over 16 games played) in their 1929 tour.
Development of football in Rosario
Apart from the Buenos Aires area, Rosario was the other seminal city during the early 20th century in Argentina. With a population of 131,000, the city had a great number of football enthusiasts who established several clubs around the city, some of them were Libertad, Estrella Polar, Atlético Rivadavia, Mariano Moreno, Ombú, “Liniers” and Echesortu F.C. Football was usually played when the cricket season ended. Although the city did not have an organised league until 1905 (when Liga Rosarina de Football was established)Hacemos memoria: Hoy 1905 at rosariofutbol.com. 22 Jul 2014Argentina - Provincia de Santa Fe - Rosario on RSSSF.com since 1900 the football squads of Rosario A.C. and Rosario Central had taken part of the first international tournament in South America, the Tie Cup, played by teams of Rosario, Buenos Aires and Uruguay.Cup Tie Competition at the rsssf.com Rosario A.C. became the first Rosarian team to win an international cup after winning the Tie Cup in 1902, defeating Alumni 2–1 in the playoff match. The squad would win two titles else, in 1904 (beating Uruguayan CURCC 3–2) and 1905 (winning over CURCC again by 4–3), totalling three championships in six years."Cuando el Rosario Athletic salió campeón... de fútbol", CIHF Argentina
Teams from Rosario had also participated in the first national cups organised by AFA, such as Copa de Honor,"Argentina - Copa de Honor "Municipalidad de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires" - 1905" at rsssf.com (which Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central would later win in 1911 and 1916 respectively)Campeones de Primera División (Copas Nacionales) at afa.org.ar Rosario Central (just like Avellaneda's Racing Club) earned the nickname Academy in recognition to their change of style of playing, from the British influences to a creole identity.Historia del fútbol argentino, por Juvenal. Capítulo II (1886 - 1900) at El Gráfico. Posted online 29 Dec 2024 That nickname (that survives to present days) originated during the period 1913–1917, when the team dominated the Rosarian League.Club Atlético Rosario Central: 24 de diciembre de 1889 at Copa Argentina. 24 Dec 2023
At the request of president of Newell's Old Boys, Víctor Heitz, other prominent teams of the city were invited to create a local league to organise a football competition. Therefore, "Liga Rosarina de Football" was established with Newell's, Rosario A.C., Rosario Central and Atlético Argentino as founding members. The body organised a second division tournament that became the first competition in Santa Fe Province."Historia en Rojo y Negro", p. 149 & 151, La Capital"Creación de la Liga Rosarina de Football" by Leonardo Volpe on Historia del Fútbol Rosarino, 14 May 2010"Hacemos memoria: año 1905" on Asociación Rosarina de Fútbol website, 22 Jul 2014"Historias de no creer en el apasionante clásico de la ciudad" , La Capital, 1 Nov 2008"Atlético del Rosario: Segunda parte" on Historia del Fútbol Rosarino, 22 Mar 2010 The trophy awarded to the winning team was donated by the mayor of Rosario, Santiago Pinasco, and named after him.Galería de Trofeos on ARF website
Copa Nicasio Vila was the top division of Liga Rosarina, being held between 1907 and 1930, when it was replaced by Torneo Gobernador Luciano Molinas.Trofeo Luciano Molinas on Asociación Rosarina
Racing Club: the "Academy" (1911–1919)