Sportivo Palermo (Argentina)
Founded on May
18th, 1908, Sportivo Palermo was given the name from the
neighbourhood it was created in, Palermo.
It’s shirt colours derived from it’s crest, blue and white. They played
amateur level football and in 1915 when they merged with Atlas Club, they
joined the Argentine Football
Federation. They begin to compete in the fourth division of the Argentinian
football pyramid. They kept the name Sportivo Palermo, despite the fact Club
Atlas were a successful amateur club, but it was thought that the younger
players of Sportivo Palermo were better in quality and so they adopted the name
of Sportivo Palermo at the time and the name Club Atlas disappeared, along with
that club itself. The club played their football matches at Caseros in Buenos
Aires. The club moved back to the Palermo neighbourhood for the 1922 season. In
their time at Caseros the club won the 1917 Segunda Division Championship. They
topped their group, Section A, North, with a record of 25 points. This
qualified them for the final tournament in which they won and got promoted to
the Intermediate Division.
The club
remained at amateur level after merging with Club Atlas and played in the
Fourth Division (1915), Third Division (1916) and then the Segunda (1917-1919)
before aking the step up to the topflight in 1920. It was around this time the
club decided to merge with another club, or more seen as a takeover. In 1920,
the club took over Asociacion Atletico Eureka or Eureka Club as they were
sometimes known as. Eureka Club had played for three seasons, reaching the topflight
of Argentinian football, only for them not to be able to complete the 1919
season. This resulted in them merging with Sportivo Palermo, a club that was
right beside them in regards location and had, themselves, just been promoted. There
first season in the topflight, in 1920, saw the club finish 10th ,
winning eight, drawing three and losing twelve. That season also saw them gain
the unwanted record of having the biggest away defeat, losing 6-0 to Sportivo
Almagro. It was also a season of controversy, in which the league in which
Sportivo Palermo were competing in lost two clubs’ mid-season. Sportivo Palermo
played in the Asociacion Argentina de Football (AFA), but there was another
league in Argentina at the time known as the Asociacion Amatuers de Football
(AAmF). Both Lanus and Sportivo Almagro left the AFA season to join the AAmF
League. Boca Juniors won the AFA that year whilst their fierce rivals, River
Plate won the AAmF.
The 1921 season
saw Sportivo Palermo finishing 9th out of 11, although Platense did
not finish the season. Sportivo Palermo only won three games all season,
drawing four and losing thirteen. The 1922 season saw much improvement to the
extent that they nearly won their first title, only missing out by three points
to Huracan. Sportivo Palermo finished 2nd, winning eleven, drawing
three and only two games all season, finishing above Boca Juniors, who finished
in 3rd place. The 1923 season saw the club drop to 16th
in what was now a 23-club league, expanded from the previous season where heir
were only 17 clubs competing. Of the new clubs to join the AFA, another side,
Palermo, who had been relegated from the AAmF league the season before had
joined. The other clubs to make their AFA debuts that season where All Boys,
Argentina de Banfield and Sportivo Villa Urquiza. Argentino de Quilmes also
returned to the topflight having been relegated back in 1918.
For the 1924
season, Sportivo Palermo made the switch to the AAmF and finished 14th
out of 24, winning seven, drawing five and losing eleven. The 1925 season saw
them improve their position to 7th, winning ten, drawing eight and
losing six. There was controversy in the AFA Championship play-off that year,
with Huracan playing Nueva Chicago in the final. The game had finished 1-1 in
normal time with goals from Maure (Nueva Chicago) and Stabile (Huracan),
however, the Nueva Chicago players refused to play in extra time, due to the
sending off of their striker, Sergio Varela. The AFA awarded the championship
to Huracan consequently. The 1926 season saw Sportivo Palermo finish 8th,
winning fourteen, drawing three and losing eight. It would be the final season
before the two associations merged and it saw several clubs being relegated,
all from the AFA. The 1927 saw the Argentine Primera Division emerge, with 34
clubs competing in the league that year. There was also no relegation that
season, so the bottom four teams, Tigre (31st), San Isidro (32nd),
Estudantes (33rd), and Porteno (34th) were given a
reprieve. Sportivo Palermo finished a respectable 8th that season,
winning seventeen, drawing seven and losing nine. It would be San Lorenzo who
would win the first Primera that had been merged. The 1928 season saw the
league expand to 36 clubs, with each team only playing each other once, as was
the case the previous season. Unlike the 1927 season, there was the possibility
of relegation, and this happened to Liberal Argentino and Poteno. Sportivo
Palermo finished 19th, winning eleven, drawing eleven and losing
thirteen. There was the weird scenario that any of the founders of Asociacion
Amateur (AAmF) could not be relegated unless they finished in the bottom four
twice. Basically, they were given a lifeline. They could finish in the four
once and not be relegated, but if it happened again, they were relegated. This
was only for the AAmF clubs and not the clubs that competed in the AFA.
The 1929 season
saw another restructure of the league format as many though the 36-club league
was too much and wasn’t fair as each team would only play each once in the
season. Instead, the new season would be split into two groups, from the now 35
clubs that competed. The top two of each group would then play each other in a
final stage tournament to declare who was the overall Argentine Primera
Division Champion. However, the season was full of controversy, with numerous
games being abandoned. Huracan, the defending champions, withdrew from eight
games in total that season and finished 14th in their group. Sportivo
Palermo competed in Group B, which was won by Boca Juniors, albeit they had to
play a play-off match with San Lorenzo to decide who was the eventual winner of
the group. After losing to Boca, San Lorenzo were to play a third-place
play-off with River Plate but they failed to turn up to the match, so the game
was awarded to River Plate. Sportivo Palermo finished 9th out of 17
in the group, winning six, drawing two and losing eight. The overall
championship was won by Gimnasia y Esgrima, their first title in their history,
although many will point to the fact that a lot of games where not played that
season. Once again, there were no relegations, with Colegiales gaining
promotion to the Primera.
Once again, a
restructure of the format of how the league would be played was made, and the
Argentine Primera Division reverted to a 36-team league, with each club playing
each other once. But like the previous season, match abandonment and clubs just
not turning up to matches marred the season that saw Boca Juniors crowned
champions. Sporting Palermo finished a miserable 31st, winning
seven, drawing eleven and losing seventeen. Relegation was brought back in and
Honor y Patria and Argentino del Sud were the unlucky clubs who finished 35th
and 36th, with the latter setting one of the worst points tally in a
season ever seen in South American football, finishing with just four points.
It would seem
there was a theme in Argentinian football that every season had to have some
sort of controversy connected to it and the 1931 season was no different.
Originally, 34 clubs were to compete in one league, like the previous season,
but after 19 games where played, a group of clubs decided to breakaway and form
a new, professional league known as Liga Argentina de Football. It included 18
clubs in total, with Boca Juniors, River Plate, San Lorenzo, and Racing being
amongst the clubs to make the switch. However, Sportivo Palermo stayed with the
AFA, which remained an amateur league. They finished 8th that season
out of the 16 clubs that remained, winning six, drawing three and losing six.
It was the 1932 season which turned out to be one of the worst in Sportivo
Palermo’s history as the club finished bottom of the AFA league, winning ten,
drawing four and losing eighteen. They were relegated to the Segunda by just
one point.
But without
fail, there was a twist in the tail for Sportivo Palermo and once again they
looked to merge with another club, this time it was with Club Atletico Palermo.
The merger lasted two seasons, with the club, under the name Atletico y
Sportivo Palermo, finishing the 1933 season in 16th, winning just
six games, drawing two and losing eleven. The 1934 season was a huge
disappointment, with the club finishing bottom in 23rd place, wining
just three games all season, drawing three and losing sixteen. It would be the
final season in which the clubs would play as a merged club and both went their
separate ways, to the third division of the Argentinian pyramid. But Sportivo
didn’t play in any official tournaments until 1956, when they re emerged to
take part in the Primera D championship or also known as Tercera de
Ascenso. The club didn’t last long in
the Primera D and were promoted instantly after finishing second to the
champions of the division, Almirante Brown.
The club jumped
up and down between the third and fourth divisions, playing in the third
division until 1960 when they were relegated. They eventually gained promotion
back to the third division in 1963 and remained there until 1970 when they were
relegated again. From the 1971 season up until 1983 they remained in the fourth
division before they left the Argentine Association and soon after dissolved as
a football club.
One of the most decorated players to ever play for Sportivo Palermo was a man named Ludovico Bidoglio or ‘Vico’ as he was known. Although more renowned for his time at Boca Juniors where he won nine major trophies, five of them were league titles, the centre back is probably the most famous player to put on the blue and white of Sportivo Palermo. Other names include John Ervisto, another defender who won a silver medal at the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928 and a runners-up medal at the World Cup in Uruguay in 1930 when playing for the Argentinian National team.
In what was one
of the most complicated stories I have researched, not just all of the merging
that went on, but the constant restructuring and mayhem that went on within the
league formats and associations involved, it is quite clear that the early days
of Argentinian football was quite eventful to say the least. In a country full
of passionate fans, I can only imagine that it was because emotions ran high
when it came to football and people supporting their football clubs. This will
become more evident when you read about the other South American ‘Forgotten
Clubs’ I have covered, as this won’t be the last time we visit the continent
that has produced so many wonderful football players. However, Sportivo Palermo
seemed to survive all the early mayhem, and consistently performed at the top
level, albeit never really competing for a title, except for their second year
in the topflight in 1922 when they came runners up. They are a club who only
lay claim to one title in their entire history and that was a lower league
triumph in 1917. They did what they had to do to survive though, merging three
times would suggest that, but even that wasn’t enough in the end, and
unfortunately, they ceased to exist. Will they re-emerge like did back in the
1950’s? Football is a totally different place than it was back then, and Buenos
Aires has plenty of football clubs already for fans to choose from, but you
never know, maybe one day, the name Sportivo Palermo could pop up. More than
likely as a merger with another club. Sportivo Palermo y Boca Juniors anyone?