Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata
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Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata is a sports club in La Plata, Buenos Aires province, Argentina, mostly known for its successful basketball team of the 1970s and 1980s and for its professional football team.
History
The club was founded on June 3, 1887, and is the oldest Argentine first division side.
The club was one of a network of Gimnasia y Esgrima (lit. "Gymnastics and Fencing") clubs created in Argentina in the late 19th century. Rival club Estudiantes de La Plata split from Gimnasia in 1905 because Gimnasia's management did not agree to put emphasis on football.
In 1905, Gimnasia started played in the third division of the then-amateur football league, as well as in the under-17 division. It retired from competition until 1915, when it won the Intermedia (second division) title. The club also obtained the 1929 championship, shortly before the professionalization of the sport in Argentina, and the Centenario Cup in 1993.
Gimnasia was relegated to second division in 1943, 1945, 1951 and 1979; it returned to the first division for the last time in 1985. The club also won the second division championship in 1944, 1947 and 1952.
In 1995, Gimnasia took second place in the Clausura, and in the next year it repeated this performance, when the championship title was denied to them at the last day of the tournament. On those years, the team was coached by veteran coach Carlos Timoteo Griguol.
Due to the averaging system used in Argentina (see Primera División de Argentina), Gimnasia courted relegation danger during the 2005 Clausura, but a string of victories near the end of that tournament, and a second-place finish in the 2005 Apertura, helped Gimnasia clear that hurdle.
Following that campaign, in which Gimnasia was a contender until the last day, coach Pedro Troglio was confirmed. In the first games of the 2006 Clausura tournament, the team's performance has been irregular, partly due to the departure of play-maker Lucas Lobos to Cádiz CF.
Stadium
The "Juan Carlos Zerrillo" stadium, known as el Bosque (the forest, because it is located in the La Plata park of the same name, within walking distance of Estudiantes' field) has a capacity of roughly 33,000.
Even though a new stadium has been built for the city of La Plata, both Gimnasia and Estudiantes chose to stay at their respective fields until they were both closed down due to new security measures.
Starting with the 2006 Clausura tournament, Gimnasia uses the new stadium. Many have expressed their discontent with this step, and fans have protested in front of City Hall (see Julio Alak for more on the mayor's handling of the stadium issue).
Fan base
Within the city of La Plata and its environs, the Gimnasia fan base is identified with the working class, contrasting with the mostly middle class Estudiantes constituency. There are also few Gimnasia fans outside the La Plata area.
The fans' collective calls itself "la 22", after 22nd street in La Plata where many famous fans lived, notably Marcelo Amuchástegui. Known as Loco Fierro, Amuchástegui was famous for his exploits, such as hanging a 100-meter Gimnasia flag in the Bombonera stadium. He was shot to death by Rosario police in a murky episode on 28 May 1991.
Nicknames
Gimnasia is called el lobo (the wolf) because its stadium is inside the bosque (forest).
Another nickname, mensanas, derives from the Latin motto Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body).
The name triperos (gut-handlers) comes from the many supporters who worked in the meat-processing plants of nearby Berisso. Curiously, the same nickname is used for the population of Porto in Portugal.
Rivals taunt Gimnasia as subcampeones (runners-up) as they were runners-up five times in the professional era. Nevertheless, Gimnasia won the 1929 amateur championship, and the 1994 Centenario Cup organized by the AFA.
Records
Gimnasia has the record for the fastest goal in Argentina's league, Carlos Dantón Seppaquercia scored against Huracán after 5 seconds, on March 20, 1979.Gimnasia is also the first South American team to ever defeat Real Madrid CF on its own field. This happened in a friendly match played on January 1, 1931. The match was one of many that Gimnasia played in a series of friendly matches all over Europe that year. The final score of the macth was Gimnasia 3 - Real Madrid CF 2.
List of famous players
- Hugo Orlando Gatti (el Loco)
- Carlos Della Savia (el Maestro)
- Alberto Beltrán (el Maestro cordobés)
- Carlos Carrió (Charlie)
- Guillermo Barros Schelotto
- Gustavo Barros Schelotto
- Ricardo Kuzemka
- Alfredo Rojas (el Tanque)
- Diego Bayo (Paco)
- Delio Onnis (Tano)
- Mariano Messera
- Lucas Lobos
- Facundo Sava (Colorado)
- Guillermo Sanguinetti (Topo)
- Leo Noce
- Jose Battle Perdomo
- Pablo Bengoechea
- Alberto José Márcico (Beto)
- Andrés Guglielminpietro (Guly)
- Roberto Sosa (Pampa top goalscorer 1998)
- Claudio Enría (Caio)
- Pedro Troglio
Current squad
Basketball
The GELP basketball team peaked during the 1978 and 1979 campaigns, prevailing both times over favorite Obras Sanitarias for the Metropolitano title, with players such as González, Gehrmann, Peinado, and Americans Michael Jackson, Lawrence Jackson, and point-guard Clarence Edgar Metcalfe, the team's leader and the league MVP in 1979.
Gimnasia were runners-up in the 2003/04 Argentine league tournament, only to be relegated to Second Division on the next season.
External links
- [Official Web Site]
- [Los Triperos-La Pagina del Lobo]
- [AFA site]
- [English site]
- [Opinion on 1994 Centenario Cup] (Spanish)
- [Fan site (Spanish)]
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