Founding in La Boca (1905)

Lore & Background

On 3 April 1905, a group of boys, who were the sons of Italian immigrants (more specifically from Genoa), met in order to find a club. The house where the meeting was arranged was Esteban Baglietto's and the other four people who attended were Alfredo Scarpatti, Santiago Sana and brothers Juan Farenga and Teodoro Farenga. Other important founding members include Arturo Penney, Marcelino Vergara, Luis Cerezo, Adolfo Taggio, Giovanelli, Donato Abbatángelo, and Bertolini. Before the club was officially established in the La Boca district of Buenos Aires in April 1905, Irish immigrant from Cashel, County Tipperary, Patrick McCarthy taught the fundamentals and rules of the game to young local youths, including future club founders like Esteban Baglietto, so when these boys founded the club they asked the Irishman to be its first manager.

In Their Own Story

The late afternoon sun dipped low over the Riachuelo, painting the muddy banks in hues of rust and gold. The air hung heavy with the scent of diesel, salt spray, and wet timber. Amidst the rhythmic clang of ship engines, a heated debate erupted among five young men huddled on a crate: 'What do we call ourselves?' One gestured wildly toward the water where a Swedish freighter cut through the haze, its blue hull and yellow funnel stark against the gray sky. 'Blue and yellow,' shouted Juan Brichetto, his voice cutting through the din. 'Like that ship!' The suggestion sparked an immediate roar of agreement. In that fleeting moment, before a single organized match was played, the colors of Boca Juniors were sealed not by committee, but by the wind and the will of the port.

Reader's Guide

Boca Juniors has a fierce rivalry with River Plate, and matches between them are known as the Superclásico. It is the most heated rivalry in Argentina and one of the biggest in the world, as the clubs are the two most popular in the country. Boca's home stadium is the Estadio Alberto J. Armando, better known colloquially as La Bombonera. In addition to men's football, Boca Juniors has professional women's football and basketball teams. Other (amateur) activities held in the club are: bocce, boxing, chess, field hockey, futsal, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, handball, martial arts (judo, karate, and taekwondo), swimming, volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling.

Did You Know?

• The team has won 74 official titles, the most by any Argentine club.
• Boca Juniors owns an honorary title awarded by the Argentine Football Association for their successful tour of Europe in 1925.
• Boca was named by the IFFHS as the top South American club of the first decade of the 21st century (2001–2010).
• As of January 2023, Boca Juniors ranked first among the clubs with the most members in Argentina, with 315,879.