Campeonato Metropolitano Championships

Chacarita Juniors' historic 1969 Metropolitano triumph: a small club's only top-division title.

The 1969 Campeonato Metropolitano final was the final match of the 1969 Campeonato Metropolitano, the first of the two league championships held during the 78th season of the Argentine Primera División. The match was contested between Chacarita Juniors (who played their first Primera División final) and River Plate (contesting their 3rd final). The match was held in a neutral venue, in this case the Racing Club Stadium in Avellaneda, on 6 July 1969. Chacarita defeated River 4–1 to win their 1st (and only to date) title in the upper division of Argentine football.

Quick Facts

League level: Argentine Primera División
Primary venue: Racing Club Stadium (Avellaneda)
Key rivalry: River Plate

Lore & Background

Argentino Geronazzo, who started his tenure as manager in 1968, is regarded as the main responsible in the success of that team. Most of their players emerged from the youth divisions plus the addition of Abel Pérez (from Boca Juniors), Rodolfo Orife from Estudiantes de La Plata, and Juan C. Puntonero from Newell's Old Boys. Federico Pizarro then replaced Geronazzo and had the great virtue of maintaining the team's system and style of play. Before the semifinal v Racing, Pizarro resigned due to a disagreement with the Chacarita executive committee, being replaced by Víctor Rodríguez, who was the manager in the two last matches of the tournament.

Chacarita repeated their good performance in the 1970 and 1971 seasons. Also in 1971 Chacarita Juniors was invited (as Argentine champions) to participate in the traditional Joan Gamper Trophy, where the team made a surprising debut defeating Bayern Munich 2–0. The team was coached by Armando Mareque for that trophy's line-up listing.

Reader's Guide

The match was held at Estadio Presidente Perón, owned by Racing Club de Avellaneda. The stadium had been officially inaugurated in September 1950. The following year, it was selected as the main venue for the 1951 Pan American Games, hosting the opening ceremony and all football matches. On 1 November 1967, the stadium hosted the second leg of the 1967 Intercontinental Cup, where Racing defeated Celtic 2–1.

The match drew approximately 120,000 spectators, marking the highest attendance ever recorded at a stadium in Argentina. Participant teams were divided into two groups of 11 teams each. They played a double round-robin tournament plus two derbies (vs Platense and Boca Juniors in the cases of Chacarita and River, respectively) totalising 22 matches played. The first two teams of each zone qualified to the semifinals, which (just like the final) were decided on one single match and held in neutral venues.

Did You Know?

Chacarita scored two goals in the first half (both by Neumann). In the second half, Ángel Marcos scored a third goal after a run from midfield, dribbling a defender and goalkeeper, then nutmegging Miguel Ángel López.
In 1971, Chacarita Juniors was invited to the Joan Gamper Trophy and defeated Bayern Munich 2–0 (goals by Marcos and Rodolfo Fucceneco), then lost 1–0 to host FC Barcelona in the final.