The Estadio Alvear y Tagle was a
stadium
A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. The venue had a capacity for 40,000 spectators and was located on Alvear (now
Del Libertador Avenue and Tagle street), in the
Recoleta district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
. Opened in 1923, it was rented and operated by
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Belgrano neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city's estuary, Río de la Plata. ...
, being used as its home venue until the club inaugurated the
Estadio Monumental in 1938.
History
In 1922,
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Belgrano neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city's estuary, Río de la Plata. ...
signed a contract with British company
Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway
The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway (BA&P) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Buenos Aires al Pacífico) was one of the ''Big Four'' Indian gauge, broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina.
The original ...
to rent a land in
Recoleta district. The contract was for a period of 5 years, for
m$n 500 per month. The purpose was to build a stadium to host River Plate home football matches.
[
The stadium was built and inaugurated in 1923 to serve as home venue for Club Atlético River Plate football team. The official grandstand, built on Alvear avenue, had 120 meters long. Under the grandstands, there were first aid room, hair saloon, sports clothing for club's members and a party hall.
][Estadio Alvear y Tagle]
on Viejos Estadios website
In May 1923, the stadium was officially inaugurated in occasion of a friendly match between local host River Plate and Uruguayan club Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football.
The nam ...
. In June 1923, Scottish club Third Lanark
Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...
played at River Plate stadium six games of their tour on South America.[British and Irish Clubs - Overseas Tours 1890-1939]
by Javier García on RSSSF Then President of Argentina, Marcelo T. de Alvear, attended the Third Lanark v. Asociación Amateurs combined match on June 24, 1923.
The first official match played by River Plate in that stadium was on July 22, 1923, v. Vélez Sársfield. River Plate won by 2–1. The venue also hosted the Campeonato Argentino final stage. It was a competition played by Argentine provincial sides. In December 1923, boxer Luis Ángel Firpo
Luis Ángel Firpo (October 11, 1894 – August 7, 1960) was an Argentine boxer. Born in Junín, Argentina, he was nicknamed ''The Wild Bull of the Pampas''. He was the first Latin American in history to challenge for the world heavyweight titl ...
made an exhibition fight v. Joe Boykin.
In August 1924 and May 1925, the Asociación Amateurs combined played Federación Uruguaya de Football. Both teams were representatives of dissident associations of both countries. The stadium would be refurbished later, extending its capacity to near 50,000 spectators.
The stadium was the venue for several football matches during the tours made by European teams at the end of the 1920s. Some of them were Spanish clubs Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
(which played their first game v. the Argentina national team) and Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
[European Clubs in Argentina and Uruguay (1914-1935)]
by Sergio Hernández on RSSSF Scottish Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the . Motherwell have not dropped out of the top flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have lifted one trophy in that ...
(one of several British clubs that toured on South America),[ Hungarian ]Ferencváros
Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary.
Name
The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary.
History
The developmen ...
and Italian Torino
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
.[
River Plate was also one of two stadiums that hosted the 1929 Copa América. The 1929 Primera División playoff match between ]Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
and Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata
Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (; ''La Plata Gymnastics and Fencing Club''), also known simply as Gimnasia, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1887 as "Club de Gimnasia ...
was also played in River Plate. In 1930, Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
became the first European national side that played at the venue, facing the Argentine side on August 3.
The club expanded their facilities around the stadium. Other sports include tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
and volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
courts and a swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...
. In 1936 the club installed a lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. ...
system in the stadium, supported on six metallic towers. Nevertheless, the increase of popularity of football in Argentina
Association football is the most popular sport in Argentina and part of the culture of Argentina, culture in the country. It is the one with the most players (2,658,811 total, 331,811 of which are registered and 2,327,000 unregistered; with 3,37 ...
forced River Plate to build a new stadium with higher capacity. The last game played there was on December 5, 1937, v. San Lorenzo de Almagro
Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...
. The following year the stadium would be dismantled and the land became a public park. Part of the grandstand structures (made in wood) were sold to Club Almagro
Club Almagro is an Argentine sports club from José Ingenieros, Buenos Aires, although its headquarters are in the Almagro, Buenos Aires, Almagro district. The association football, football team currently plays in the Primera Nacional, the secon ...
and placed in the stadium the club owned on Fraga and Estomba streets.[David Goldblatt; World Soccer Yearbook; 2002 ]
References
{{Club Atlético River Plate
alvear
alvear
Club Atlético River Plate