All Boys

History

The name "All Boys" reflected the youthfulness of its founders, and followed the Argentine tradition of naming football clubs in English, such as Newell's Old Boys, Boca Juniors, River Plate and Racing Club had done before.

In 1914 All Boys registered to Argentine Football Association and began to play at "División Intermedia" (current Second Division) qualifying to play the Copa Competencia. The team promoted to Primera División in 1922, making its debut in the top division on 11 March 1923, against Temperley, which won the match by 1–0. The first official goal in Primera was scored against Porteño in a game that ended 1–1. All Boys won its first game in Primera in the 3rd fixture, when the "Albo" beat Progresista by 3–1.

All Boys disaffiliated from the Association in 1926 but the team returned to Segunda División one year later when both associations merged into one. In 1931, All Boys was promoted a second time, remaining in Primera until 1934 when the Amateur Association joined Professional league and all its teams were relegated.

In 1945 the team went down to the second division for the first time, but next year All Boys won the Tercera de Ascenso championship after defeating Justo José de Urquiza 2–1. That season All Boys played 24 matches and scored 91 goals.

In 1950 there was a restructuring in Argentine football that sent many teams to the lower division, alleging that those institutions had their stadiums in poor conditions to host the Primera División matches. One of those teams relegated was All Boys. The following year All Boys won its second championship with a victory over Tiro Federal which brought "The Albo" back to Primera.

In 1972 All Boys hired José Paladino as coach. Under his command, the squad won 11 consecutive games (which remains a record for lower categories), obtaining 29/30 points. Therefore, on 14 October 1972, All Boys became Primera B champion defeating Excursionistas 1–0 with a goal scored by Benítez.

Some notable players of that team were Valentín Sánchez (top scorer), José Romero (proclaimed as "the best player of the team") and Ángel Mamberto. After promotion to the Primera, All Boys remained eight years in that division, achieving its best position in the 1974 Torneo Nacional where it finished 5th. All Boys also defeated Boca Juniors, River Plate, San Lorenzo, Independiente and Racing. In 1980 All Boys was relegated to Primera B.

When the Argentine football system was restructured, All Boys could not qualify amongst the 8 teams to dispute the Primera B Nacional, being relegated to play in the Primera B Metropolitana, which was one level lower.

For the 1992–93 season Mario Rizzi was hired as the team coach, and were incorporated some players such as Marcelo Blanco, Marcelo Yanino, Rubén Urquiza. The team made a great campaign, playing the decisive match against Defensores de Belgrano at Ferro Carril Oeste stadium, where 25,000 All Boys' supporters attended, which set a record of spectators for the lower categories in Argentine football. The Floresta team won its 4th championship, being promoted to Primera B Nacional.

In 2001 the team was relegated to Primera B Metropolitana again. For the 2002–03 season the club hired Ricardo Caruso Lombardi as coach. The team won 8 consecutive games and qualified to play the Torneo Reducido, which won but then lost promotion at the hands of El Porvenir. For the 2007–08 season the club incorporated Ariel Zárate, Hernán Grana and Gustavo Bartelt among other players came from different clubs. Former player José Romero was designated as coach. On 6 May 2008, All Boys won a new championship after the match vs. Atlanta, which "El Albo" won 2–0. This score also returned All Boys to Primera B Nacional.

At the end of the 2009–10 Primera B Nacional season, All Boys finished 4th qualifying to play the promotion playoff in order to gain a place in Primera División. After an 1–1 tie in Floresta, All Boys surprised everyone when thrashing Rosario Central by 3–0 in the second leg played at Gigante de Arroyito. Therefore, the club returned to the top division of Argentine football after 30 years of playing in lower divisions. In 2010 Apertura, All Boys achieved victories over Independiente, Estudiantes de La Plata, River Plate, amongst others, finishing in the 8th position.

In May 2014 is relegated to the Primera B Nacional

Classic Rivals

All Boys' most well-known rivalry is that with Nueva Chicago. This rivalry is considered by many to be one of the most attractive outside of the First Division rivalries. It was born when these two teams played their first professional match in 1937. This first match ended in a 4–4 draw. The second game had to wait until 1941, because the Torito (Nueva Chicago's nickname) had fallen to Primera C division in 1937 and returned only after 3 years. "Albo" won that match 3–1 in Nueva Chicago's home, Mataderos. From that time forward All Boys maintains the advantage in wins over Nueva Chicago, an advantage they have never lost. This rivalry has seen more than 90 official matches.

All Boys' original rival is Argentinos Juniors, due to the proximity of their respective neighborhoods but since most of the time they have played in different categories, the rivalry isn't as intense as with Nueva Chicago. These two institutions clashed officially on more than 60 occasions.

All Boys also has a fierce rivalry with Atlanta. Both neighborhoods are relatively close to each other and it was a pretty common fixture as both clubs would find themselves in the same league for many years. It's commonly said that the rivalry was also born because of Atlanta's neighborhood, Villa Crespo, having a substantial Jewish population and many Atlanta fans belong to this collectivity, even to this day, while Floresta in turn, had more people of Arab ethnicity, and even though the latter doesn't seem to be true nowadays, All Boys fans do display flags with the crescent moon and star.

A relatively new rivalry is that with Vélez Sarsfield. While both clubs are relatively close, they have rarely faced each other as Vélez has played mostly in Primera División while All Boys played in lower tiers for most seasons, making it a distant and minor rivalry for many years. It wasn't until recent years when violence between fans of both clubs started to occur which coincided with All Boys winning promotion to the Primera División, that the rivalry was finally ignited and in this few years, matches between them have had many violent acts occur in the stands.

Stadium

Leopoldo Rigoli gave the property between the streets Gaona Ave., Segurola, Morón and Sanabria. The club built a roofed podium and five rooms for the players. In 1924 they settled in at Segurola Street No 1351 and opened its new stadium to play a friendly match against Temperley.

In 1937, when professionalism started, All Boys had their new stadium in the city block formed by the streets, Segurola, Indio (current Elpidio Gonzalez), Sanabria and Miranda, where they played until 1959.

On 10 November 1959, Law 14.934 was enacted, by which the national government donated the land to All Boys, located on Av. Jonte, between the streets Chivilcoy and Mercedes.

In 1963 the Islas Malvinas Stadium was inaugurated, in an encounter in front of Club Deportivo Riestra, which the host team won convincingly. Two side galleries were a feature of the stadium.

The stadium has been refurbished several times, the most important work was the construction of a second tier on the Mercedes street side. By the late 1980s the Islas Malvinas Stadium had a capacity of 12,000 spectators.

The stadium remained the same until mid-2004 when a group of people, linked to the All Boys club, managed to raise the necessary funds and build a cement platform on Miranda street, thus the capacity of the stadium was increased to 16,500.

In 2006 they dismantled the wooden planks by Chivilcoy street and on 20 September of that year they began construction of the new cement foundation. From January 2007 through July of that year a new set of stands was built. Finally the stadium's capacity increased to 21,500.

Current squad

Current squad of All Boys as of November 30, 2015 (edit)
Sources: Official website

Manager: José Romero

Former players

Honours