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Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club

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Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club, sometimes known simply as Buenos Aires, is an Argentine sports club based in San Fernando, Buenos Aires. Having set its official date of foundation on 8 December 1864, the club claims to be the oldest club still in existence in Argentina, according to reports of a cricket match played by the club in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, in 1831.[note 1]

Buenos Aires
Full nameBuenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club
UnionURBA
Nickname(s)Biei
Founded8 December 1864; 159 years ago (1864-12-08) [note 1]
LocationSan Fernando, Argentina
Ground(s)San Fernando[5]
PresidentPablo Traini
Coach(es)Martín Mato
Gonzalo Camacho
League(s)TOP 12
20228th
Team kit
Official website
bacrc.com

A highlight of club's history was in 1951 when the Buenos Aires FC (established in 1886 as a rugby union club and founder member of the "River Plate Rugby Championship" (now the Argentine Rugby Union[6]) merged to BACC, renaming "Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club". Since then, rugby union has been the main sport of the institution.[1]

Rugby's senior squad participates in Top 12, the highest division of the URBA league system. The club also has a women's field hockey team that plays in the Torneo Metropolitano B (Second Division), organised by the Buenos Aires Hockey Association (AHBA), while the cricket squad competes in the Argentine Cricket Association tournaments.

Other sports played at BACRC are football and golf.

History

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Cricket origins

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Buenos Aires C.C. team of 1867
 
 
The BACC clubhouse in 1868 (left); location of the BACC in Palermo from a 1895 map (right); the first association football and rugby union matches in Argentina were played there

The exact date of establishment of the "Buenos Aires Cricket Club" is not clear because of the fire that destroyed most of the club's facilities and its archives. Nevertheless, there are records of a cricket match played by members of the club in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires in 1831, where a flag with the legend "Buenos Aires Cricket Club" was displayed. That match was covered by English language newspaper The British Packet, published in Buenos Aires.[3][1]

The first president of the club was British consul Frank Parish, named in 1858. In April, 1868, BACC played its first club match facing Montevideo Cricket Club (MVCC) in the city of Montevideo. BACC won by 156–124. The rematch was played in Buenos Aires in 1869, where BACC defeated Montevideo again by 174–121.

On 8 December 1864, the club officially inaugurated its game field in Parque Tres de Febrero of Palermo, Buenos Aires, where the Galileo Galilei planetarium is placed nowadays. That day BACC defeated HMS Bombay team by 85 runs to 31, just 6 days before that ship would be destroyed in a fire on the River Plate, in a freak target practice accident.

In 1877 the BACC played its first match against Rosario Cricket Club.

Football and rugby pioneers

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Main article: Buenos Aires Football Club
 
The Buenos Aires F.C. in 1891. The club would then merge with BACC in 1951

On 26 June 1867, several members of the club met on the Buenos Aires Cricket Club's field in Palermo, Buenos Aires to play what would be the first game of football ever played in Argentina. The game, had originally planned to be played in La Boca but had to be moved due to floods.[7]

The game was such a success that some members would go on to found the Buenos Aires Football Club, which would be the first football club in South America. For years to come both clubs would share facilities and members with the BACC playing cricket in the summer and BAFC playing football in the winter.[8][9]

Rugby union rules were first adopted by Buenos Aires FC in 1874[1] but the club was dissolved one year later.[3][10]

 
Buenos Aires and Rosario A.C. players posing together during a cricket match, 1916

In 1886, a new a new "Buenos Aires Football Club" was founded as a rugby union club exclusively. The club played against Rosario AC, being the first time two different clubs ever met for an interprovincial rugby game in the country.[11]

In 1899, along with Rosario AC, Belgrano AC and Lomas, Buenos Aires FC became a founding member of "The River Plate Rugby Championship", which would later become today's Argentine Rugby Union.[citation needed]

The first Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires championship was created the same year. Buenos Aires won eight of the first 17 editions of this tournament. During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the club did not win any title, encountering strong resistance from younger clubs, such as CA San Isidro and San Isidro Club, which have won most of the URBA titles to date.[citation needed]

A new foundation

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In 1948, the facilities of the BACC were destroyed by the fire (some sources affirm it was intentional although those versions could never be confirmed). The fire destroyed most of the archives and documents of the club. Three years later, on 4 May 1951, both the BACC and BAFC decided to merge, under the name "Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club".[12][13] The recently created club did not have definitive location until 1952, when it moved to the Don Torcuato district, where Buenos Aires CRC established its headquarters. The club stayed there until 1987, when the lands were sold to Hindú Club. That same year, Buenos Aires moved to San Fernando, Buenos Aires, where it has remained up to the present day.

In 1997, BACRC inaugurated the first purpose-built rugby union stadium in Argentina, erected in Los Polvorines, Greater Buenos Aires. A total of nine international games were played there by the Argentina national team. In 2005, the land where the stadium had been built was sold to a Germany-based company.[14]

Field hockey

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The "Surí Hockey Club" was established as a women's field hockey club by a group of former students of the Northlands and St. Hilda's schools. In 1945, Surí ("rhea" in the Quechua languages) began to play in tournaments organized by field hockey association, starting in the third division. After many years playing its home games at different venues, due to Surí not having a stadium, the team finally joined BACRC in 1966, changing its name to Buenos Aires.[1]

Buenos Aires and its predecessor Surí have been successful teams in Argentine hockey, winning a total of seven Metropolitano championships between 1962 and 1988, two by Surí and five by BACRC.[15]

In 2007, the club inaugurated its synthetic grass hockey field in San Fernando. The women's field hockey team has played its home games there since then.[16][17]

Honours

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Cricket

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  • Primera División (18): 1904–05, 1919–20, 1924–25, 1927–28, 1930–31, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42,
    1949–50, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1975/76, 1976–77[18]

Rugby union

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b BACRC's itself states the date of foundation "before 8 December 1864".[1] This date has been recognized by the Buenos Aires Rugby Union.[2] It is believed that the club was founded in 1831, with existing documentary evidence about a cricket match played by Buenos Aires that same year.[3][4]
  2. ^ 1900–1915: titles won by the Buenos Aires Football Club (then merged with Buenos Aires Cricket Club).

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e ""Historia del Club"". BACRC. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  2. ^ "Buenos Aires CRC on "Guía de Clubes"". URBA. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Historia de Fútbol de AFA: Orígenes 1891/1899, by Carlos Yametti. Published by Edición del Autor (2011) – ISBN 978-987-05-9773-5
  4. ^ El Origen Británico del Deporte Argentino by Víctor Raffo, Gráfica MPS (2004) – ISBN 978-987-43-8107-1
  5. ^ "Buenos Aires CRC at URBA webpage". Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Hechos históricos de la Unión". UAR
  7. ^ 150 años del primer partido de fútbol en Argentina by Jorge Gallego on Telam, 20 June 2017
  8. ^ "El fútbol nacional cumple años", Clarín, 20 June 2007
  9. ^ "140 años del primer partido de fútbol en la Argentina", by Eduardo Cantaro, 2007
  10. ^ Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina, by Jorge Iwanczuk. Published by Autores Editores (1992) – ISBN 9504343848
  11. ^ "Cuando el Rosario Athletic salió campeón... de fútbol" – CIHF Archived 18 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "El club de rugby más antiguo de la Argentina" at Rugbytime.com Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 19 September 2008
  13. ^ "Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club" at Centro de Documentación, Investigación y Referencia Histórica-Deportiva, June 2009
  14. ^ "Adiós a un escenario de triunfos históricos", Clarín, 4 December 2005
  15. ^ "Ganadores campeonatos de primera división" – HSRA website Archived 11 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Buenos Aires Cricket inauguró una cancha de césped sintético" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, El Comercio Online, 12 August 2007
  17. ^ "Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby ya tiene su cancha sintética", La Nación, 14 August 2007
  18. ^ "Todos los campeones 1897–2010". Argentine Cricket Association
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