Boca Juniors

Estadio Alberto J. Armando (formerly the Estadio Camilo Cichero) is a stadium located in the La Boca district of Buenos Aires. Widely known as La Bombonera (the Chocolate Box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands round the rest of the stadium. It has a capacity of 49,000.

The stadium is owned by Boca Juniors, one of Argentina's most famous football clubs. The unusual shape of the stadium has led to it having excellent acoustics and the Boca support being nicknamed "La Doce" (The 12th man).

Three sides of the Bombonera are made up of traditional stands. However, the fourth side had to be built vertically, with several seating areas stacked one on top of the other, to stay within the stadium's property. La Bombonera is renowned for vibrating when fans start to jump in rhythm. In particular, the unique vertical side will sway slightly, leading to the phrase " La Bombonera doesn't shake: it beats (like a heart)." (Spanish: La Bombonera no tiembla. Late)

The pitch at La Bombonera is the minimum length required under FIFA regulations - 105m x 68m.

Stadium history

Work began on constructing the stadium on 18 February 1938, and Boca played their home matches at the Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium until the new stadium was built. The stadium finally opened on 25 May 1940 with a friendly match between Boca and San Lorenzo, which the home side won 2-0 with both goals score by Ricardo Alarcón. The stadium, which was originally named Estadio Camilo Cichero, after then club president, Camil Cichero, had two tiers, and in 1949 the club decided to add a third tier, which was completed in 1953,[6] giving the stadium its nickname La Bombonera.

Floodlights were installed in 1952, so that games could be played in the evenings and thus allowing the stadium to host international matches.

The side opposite the Casa Amarilla railway platforms remained mostly unbuilt until the 1990s, when it was upgraded with new balconies and executive boxes, when between 1995 and 1996 the stadium underwent a major renovation, under Mauricio Macri’s presidency in order to raise its capacity from 49,000 to 57,395. The old Executive boxes on Del Valle Iberlucea Street were demolished and replaced by a small tier over which the current executive boxes were built.

La Bombonera today

La Bombonera currently has a capacity of around 49,000 and the club's popularity make tickets hard to find, especially for the Superclásico derby against River Plate.

Out of its capacity of 49,000, there are 37,538 seats, 2780 are boxes and 8,682 standing. Both its interior and exterior are lined with a number of murals painted by the artist Pérez Celis depicting many of the club's legendary players and aspects of the district's culture, such as the life of Italian immigrants. The black and white Coca-Cola advertisement banners that hang in the stadium are among the few worldwide not to use Coca Cola's trademark red, as Boca's arch rivals River Plate play in red and white.

Diego Maradona, who played for and supports Boca Juniors, has his own executive box at the stadium.

Redevelopment

There are planned improvements for the stadium, including measures to ease crowd congestion, use of new technology in the stadium and improved corporate facilities. These include -

Main gate, museum and megastore: Work is planned to be done on the main access to the stadium at 805 Brandsen which will include the construction of a megastore, and to then connect the main access with the store and the club's museum.

Third tier:Remodelling work to install further seating and improve spectator comfort.

Stadium gates: Building work to improve access and prevent crowd congestion is underway. The first phase focuses on improving access to the executive boxes and premium seats. In addition, new software and hardware will improve access control with regard to safety and quickness to prevent crowd congestion.

Creation of a corporate area: Businesses will have an area in the stadium with VIP service. One section in the second tier, is being re-designed with two executive boxes and more comfortable seating. The service will also provide businesses with season tickets to allow them to invite clients. It also includes transportation, museum visits and catering services.

Boca Juniors

Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in the La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División.

Boca Juniors is one of the most successful clubs in Argentina and in the world, having won 41 official titles at the national and international level. Domestically, they have twenty-three league titles; they last won the 2008 Apertura tournament. Internationally, the team has won eighteen international titles, a record shared with A.C. Milan. Their international trophy haul includes six Copa Libertadores, four Recopa Sudamericana, three world club titles (Intercontinental Cup), two Copa Sudamericana, one Copa Oro, one Supercopa Sudamericana, and one Supercopa Masters. Boca Juniors is one of eight teams to have won CONMEBOL's treble (the others being Olimpia, São Paulo, Independiente, Vélez Sársfield, Cruzeiro, Internacional and LDU Quito). Their success usually has Boca ranked among the IFFHS's Club World Ranking Top 25, which they have reached the top position six times (mostly during the coaching tenure of Carlos Bianchi). Boca was also named by the IFFHS as the top South American club of the 1st decade of the 21st century (2001–2010).

The club was founded on April 3, 1905 by five Italian immigrants. The club currently has a fierce rivalry with River Plate, also from Buenos Aires. Matches between the two clubs are known as the Superclásico and is one of the most heated rivalries in Argentina and the world as both clubs are the two most popular in the country. Boca's home stadium is Estadio Alberto J. Armando, which is colloquially known as La Bombonera. The youth academy has produced many Argentine internationals such as Nicolás Burdisso, Carlos Tévez and Fernando Gago, who have played or are playing for top European clubs.

Amateur era (1908–1930)

On 1908, the affiliation request sent by Boca (through Juan Farenga and Bartolomé Gariboldi) to the Argentine Football Association was accepted. Boca Juniors' first stadium was located in the Isla Demarchi. Juan Brichetto was one of the many fans who donated money to finish the construction.

Boca Juniors debut as part of the Association was in the Segunda de Ascenso division, playing a match against Club Belgrano that Boca won 3–1. The squad finished in the first place (among eight teams) and qualified for the next stage, the semifinals, which Boca played against Racing Club: Boca was defeated by 1–0 and was eliminated.

The first title

On January 20, 1920, Boca Juniors reached its first championship (which belong to 1919 season). after defeating Sportivo de Almagro by 4–0. The match was played in Boca stadium, located in Ministro Brin and Senquel streets. Boca Juniors line-up was: Tesoriere; Cortella, Ortega, López, Busso, Elli; Calomino, Bozzo, Garasini, Martín, Miranda. Miranda and Martín were the scorers of the match (2 goals each).Boca Juniors obtained a new title the following year (corresponding to the 1920 season but played in 1921), after a victory of 2–0 against Banfield. The next championship achieved was in 1923 and it took 4 matches to decide which team (Boca or Huracán) would be the champion, so Boca won the first match but was defeated in the 2nd game; the 3rd match finished in a tie and a 4th game had to be played (at Sportivo Barracas stadium, on April 27, 1924), finally won by Boca 2–0 obtaining a new title. Both goals were scored by Garasini.

Boca was the unbeaten champion of the 1924 season, winning 18 matches over 19 disputed. The team finished with a total of goals scored of 67 (an average of 3.52 per game) and only received 8.

Champion of honour

In 1925 Boca made its first trip to Europe to play many friendly matches there (more specifically in Spain, Germany and France). Boca disputed a total of 19 games, winning 15 of them. Some of the rivals defeated were Real Madrid, Celta de Vigo and Deportivo La Coruña. On June 28, 1926, in a meeting held at the Association Argentina de Football, Boca Juniors was declared "Campeón de Honor" (Champion of Honour) of 1925 season, and each member of the team received a commemorative medal. The players were: Tesoriere, Bidoglio, Mutis, Tarascone, Busso, Elli, Médici, Garasini, Antraygues, Cerroti, Pertini and Posso.

Professional era

With the introduction of professional football in Argentina, Boca won the first title in 1931.

First Match: April 21, 1905. vs. Mariano Moreno.

First international match: December 8, 1907. vs. Universal (Montevideo, Uruguay)

First professional match: May 31, 1931 vs. Chacarita Juniors.

Kit and badge

The original jersey colour was pink, but this was quickly abandoned for thin black-and-white vertical stripes. Legend has it that in 1906, Boca played another team that used this strip to decide who would get to keep it. Boca lost, and decided to adopt the colors of the flag of the first boat to sail into the port at La Boca. This proved to be the 4146 ton freighter "Drottning Sophia", a Swedish vessel sailing from Copenhagen. As a result, the yellow and blue of the Swedish flag were adopted as the new team colours. The first version had a yellow diagonal band, which was later changed to a horizontal stripe

Supporters

Barra Brava of "La 12" in La Bombonera

Boca Juniors is traditionally regarded as the club of Argentina's working class, in contrast with the supposedly more upper-class base of cross-town arch rival Club Atlético River Plate.

Boca Juniors claims to be the club of "half plus one" (la mitad más uno) of Argentina's population, but a 2006 survey placed its following at 40%,still the largest share. They have the highest number of fans, as judged by percentage in their country.

The Boca-River Superclásico rivalry is one of the most thrilling derbies in the world. Out of their 327 previous meetings, Boca have won 121, River 105 and there have been 101 draws. After each match (except draws), street signs cover Buenos Aires at fans' own expense, "ribbing" the losing side with humorous posters. This has become part of Buenos Aires culture ever since a Boca winning streak in the 1990s.

Nicknames

Boca fans are known as los xeneizes (the Genoese) after the Genoese immigrants who founded the team and lived in La Boca in the early 20th century.

Many rival fans in Argentina refer to the Boca Juniors' fans as Los Bosteros (the manure handlers), originating from the horse manure used in the brick factory which occupied the ground where La Bombonera stands. Originally an insult used by rivals, Boca fans are now proud of it.

Reflecting the team's colors, Boca's shirt is also called la azul y oro (the blue and gold).

There is also a society which dedicates all of its activities to supporting the team known as la número 12 or la doce (player number doce or 12, meaning "the 12th player")

The naming of “La 12″ (the twelfth player), by which Boca Juniors' fans became known, dates back to the year 1925, during the European tour they made that year. At that time, the team was accompanied by a Boca fan called Victoriano Caffarena, who belonged to a wealthy family and funded part of the tour. During that tour he helped the team in everything establishing a strong relationship with the players, so they named him “Player No. 12″. When they returned back to Argentina, Caffarena was as well known as the players themselves. Nowadays, this nickname is used primarily to name their group of supporters, known as “La 12″

International

Peñas (fan clubs) exist in a number of Argentine cities and abroad in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Israel and Japan.

Boca Juniors are particularly popular in Japan because of the club's success in recent years at the Intercontinental Cup held in Japan. All over the world, fans are drawn to Boca by the club's international titles, and by the success of Boca players who went on to play in European football such as Hugo Ibarra, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Diego Cagna, Enzo Ferrero, Roberto Abbondanzieri, Nicolás Burdisso, Fernando Gago, Diego Maradona, Claudio Caniggia, Gabriel Batistuta, Juan Román Riquelme and Carlos Tévez.

Boca have fans throughout Latin America and also in parts of the United States where there has been Latin immigration and where in July 2007, after the club had toured pre-season, it was reported that the club were considering the possibility of creating a Boca Juniors USA team to compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) with New York City, Miami, Los Angeles and Arizona mentioned as possible locations.

Boca Juniors has had a long standing rivalry with River Plate. The Superclásico is known worldwide as one of world football's fiercest and most important rivalries. It is particularly noted for the passion of the fans, the stands of both teams feature fireworks, coloured confetti, flags and rolls of paper. Both sets of supporters sing passionate songs (often based on popular Argentine rock band tunes) against their rivals, and the stadiums are known to bounce with the simultaneous jumping of the fans. Sometimes the games have been known to end in riots between the hardest supporters of both sides or against the police. The English newspaper The Observer put the Superclásico at the top of their list of 50 sporting things you must do before you die.

Chairmen

Pedro Pompilio was the club's last elected chairman, succeeding Ing. Mauricio Macri (current Head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires). Pompilio died during his presidency on October 30, 2008 due to heart attack. His family asked not to send flowers to his funeral and donate money to UNICEF instead. He was 58 years old at that time.He was married and had two children.

Jorge Amor Ameal, 1st vice president during Pedro Pompilio's direction, is the new Boca Juniors president.Boca's most successful president was Mauricio Macri (1996–2008). During his era, the club has won most of its international titles.

Records

Boca Juniors and Milan both hold a world record 18 official international titles.

Boca Juniors has the most official titles (domestic and international) for an Argentine football club with 41 titles in the professional era (48 including amateur titles).

Boca Juniors were awarded the title "Campeón de Honor" (Honour Champion) in 1925, due to a highly successful tour through Europe in which the club played Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Real Sociedad, as well as German and French teams, with an impressive record of 15 wins, one draw and three defeats. This title was declared official by the Argentine Football Association, thereby increasing the total number of amateur and professional titles to 49 (31 domestic and 18 international titles).

40 consecutive Primera División matches unbeaten - an Argentine record: from 5 May 1998 to 2 June 1999, with 29 victories and 11 draws.

Three times winner of the Intercontinental Cup (now replaced by FIFA Club World Cup), a record tied with Peñarol, Nacional, Milan and Real Madrid.

Products and services

Boca Juniors has expanded its activity beyond sport, providing its fans with a number of other products and services.

In 2003, it became the fifth football club in the world to open its own TV channel. Boca TV broadcasts 24 hours a day, featuring sports programs and talk shows.

There is a line of Boca coffins available for dead fans, as well as an official Boca Juniors cemetery.

Boca has its own fleet of taxis operating in Buenos Aires.

The club also sells its own brand of wine, called Boca Wine.