Talleres de Córdoba

A team of Talleres in 1922

The club was founded in 1913 as "Atlético Talleres Central Córdoba" by workers of the Córdoba Central Railway, with support from the company. Apart from Atlético Talleres, one of the clubs affiliated to "Federación Cordobesa de Fútbol" (Córdoba Football Federation) was Olimpo, formed by young players participating in second and third divisions.

In 1913 Olimpo was expelled after their players were involved in a riot in disagreement with some referee decisions. After Olimpo beat Atlético Talleres in a friendly match, the club executives encouraged the merger of both clubs with the aim of adding Olimpo players to their team. In 1914, the merger was fulfilled keeping the name "Talleres Central Córdoba". In 1914 Talleres joined the Córdoba local league.

Under this name, Talleres Central Córdoba won the 1915 and 1916 championships. The following year the club was forced to change its name after some incidents in a match that caused player Horacio Salvatelli to be arrested. When some days later Talleres did not allow its players to a local combined, the body expelled the club from the league. Nevertheless, Talleres would rejoined the league in 1918 under the condition to change its name so the club was registered as "Club Atlético Talleres", also winning the championship that same year. Apart from its name, Talleres had to modify the date of foundation (to 12 October 1913) to register as a legal entity.

In 1931 the club was given a land in "Barrio Jardín" to build its own stadium. The project was carried out by engineers Allende Posse and Agenor Villagra, at a cost of $70,000. The stadium was inaugurated on October 12, 1931, with a friendly match between Talleres and Uruguayan side Rampla Juniors. The stadium would be refurbished in 1951 to host a maximum of 18,000 spectators.

A team of Talleres in 1977. One year later, the club was about to win the Primera División championship but lost to C.A. Independiente in the final

In 1969 the team played for the first time in the Argentine Primera División in the Nacional Championship. During the 1970s, the heyday of the Córdoba local league in the national scene, they participated several times in the Nacional championship, in 1976 Luis Ludueña was the championship top scorer with 12 goals, in the 1977 Nacional Championship Talleres finished in second place, losing to Independiente the finals on the away goals rule, and in 1978 José Reinaldi scored 18 goals and was the championship top scorer. Talleres contributed three players to the Argentine squad that won the 1978 FIFA World Cup, with Talleres' captain Luis Galván as a starter in the final as a center back. Miguel Oviedo and Jose Daniel Valencia were substitutes. The '78 WC team featured several other prominent players that got their start in the golden era of the Córdoba local league, such as Mario Kempes and Osvaldo Ardiles, both at Instituto Atletico Central Cordoba in the early-1970s.

Starting in 1980, Talleres became a regular of the Metropolitano championship and finished in third place.

Talleres played in the Argentine Primera División until the 1993 Torneo Clausura when Talleres was relegated to the Primera B Nacional. Talleres was promoted to Argentine Primera División after the 1993–94 championship, but was again related after a poor performance in 1994–95 season. The following season, the club finished first during the Clausura tournament of the Second Division but lost the Championship to Huracán de Corrientes.

The team that won the Copa CONMEBOL in 1999

In 1998, during a game (later remembered by fans as "The Final of the Century," Talleres won its first Argentine title, the 1997/98 Primera B Nacional championship on penalty kick shootout against all-time rival Belgrano de Córdoba, earning them a promotion to the First Division.[3] Next year the club won its first and only international title, the 1999 Copa CONMEBOL (the precursor of the current Copa Sudamericana)[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] against CSA from Brazil.

The following season, Talleres' good performance in first division qualified the team to play the 2001 Copa Mercosur and the 2002 Copa Libertadores, being the first and only team from Córdoba to qualify for those continental tournaments. Talleres reached the round of 16 in the Mercosur, only to lose against Gremio. In Copa Libertadores, Talleres had a poor performance, being eliminated in the first stage.

Despite finishing in third place during the Torneo Clausura tournament of the 2003–04 season and qualifying for the Copa Libertadores again, Talleres was relegated, due to poor results in the previous 2 seasons, after losing to Argentinos Juniors in the promotion/relegation play-off. By Argentine rules, the team lost its Libertadores bid because of this.

In 2008–09 Talleres was dismissed again, this time to the Torneo Argentino A via the point average system despite finishing in 12th place of 20 teams in Primera B Nacional.

On 15 November 2010, the IFFHS produced a report on the top 200 teams in the American continent from 2001 to that date. Talleres was No. 130, the highest position for a Córdoba Province team in the ranking.

In May 2013, Talleres was promoted to Primera B Nacional after defeating San Jorge by 1–0.[11] Later, Talleres returned to the third division but it was promoted in 2015, and, in 2016, after 12 years Talleres earned the promotion to First Division.[12]

In 2019, Talleres played once again the Copa Libertadores. In 2021, Talleres played Copa Sudamericana. After a very good performance in Copa Argentina, in which "la T" reached the final, and the national league, in which it finished in the third position, Talleres returned to Copa Libertadores for the next year.

Talleres made its best performance yet at 2022 Copa Libertadores, by reaching the Quarter-finals However, the poor performance at the national league left the club with no international participations for 2023. For the second year in a row, Talleres was runner-up in Copa Argentina, losing the final 0-1 to Patronato.

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Club Atlético Talleres (Córdoba, Argentina).

• Official website