Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri

Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri, formerly known as Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, is a stadium located in the Caballito district of Buenos Aires. It is the home venue of Club Ferro Carril Oeste. The stadium, opened in 1905 and located close to Caballito station of Sarmiento Line,[1] has a current capacity of 24,442.[2]

Estadio Arquitecto
Ricardo Etcheverri
The stadium pictured in 2010
Full nameEstadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri
Former namesEstadio Ferro Carril Oeste
AddressAvellaneda 1240
LocationCaballito, Buenos Aires
Argentina
Public transitSarmiento Line at Caballito railway station
at Puan (0.9 km away)
Genre(s)Sporting events
Concerts
Capacity24,442
SurfaceGrass
Opened2 January 1905 (1905-01-02)
Tenants
Website
ferrocarriloeste.org.ar/estadio

Inaugurated on 2 January 1905,[3] Ferro Carril Oeste is the oldest football stadium of Argentina (referring to clubs affiliated to AFA)[4][5] and the second in South America after Estadio Gran Parque Central (home venue of Uruguayan Club Nacional de Football, built in 1900).

Because of being located near the geographic centre of Buenos Aires, several former clubs used it as their home venues. Some of them were Alumni, Barracas AC, San Lorenzo, Argentinos Juniors, among others.

The stadium also hosted test matches played by the Argentina national rugby union team (Los Pumas) during the 1970s to early 2000s, where Argentina played Ireland, New Zealand, France and Australia, among others. In Ferro Carril Oeste, Argentina achieved notable wins over Australia (1979) and France (1985), and a celebrated 21–21 tie vs the All Blacks in 1985.[6][7]

History

The stadium was built on a land granted by the manager of Buenos Aires Western Railway in 1905. That same year the first wooden grandstand was built. The first official match was played here on 21 April 1907, when Ferro C. Oeste and River Plate tied 2–2. In 1906, the first official grandstand (with roof) was built. Due to being linked with the Western Railway company, the club hosted several sports activities in 1907 to celebrate the 50th. anniversary of first railway line in Argentina.[8]

The stadium during a football match, c. 1940. The grandstand at background had been acquired to Club Boca Juniors some years earlier

The first notable event hosted by the stadium was the 1907 Tie Cup Final where Alumni defeated Uruguayan side CURCC 3–1. As Alumni did not have own venue, the team played its home matches at Ferro C. Oeste between 1907 and 1909. In 1914, Ferro hosted a Tie Cup final again, when River Plate beat Bristol and won their first international title. Although Ferro C. Oeste played in the Second Division, its stadium was a frequent venue for several Primera División matches by other teams.

When the Flores Athletic Club disbanded in 1907, Ferro Carril Oeste acquired some of its facilities such as tennis and paleta courts. In September 1931, the official grandstand was completely destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt. During the 1930s, the club got materials in change for football players. Some transfers made that way were Federici to Huracán and Arcadio López to Boca Juniors. In this case, the club received a whole wooden grandstand that had been part of the old Boca Juniors stadium. Two years later, Boca Juniors opened La Bombonera, made of concrete. The wooden grandstand was located on Martín de Gainza street.[8]

The Ferro Carril Oeste stadium hosted international rugby matches for the first time in 1932, when the Junior Springboks toured on Argentina playing several games there including two test-matches v the Argentina national team.[9][10]

Sports events at Ferro Carril Oeste, (left): midget car racing in 1952; (right): rugby union, Ireland national team posing in 1970

From the 1940s to the 1960s, Ferro Carril Oeste hosted several racing events that include midget car and motorcycle races. Those events were scheduled on Saturdays so football matches were on Sundays, taking place on the racetrack surrounding the football pitch.[11]

In 1951 Ferro Carril Oeste was one of the venues (along with Gimnasia y Esgrima) to host the South American Rugby Championship in Buenos Aires. In 1970, the club built a gymnasium under the official grandstand, which was inaugurated in 1972.[8]

Apart from football games, Ferro C.O. would be the home venue for Los Pumas matches until 1985, when New Zealand toured in the country. The last test played by Argentina at the stadium was the historic 21–21 v the All Blacks in November,[12] when captain Hugo Porta scored all the points for Argentina. He would be named "the best fly-half of the world" at the end of that year.[13]

During the 1990s, the stadium returned to host rugby matches of Los Pumas, along with José Amalfitani Stadium. The last test played by the national team at Ferro was in 2001, when Argentina defeated Italy.[14]

Concerts

The stadium in 1980

Since the 1980s the Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste has hosted a large amount of artists performing there, mostly rock bands.

Local rockstar Charly García gave his first concert as soloist there in 1982, with an attendance of 25,000 people.[15][16]

The first international artist to have performed at Ferro was British band The Cure in 1987, in a chaotic concert that finished in a riot where hooligans and policemen fight inside and outside the stadium.[17] During the following years, several artists performed in the stadium, having hosted three editions of the Monsters of Rock metal festival, in 1995, 1997 and 2005.

Some of the most notable local bands performing at Ferro were Riff, Rata Blanca, Soda Stereo and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.

References

  1. "El Estadio". Infraestructura (in Spanish). Club Ferro Carril Oeste. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  2. "ESTADIO ARQUITECTO RICARDO ETCHEVERRI". Soccerway: Club Ferro Carril Oeste. Perform. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  3. Estadio on Ferro C. Oeste website
  4. Chau tablón, Clarín, 23 July 2005
  5. Estadios argentinos by Carlos Aira on Xenen, 19 June 2016
  6. "El historial de los Pumas contra los grandes: los All Blacks, el único al que no le pudieron ganar", Cancha Llena, 8 August 2015
  7. "El historial de Los Pumas ante Australia, la tercera potencia", Infobae, 18 October 2015
  8. Viejos estadios: Ferro Carril Oeste
  9. Memoria y Balance 1970 on UAR
  10. Recuerdos de una leyenda viva on La Nación, 13 Oct 2007 (archived, 4 Nov 2021)
  11. Carreras de autos Midget en Ferro by Carlos Araujo on Ser Argentino
  12. Cuando Los Pumas estuvieron al borde de la hazaña by Patricio Connelly on ESPN, 2012
  13. A mano con los All Blacks, La Nación, 16 Sep 2003
  14. Memoria y Balance 2001
  15. "No bombardeen Buenos Aires": el recuerdo del histórico recital de Charly García en el estadio de Ferro en 1982
  16. El día que García bombardeó Buenos Aires, Clarín
  17. Por qué The Cure rompió su promesa y vuelve después de 26 años, La Nación/Rolling Stone
  18. Biografía de Riff, Rock.com.ar
  19. Los monstruos invadieron Buenos Aires, Clarín
  20. Iron Maiden deleitó a 25 mil personas
  21. Tour history on Pantera website
  22. LLega Roxette a la Argentina
  23. Monstruos en cuero, La Nación, 1995
  24. El día que Ferro fue hogar de todas las tribus heavies, Pagina/12, Oct 2004
  25. Elogio de la tercera edad, Página/12, 12 Jan 2014
  26. Rock & Pop alternativo en dos días, La Nación
  27. Cómo fueron los últimos años de Soda Stereo antes de la separación, Rolling Stone, 1 May 2017
  28. Viene David Bowie, Clarín, 27 Sep 1997
  29. Y desbordó Ferro, Clarín, Sep 2005
  30. Un buen primer paso de Pearl Jam, La Nueva, 28 November 2005
  31. My Chemical Romance en Argentina, Perfil, 2008
  32. Jamiroquai hizo vibrar Ferro, Infobae
  33. Jonas Brothers en Ferro, Ciudad.com
  34. Guns N Roses tocó en Ferro con un Axl Rose irreconocible, Ciudad.com

34.6185°S 58.4476°W / -34.6185; -58.4476

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