Football Stories - Vamos Academia!

Inside the El Cilindro de Avellaneda (Racing's home ground) 

Moving to Buenos Aires has given me the excuse to support a new football team. The last time I had an opportunity like this was when I was five years old and I picked Leicester City. Some may say I chose badly.

Almost thirty years later I can now make a more informed choice. As a child my family trips to Filbert Street and being in awe of Gary Lineker and Peter Shelton, swung it for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Leicester City but it has been hard work.

There are twenty teams in the Argentine Premier A of which a ridiculous thirteen teams are based in Buenos Aires.  I decided to take seven different factors into consideration to make my decision:

1.            The commute to the ground

2.            Fan reputation

3.            Success on the pitch

4.            Style of football

5.            History

6.            How many fellow supporters I know

7.            Strip colour

I have never been a sheep, so as seventy per cent of Argentine football fans support Boca Juniors or River Plate, that’s two down and eleven to go. Banfield, Lanus, Velez, Argentinos Juniors and Quilmes play good football but are located in the wild-west, meaning dangerous commutes to games. Teams such as Arsenal and Huracan are doing well at the moment but may not have the resources to stay in Premier A. The last thing I want to do is have the pain of supporting another “Yo Yo” club.

Me and Ben Duncan with the sheep and
 prawn sandwich brigade at Boca Juniors  

After a month of searching I was left with two clubs from Avellaneda, just fifteen minutes away from San Telmo. The Avellaneda Derby (El Superclasico de Avellaneda) between Racing Club and Independiente is the second biggest derby in Argentina, behind Boca Juniors and River Plate. However, El Superclasico de Avellaneda is regarded as having the fiercest rivalry in the country. Why is it so fierce? Their grounds are situated just three hundred meters apart.

The grounds of Independiente (left) and Racing (right) in the the
surrounding neighbourhoud of Avellaneda

It’s a tricky decision. I return to the seven factors. Well, styles of football are similar and the commute to the ground is exactly the same.  What about history? In 1905, after a successful tour to Argentina by Nottingham Forrest, the president of Independiente was so impressed he changed the clubs colours to match Nottingham Forrest. Independiente have had the same strip and colour ever since. As a Leicester City fan I was confused why any team would want to look like our local rivals Forest?  But, I didn't want to let emotion cloud my judgement.

Independiente fans

Racing are known as ‘The Academy’ (La Academia) because they provided so many players to the Argentine national side in the 60s. However, since then they have not won much, but they have maintained their reputation of being Argentina’s most fanatical, loyal and vocal supporters. Average attendances have rarely slipped to the dismal levels of some other Argentinian clubs, despite spells in the second division, bankruptcy and suspension from the football Association. The above, are all qualities I admire in a club and they play in a reassuring blue strip, so I became a Racing Fan.

What really sealed the deal was fellow Racing fan Estaban ‘Billy’ MacDermott who is Captain of the Argentine Cricket team. He introduced me to La Academia and I have been smitten ever since. However, there is one issue. The Avellenada neighbourhood is one of the dodgiest barrios in Buenos Aires and it is always an experience getting to the ground. Here’s just one example.

Me with MCC young cricketers Paul Muchall
and Tom Lewis at Racing

When Racing played Huracan earlier in the season I invited some friends from the British Embassy and assured them that Billy would lead us to the ground safely. In reality, we found ourselves outside the Avellaneda train station after a cabbie spotted we were not locals and dumped us there adding ten pesos to the fare. No doubt a thieving Independiente fan.

There was no sign of Billy and above the din of the crowd there were several loud cracking noises.  All the cars heading to the game started reversing down the road at great speed with several passengers motioning to the sky with their middle and index fingers together.  

Esteban 'Billy' MacDermott
celebrating
 a goal at Racing

Amidst the confusion, Billy screeched alongside us in his Peugeot 205, skidded to a halt with a leisurely, “Che Boludos…”, the words most Argentine’s use to start a sentence “ …Get in the car, the Bavas Bravas (football firms) are shooting at each other.” We all did our best Starsky and Hutch style dives into the car and Billy drove us safely to the other side of the ground.  It seems, the Independiente and Racing firms could not wait any longer to get it on before the Avellenda Derby and started a week in advance!

I think it must have been at this moment that Billy decided he needed danger money for these heroic acts. He has now decided to become a football guide when he is not doing his day job.  

Esteban ‘Billy’ MacDermott - the best football guide in the world (gun war is not guaranteed).

His website is below where you can see the passion of the fans.

http://racingclubexperience.blogspot.com/