San Lorenzo de Almagro

Father Lorenzo Massa, honored by the founders giving his first name to the institution

The roots of the institution can be found in a team formed by a group of kids that used to play football in the corner of México and Treinta y Tres Orientales streets of Buenos Aires. Due to increasing traffic in the city, playing football in the streets became a risky activity for the boys. Lorenzo Massa, the Catholic priest of the neighborhood's church, saw how a tram almost knocked down one of the boys while they were playing in the streets. As a way to prevent more accidents, he offered the boys to play in the church's backyard, under the condition they go to mass on Sundays.

An early San Lorenzo posing with father Lorenzo Massa

On 1 April 1908, an assembly was held in the Almagro district of Buenos Aires with the purpose of establishing a club. During the meeting, several names were proposed. The first option was "Los Forzosos de Almagro" ("The Strongmen of Almagro", the name used by the boys for their street football squad), which did not sound good to Father Massa (who was present). The other proposal was to name the club "San Lorenzo" as an homage to Massa, but he refused to be honored that way.

Nevertheless, the name was finally accepted by the priest, explaining that the name would not honor himself but both Lawrence of Rome ("San Lorenzo" in Spanish) and the Battle of San Lorenzo, one of the most significative combats for the Independence of Argentina. Another founding member, Federico Monti, suggested to add the name of the neighbourhood, Almagro where most of the members lived in, which was accepted by the assembly.

Due to the team not having its own a stadium, San Lorenzo began to play its home games in a field property of the Club Martínez, placed in the nearby town of the same name. The squad played its first match on 26 April 1914. At the end of the season, San Lorenzo had to play a final match against Excursionistas to declare a champion. San Lorenzo won the series (the results were 0–0 and 5–0). This title allowed San Lorenzo to enter the playoffs in for promotion to the Argentine Primera División, which was finally obtained after beating Club Honor y Patria by a score of 3–0.

In 1923, San Lorenzo won its first Primera División title

San Lorenzo began to play in the Argentine Football Association tournaments on 26 April 1914 in the second division, where the team finished sharing first place with Excursionistas. As a result, both teams played a two-match series to determine which team would proceed to the playoffs. San Lorenzo won the series after thrashing Excursionistas 5–0 in the second game.

In playoffs, San Lorenzo eliminated other teams before playing the final against Honor y Patria, winning 3–0 and being promoted to Primera División.[7]´

San Lorenzo made its debut in Primera on 4 April 1915, losing to Platense by 5–1. The first match won in the top division was the 7th fixture, when the team defeated Floresta by 3–1. San Lorenzo finished 12th at the end of the season, tied with Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires.[8]

On 7 May 1916 the club inaugurated its first stadium (popularly known as "Viejo Gasómetro" during a match against Estudiantes de La Plata, which San Lorenzo won by 2–1. That same year, the team finished 7th in the Primera División championship. In subsequent tournaments the team did not wage good campaigns, finishing 12th[9] and 13th. In 1919 the Argentine league split into two leagues, the official Asociación Argentina and dissident Asociación Amateur (AAm),[10] in which San Lorenzo took part, along with Racing Club, River Plate and Independiente, among other teams. San Lorenzo finished 9th.

The team that won a new championship for the club in 1924

The team that won its third league championship in 1933

In 1920 and 1922, San Lorenzo finished third, finally winning its first title in 1923. The squad won 17 of 20 games, only losing 2. San Lorenzo scored 34 goals in 20 fixtures, conceding 13.[11] That same year the squad also won its first international title, The Copa Campeonato del Río de la Plata after beating Montevideo Wanderers 1–0 in the final.

San Lorenzo won its second consecutive Primera División title one year later. The team played 23 matches winning 18 with 2 losses, with a total of 48 goals scored and 15 conceded.[12] In the following two seasons (1925 and 1926) San Lorenzo would make great performances finishing 2nd to Racing Club and Independiente respectively finally achieving its 3rd title in 1927, when both leagues AAF and AAm had joined again. The squad totaled 57 points in 33 matches played with an outstanding mark of 86 goals scored (2,60 per game) and conceding only 26.[13]

The 1927 team won both the Primera División and Copa Aldao championships

Apart of winning the domestic league, in 1927 San Lorenzo won its first and only Copa Aldao, after defeating Uruguayan team (Rampla Juniors) by 1–0. The club soon became one of the most popular institutions in Argentina, increasing its number of followers and being counted in the top five (cinco grandes) together with Boca Juniors, Independiente, River Plate and Racing Club.

In the 1930s, Isidro Lángara and other players of Basque descent endeared San Lorenzo to the Basque community. The team also relied on players from the provinces, known as los gauchos. San Lorenzo returned to success in 1933, when the team won its 4th league championship. The squad totaled 50 points with 22 wins, 6 losses and 6 draws. San Lorenzo scored 81 goals and conceded 48. Boca Juniors was the runner-up while Racing Club finished 3rd.

In 1936, there were two championships within the year, in a format of single-robin tournaments. San Lorenzo won the first round (named "Copa de Honor" for the occasion) while River Plate won the second round ("Copa Campeonato"). Although titles were recognised as official by the Association,[14][15][16][17] both champions, San Lorenzo and River Plate, had to play a match (named "Copa de Oro") in order to define which team would play the Copa Aldao match v. the Uruguayan Primera División champion. Finally, River Plate won the game by 4–2 and qualified to play Peñarol.

San Lorenzo crowned Argentine league champion in 1946

In 1943, San Lorenzo won the national cup, the Copa General Pedro Ramírez, named in honor of Pedro Pablo Ramírez, the de facto president of Argentina by then. San Lorenzo won the trophy by defeating General Paz Juniors 8–3.

After the 1936 success, San Lorenzo would not win a league title for ten years, when in 1946 proclaimed champion with a total of 46 points (the runner-up, Boca Juniors, finished 2nd. with 42). San Lorenzo also scored a record of 90 goals in 30 games played, only conceding 37.

That same year (1946), the team went on to a tour of Spain and Portugal that was one of the highlights of the club's history. The team debuted playing Atlético Aviación winning 4–1. San Lorenzo played a total of 10 matches in Europe, with some extraordinary victories over the Spanish national team (7–5 and 6–1). The Spanish crowd at the stadium acclaimed San Lorenzo as "Son els millor del mon" ("You are the best in the world" in Catalan). San Lorenzo then moved to Portugal where the squad showed its skilled play, thrashing Porto (9–4) and the Portugal national team by 10–4. The only team that defeated San Lorenzo was Real Madrid by 4–1.

As a result of the successful tour, player René Pontoni was offered a contract with Barcelona, but declined to leave Argentina (Barcelona then drafted River Plate's Alfredo Di Stéfano). Fellow player Rinaldo Martino did stay in European football and would later become a star with Juventus.[18]

In the 1960s, a generation of players known as carasucias (literally: dirty faces) were the darling of Argentine fans because of their offensive, careless playing and their bad-boy antics off the pitch. The 1968 team was nicknamed los matadores as it won the championship without losing a single game. This team was recognized as the best team in the world by many journalists. In the years 1968–1974 San Lorenzo won four league titles, its best harvest ever. In 1972, the club became the first Argentine team to win two league titles in one year.

Poor administrations, however, led San Lorenzo to a huge economic crisis. Argentina's military government coerced the club into selling the historic stadium located in Boedo. The team was relegated in 1981, only to return to the top division with great fanfare in the 1982 season, which set all-time attendance records for the club.

By that time, the club had no stadium and was plagued by debt and irregularities. Controversial president Fernando Miele (1986–2001) delivered both the new stadium and two league titles: the Clausura '95 (after 21 years without winning a first division title) and the Clausura 2001 (in which the team achieved 11 consecutive victories). San Lorenzo finished the Clausura 2001 with 47 points in a tournament of 19 matches, setting the record for the highest points haul since the inception of the Apertura and Clausura system in 1990.

The San Lorenzo team in 2015

In late 2001, San Lorenzo won their first international title: the Copa Mercosur 2001, becoming the only Argentine team to win that international cup, because the others champions were all from Brazil.

San Lorenzo also won the first edition of the Copa Sudamericana in December 2002, claiming their second international title, and getting the opportunity to play the Recopa against the Copa Libertadores champion Olimpia.

San Lorenzo is identified with the middle class atmosphere of the Boedo neighborhood. Its derby rival from the southern part of Buenos Aires are Huracán, who were promoted back to the first division for the 2007–08 season, only to be relegated again in 2011.

In 2007, San Lorenzo won the First Division League, Clausura 2007 beating Boca Juniors in the race for the title. Led by manager Ramón Díaz, San Lorenzo secured the title after the 17th round of fixtures, with two games still to play. They finished the tournament with 45 points.

Six years later, and only one year after being relegation-threatened, the club managed to win the Torneo Inicial 2013.

In 2014, San Lorenzo won their first Copa Libertadores.[20] In the final, they defeated Nacional of Paraguay 2–1 on aggregate, concluding their championship run with a 1–0 victory in the second leg at Estadio Pedro Bidegain. This earned the club a berth in the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco, their first trip to FIFA's premier club tournament.[21] They would ultimately lose in the finals to Real Madrid, and finish as runners-up.

As of 7 October 2020.[22]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ARG Francisco Rivadeneira 2 DF  ARG Alejandro Donatti 3 DF  ARG Bruno Pittón 4 DF  ARG Gino Peruzzi 5 MF  ARG Lucas Menossi 6 DF  ARG Federico Gattoni 7 FW  ARG Jonathan Herrera (on loan from Deportivo Riestra) 8 MF  URU Diego Rodríguez (on loan from Tijuana) 9 FW  ARG Franco Di Santo 10 MF  PAR Óscar Romero 11 FW  PAR Ángel Romero 12 GK  ARG Sebastián Torrico 13 GK  ARG Lautaro López Kaleniuk 16 FW  ARG Nicolás Em. Fernández 17 FW  ARG Mariano Peralta Bauer 19 FW  ARG Agustín Hausch 20 MF  ARG Juan Ramírez

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 DF  URU Ramón Arias 22 DF  ARG Gabriel Rojas 23 GK  ARG Fernando Monetti 26 MF  ARG Nicolás Ez. Fernández 27 DF  ARG Santiago Vergini 28 MF  ARG Ignacio Piatti 29 DF  ARG Víctor Salazar 30 DF  ARG Francisco Flores 31 MF  ARG Luis Sequeira 32 DF  ARG Fabricio Coloccini 33 MF  ARG Alexander Díaz 34 MF  ARG Julián Palacios 35 MF  ARG Matías Palacios 38 MF  ARG Siro Rosané 40 MF  ARG Alexis Sabella 42 DF  ARG Marcelo Herrera 43 DF  ARG Rufino Lucero

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ARG Alexis Castro — MF  ARG Gabriel Gudiño

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ARG José Devecchi (at Audax Italiano until 31 December 2020) — DF  ARG Gianluca Ferrari (at Godoy Cruz until 30 June 2021) — MF  ARG Manuel Insaurralde (at Universidad Católica until 31 December 2020) — MF  ARG Nahuel Barrios (at Central Córdoba SdE until June 30, 2021) — MF  ARG Gonzalo Berterame (at San Martín (SJ) until 31 December 2021) — FW  ARG Bautista Merlini (at Guaraní until 31 December 2020)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ARG Santiago González (at Gimnasia y Esgrima until 31 December 2020) — MF  ARG Franco Moyano (at Argentinos Juniors until 31 December 2020) — FW  ARG Ezequiel Cerutti (at Coritiba until 30 June 2020) — DF  ARG Gastón Hernández (at San Martín (SJ) until 31 December 2021) — FW  COL Jasond González (at All Boys until 31 December 2021)

• Primera División (15): 1923 AAm,[lower-alpha 1] 1924 AAm,[lower-alpha 1] 1927, 1933 LAF,[lower-alpha 2] 1936 (Copa de Honor)[lower-alpha 3][25] 1946, 1959, 1968 Metropolitano,
  1972 Metropolitano, 1972 Nacional, 1974 Nacional, 1995 Clausura, 2001 Clausura, 2007 Clausura, 2013 Inicial
• Primera División B (2): 1914,[lower-alpha 4] 1982[27]

• Copa de la República (1): 1943[28]
• Supercopa Argentina (1): 2015

Not recognized as official titles by the Argentine Football Association.[29][30]

• Copa San Martín de Tours [lower-alpha 5] (1): 1994[31]
• Copa Jorge Newbery (1): 1964[32]

• Copa Libertadores (1): 2014[33] [note 1]
• Copa Mercosur (1): 2001 [note 1]
• Copa Sudamericana (1): 2002 [note 1]
• Copa Aldao (1): 1927 [note 2]
• Copa Campeonato del Río de la Plata [lower-alpha 6] (1): 1923[34] [note 2]

Notes