San Lorenzo

Origins of the club

The roots of the institution are a team formed by a group of children that played 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 neighbourhood'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.

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 declined to be so honoured.

Nevertheless, the name was finally accepted by the priest, explaining that the name would not honour himself but both Lawrence of Rome ("San Lorenzo" in Spanish) and the Battle of San Lorenzo, one of the most significant 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, 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 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 3–0.

First years in Primera

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.´

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. 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 and 13th. In 1919 the Argentine league split into two leagues, the official Asociación Argentina and dissident Asociación Amateur (AAm), in which San Lorenzo took part, along with Racing Club, River Plate and Independiente, among other teams. San Lorenzo finished 9th.

The success begins

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. 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. 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.

Apart from 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.