Newell's Old Boys

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Newell's Old Boys

Full name	Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys
Nickname(s)	La Lepra (lit. 'The Lepers')
Founded	3 November 1903; 121 years ago (1903-11-03)
Ground	Estadio Marcelo Bielsa
Capacity	42,000[1]
Chairman	Ignacio Astore
Manager	Mariano Soso
League	Primera División
2024	25th
Website	newellsoldboys.com.ar
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkluβ aˈtletiko ˈɲuls olˈβojs]) is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.

A founding member of Liga Rosarina de Football,^[2] the club affiliated to the Argentine Football Association (AFA) in 1939. Since then, Newell's Old Boys have taken part in tournaments organised by the body. The club have won six Argentine Primera División championships plus three national cups throughout their history. Newell's have also been twice Copa Libertadores runner-up (in 1988 and 1992).

The club's football stadium is the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa, named after the team's former player and manager Marcelo Bielsa (twice champion, and runner-up of one Copa Libertadores). Newell's play the Rosario derby against Rosario Central, a club with whom they have a huge historical rivalry.

Newell's are also notable for their youth divisions, being one of the clubs with most national titles in AFA's youth tournaments.^[3] Players from the club's youth who have represented Argentina at World Cups are Gabriel Batistuta, Éver Banega, Walter Samuel, Américo Gallego, Jorge Valdano, Gabriel Heinze, Roberto Sensini, Mauricio Pochettino, Lionel Scaloni and Maxi Rodríguez, among others. Lionel Messi also played in the club's youth, but left at a young age to play for Barcelona to seek treatment for his growth hormone deficiency, while Diego Maradona played briefly for the first team in 1993.^[4]

Other sports practised at this club are basketball, boxing, field hockey, martial arts, roller skating, volleyball and American football.

Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys was established on 3 November 1903. Claudio Newell was one of the founding members. Newell called teachers, pupils and alumni of the school his father had established to sign the act of foundation of the club. The name chosen paid tribute to Isaac Newell's life. The first president was Víctor Heitz.

The name "old boys" refers to former pupils of a school. In fact, the players of the first football team were graduates of the school Isaac Newell had established, the Colegio Comercial Anglicano Argentino.

The colours of the club were taken from the Colegio Comercial Anglicano Argentino emblem (designed by Isaac Newell himself) that were red and black inspired in the colours of the flag of England and the Flag of the German Empire.

Newell's Old Boys is often referred to as "leprosos" ("lepers"). The club got its nickname, the lepers, after playing in a charity match for a leprosy clinic in the 1920s.^[5]

On 30 March 1905, the Liga Rosarina de Football (Rosarian Football League) was established, following a proposal by Newell's president Heitz, who invited representatives of Rosario Athletic, Rosario Central and Atlético Argentino for that purpose. The main objective was to organise a championship, so a trophy was donated by the intendant of Rosario, Santiago Pinasco. The trophy was later named in his honour. Newell's was the winner of the first edition, having won eight games and finishing unbeaten. The team also scored 39 goals, conceding just 4.^[6]

Previously, the historic first Rosarino derby had been held. Newell's won 1–0 with a goal scored by Faustino González. The next year Newell's won its second championship.

In 1907, the Liga Rosarina established a second division. The Copa Santiago Pinasco tournament moved to that division and "Copa Nicasio Vila" (named in honour of then mayor of Rosario) was created to be played by the first division teams. Newell's won the first edition of this trophy, which they won a total 9 times between 1907 and 1930.^[7]

The Copa de Honor Municipalidad de Buenos Aires allowed teams from Buenos Aires and Rosario to take part in the competition. Newell's won the 1911 edition defeating Porteño 3–2 at the final. Other trophy were teams of both cities played together was the Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren, won by Newell's in 1921, defeating Huracán by 3–0.

In 1939, Newell's asked the Argentine Football Association to play in the Primera División championship. The AFA accepted the request, so Newell's played its first tournament in 1939, along with Rosario Central which was also added to the competition. Despite playing in the national tournaments, Newell's continued participating in the regional leagues of Rosario, but with youth amateur players. Newell's debuted in the AFA tournaments on 19 March 1939, defeating San Lorenzo by 2–1. The line-up was: Heredia; Gilli, Soneyro; Sisniega, Perucca, Reynoso; Belén, Fabrini, Gómez, Franco, Sánchez.

Newell's Old Boys have won the Primera División championship six times (1974 Metropolitano, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1992 Clausura, Apertura 2004 and 2013 Final) and were the runners-up of the Copa Libertadores de América twice (1988 and 1992). The 1990–91 championship was contested between the 1990 Apertura (Newell's) and 1991 Clausura (Boca Juniors) champions, which Newell's won in home-and-away matches. Even though the 1990 Apertura was not considered official by itself, it is considered by Newell's supporters to be their "seventh" championship.

Newell's also won a friendly youth mini-tournament called the Little World Cup in 1988, against River Plate, Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid and Manchester United, and is, together with Boca Juniors, San Lorenzo and Racing Club one of the few Argentine clubs that made a long and successful tour in Europe (in 1949), in which they defeated several important teams such as Valencia, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Real Madrid and the Spanish National "A" Team. These are the only major international achievements of the club until now (although several minor international summer tournaments were won, with the 1943 Copa de Oro Rioplatense standing up). So far the club has not won an official international championship.

Newell's Old Boys is one of a very few teams to have had all their players represent the national team in a single game, when they represented Argentina in a Pre-Olympic Tournament with their undefeated reserve team. It finished third in America, after Brazil and Uruguay.

The team has also contributed a great number of players to the Argentina national team, and exported many players to Europe's top leagues, mostly to Italy and Spain. Among its great players were Gabriel Batistuta, Abel Balbo, Jorge Valdano, Américo Gallego, Mario Zanabria, Gustavo Dezotti, Roberto Sensini, Walter Samuel, Mauricio Pochettino, René Pontoni, Gerardo Martino, Ángel Perucca and several more. It has recently produced Argentine internationals Gabriel Heinze, Maxi Rodríguez and Lionel Messi.

The club's president is Dr Ignacio Astore, a former team doctor, who was elected in September 2021.^[8]

Period	Kit manufacturer
1979–1999	Adidas
1999–2000	Luanvi
2000–2002	Mitre
2002–2005	TBS
2005–2015	Topper
2015–2017	Adidas
2018–2021	Umbro
2022–2023	Givova
2024–Present	Aifit

The origins of Newell's Old Boys colors can be traced to the 19th century, when Isaac Newell founded the "Colegio Comercial Anglicano Argentino" in 1884. The school's coat of arms had four panels, each depicting a different element, such as Mercury wings, a lamp (representing wisdom), the flag of the United Kingdom, and the flag of Argentina.

The black and red colors used in the coat were extracted from the flags of England (where Newell was born) and the German Empire (country of origin of his wife, Anna Jockinsen).^[9]

The red and black colors would be also adopted by the club as its colors. The first NOB emblem was designed by Ernesto Edwards, and (with few variations) has remained since then.

The Newell's Old Boys stadium has been in the Parque Independencia neighborhood of Rosario since 1911, and is commonly called El Coloso del Parque (the Colossus of the Independence Park). The capacity was increased from 31,000 to 42,000 in 1997. On 22 December 2009 the stadium was renamed after Marcelo Bielsa, in honour of the former player and coach of the team.^[10]

As of 31 August 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ARG Lucas Hoyos 4 DF  ARG Augusto Schott (on loan from Talleres) 5 MF  URU Rodrigo Fernández (on loan from Santos) 6 DF  PAR Saúl Salcedo 7 MF  PAR Fernando Cardozo 10 MF  ARG Éver Banega 12 GK  ARG Ramiro Macagno 14 DF  URU Armando Méndez 16 DF  ARG Brian Calderara 17 MF  ARG Gabriel Carabajal 19 FW  USA Matko Miljević 21 DF  ARG Leonel Vangioni (captain) 23 DF  ARG Ángelo Martino 24 FW  ARG Mateo Silvetti

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 DF  PAR Gustavo Velázquez 26 MF  ARG Ignacio Méndez 27 FW  ARG Jeremías Pérez 33 MF  ARG Jerónimo Cacciabue 35 FW  ARG Misael Jaime 36 MF  ARG Esteban Fernández (on loan from River Plate) 37 DF  ARG Ian Glavinovich 38 FW  ARG Giovani Chiaverano 44 FW  ARG Francisco González 45 FW  ARG Juan Manuel García 55 DF  ARG Tomás Jacob 77 FW  ARG Lucas Besozzi (on loan from Lanús) 99 FW  URU Ignacio Ramírez

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ARG Williams Barlasina (at Estudiantes de Río Cuarto until 31 December 2024) — DF  ARG Martín Luciano (at Godoy Cruz until 31 December 2024) — DF  ARG Facundo Mansilla (at Sport Boys until 31 December 2024) — DF  COL Jherson Mosquera (at Independiente Medellín until 30 June 2025) — DF  COL Carlos Ordóñez (at Sportivo Trinidense until 31 December 2024) — MF  ARG Guillermo Balzi (at Levadiakos until 30 June 2025) — MF  ARG Marcos Benítez (at Flandria until 31 December 2025) — MF  ARG Román Cerutti (at Agropecuario until 31 December 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ARG Marcelo Esponda (at Aldosivi until 31 December 2024) — MF  ARG Julián Fernández (at Sport Recife until 31 December 2024) — MF  ARG Mateo Maccari (at Chaco For Ever until 31 December 2024) — MF  ARG Lisandro Montenegro (at Platense until 31 December 2024) — FW  ARG Julián Contrera (at Cerro Largo until 31 July 2025) — FW  ARG Nazareno Fúnez (at San Martín de San Juan until 31 December 2025) — FW  ARG Genaro Rossi (at Colón until 31 December 2025)

Gerardo Martino has the record of matches played for NOB

Víctor Ramos, all-time top scorer

No.	Player	Pos.	Tenure	Match.
1	Gerardo Martino	MF	1980–90, 1991–94, 1995–96	505
2	Norberto Scoponi	GK	1982–94	407
3	Juan Manuel Llop	MF	1981–84, 1985–94	399
4	Fabián Basualdo	DF	1982–88	307
5	José O. Berta	MF	1970–78	299

No.	Player	Pos.	Tenure	Goals
1	Víctor Ramos	FW	1978–84, 1987–89	104
2	Santiago Santamaría	FW	1970–74, 1980–82, 1984	90
3	Alfredo Oberti	FW	1970–72, 1974–75	89
4	Maxi Rodríguez	FW	1999–2002, 2012–17, 2019–21	85
5	Ignacio Scocco	FW	2004–06, 2012–13, 2014–17, 2020–21	79

• Liga Rosarina
  • Copa Nicasio Vila (9): 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1918, 1921, 1922, 1929
  • Copa Damas de Caridad (1): 1913
• Asociación Rosarina:^{[note 1]}
  • Torneo Luciano Molinas (4): 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935
  • Copa Estímulo (2): 1925, 1933

• Torneo Internacional Nocturno (1): 1943

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys.

• Official website (in Spanish)