Argentine Association Football League (1891)


The Argentine Association Football League was the first football association of Argentina and predecessor of current Argentine Football Association. The association has a historic importance in football for having organised the first official championship outside the United Kingdom.

History

By the 1890s, more than 20,000 inhabitants of Argentina were British, most of them employees of railway companies. They had introduced several sports to the country, with football among them.
On March 7, 1891, the act of foundation of the "Argentine Association Football League" was signed. Board members were F.L. Wooley, Rovenscraf, Arcels, Mc Ewen, Hughes, Mc Intoch and Alec Lamont.
The recently formed Association set three objectives:
The first Argentine football championship began on April 12, 1891, with five teams contesting the competition, they were, Old Caledonians, Buenos Aires and Rosario Railway, Buenos Aires Football Club, Belgrano Football Club and St. Andrews.
After organising the first championship, the Association was dissolved. Therefore no championship would be held in 1892 until a new association with the same name was established in 1893.