Members of The Cricket club pictured in May 1867,
Hogg and Smith were active in the formation of the Football Club
Buenos Aires Football Club was founded by Englishmen Thomas and James Hogg on May 9 th, 1867 . The club was given permission by Buenos Aires Cricket Club to make use of their cricket field The first recorded football match in Argentina took place on this pitch on 20 June 1867.The game was played between two teams, Blancos and Colorados, taking the names (Reds and Whites) from the colour of the caps they wore (a practice that has a parallel in the Sheffield Rules). There were only enough players for an eight a side. So this iconic first game of football in the nation that became one of the games' superpowers was, in fact, a pretty informal kick about.
The line-ups were:
Colorados:
Thomas Hogg (employee of London & River Plate Bank)
James Hogg,(Stockbroker, the brothers Hogg were from Skelton in Yorkshire)
William Forrester (24 yrs, a merchant born in Burslem,Staffordshire)
T.B. Smith (office Clerk, born in Derbyshire)
J.W. Bond (20, Clerk, a native of Longford, Ireland)
E.S. Smith (no information)
J RamsbothamFarmer, 28 Lancashire.
N.H. Smith Clerk, 19 Birmingham.
Blancos:
T.R. Best (a merchant, born in Manchester)
U. Smith (25, stockbrokers agent)
H.T. Barge (22, merchant born inManchester)
H. Willmott (22, Clerk, from Grappenhall, Cheshire)
R.M. Ramsay (no information)
J. Simpson (23, manager with Boca and Ensenada Railways, from Manchester)
W. Boschetti ( 21, Clerk, born in Saint Lucía, Caribbean)
Buenos Aries' English language newspaper, The Standard, reported on Sunday June 23rd:
Football Match.
The Club opened its season on Thursday last by a spirited contest between sides chosen on the ground. There had been considerable difficulty in finding ground suitable for the match and at the moment application had to be made to the Cricket as Committee for leave to play on their ground at Palermo, and the best thanks of the Football Club are due to the ready permission given to make use of the cricket field.There were not so many players as had been expected, for many of those who had promised to join the game seemed to prefer to see how the first meeting would go off.
(…) Play commenced at 12.30 and fortune declared in favour of Mr. Hogg’s side by 4 goals to none, which result chiefly owing to the superior play of the Messrs. Hogg; on the losing side the play of Mr. Barge excited great admiration, and it one player could have saved the game, he certainly would have done so.
However, it was remarkable that considering it was the first time the players had assembled together, they all played well, and when at 2.30 the game closed, it was unanimously resolved to have the next match on the 29th instant, (...).
