75 years after the longest strike in the history of Argentine football: people who played for money in the pastures and collected in the theaters while the fields were half empty

In these times of football every day, with the Professional League CupTHE Argentine CupTHE Argentina Super CupTHE LiberatorsTHE South AmericanTHE Argentina national team in friendly matches and in subsequent ones America’s Cupit’s hard to understand There was a time when there was no official competition for about 180 days, 25 weeks, almost 6 months. It was the longest professional strike in history. It happened 75 years ago and at the beginning of April the conflict had not yet been resolved.

Can you imagine today’s stars leading meetings Unionized Argentine footballersWill the AFA sign off on your demands for wage and labor improvements? Can you imagine FrancoArmani, Marcos Rosso, Federico Mancuello OR Lisandro Lopez, to name four experienced players, who play on fields or pastures across the country, with no affiliation to the AFA, to pick up a few pesos and cover daily expenses? Can you imagine the most famous artists of this era placing piggy banks in theaters to accompany the players’ cause?

All this and more happened between November 1948 and April 1949. In reality, official football existed, but the last five dates of the 1948 tournament and the first of the 1949 tournament were played with amateur, junior players, by decision of the managers . in a power struggle with professional footballers and MPs. With few people in the stands.

The conflict occurred in a decade that is considered the “golden age” of Argentine football, which participated in five of the six South American Cups and won four, which with the imminence of the first post-war World Cup and after the strike, There has been a significant exodus of many footballers to Colombian football without transition, as the new professional league was not affiliated with FIFA, of the triumphs in previous European friendlies (Italy, Spain, England), of the successful return to South America and of the return to the World Cup. The cycle ended with a blow to football morale: Argentina lost 6-1 with Czechoslovakia and did not pass the first round. It was there Sweden disaster.

The book The football kidsby the journalist Ariel Borenstein, which will be presented on Friday 5th at 7pm at the headquarters of the Center for Research on the History of Football (CIHF); in México 3558 (free entry), addresses this whole theme, from the beginning of the 40s with the foundation of the Argentine Footballers’ Associations, the movie stars, the strike of professionals, the exodus to Colombia, the friendly matches with England and the one before Sweden 58. With a central axis which was the conflict between the AFA, the first government of Juan Domingo Perón and the professional footballers.

“The Soccer Boys tells the story of a decade of paradoxical disagreements between early Peronism and Argentina’s main popular passion. “The years in which the players consolidated a process of professionalization that began in the 1930s and unionized”summarizes the back cover of the book edited by Aguilar.

The book clearly summarizes what the players’ complaints were. “The proposals combined demands for different situations: from minimum salaries for Ascenso’s second division players to the elimination of the 1,500 peso salary cap imposed on figures; end the practice of stopping paying mid-season players who haven’t performed and get job freedom for stars, so they aren’t tied to forever contracts at their clubs.”. Plus, medical insurance and pension contributions.

The old dispute between players and referees deepened, then, in March 1948 with the approval of the New regime for footballers. The members already existed but the AFA directors did not recognize it. In June there was the threat of a strike. Has been suspended. On the weekend of October 30th and 31st the players took a symbolic one minute break. On November 1, the AFA decided to suspend the tournament. On the 8th the players declared a strike which lasted almost six months.

The AFA terminated all contracts and continued the tournament full of young people and with few spectators in the stadiums. Racing, which initially proposed the suspension of the championship, lost the title and did not show up to play the last two matches. He and he even threatened to disaffiliate from the AFA River. Independent he was the unexpected champion. Gym AND Tiger, who had to go down, were saved. And the Primera B championship was suspended.

As long as the strike lasted, Professional players remained active, playing unofficial matches or playing against neighborhood teams.. For example, the Danubio club pitch, in Ramos Mejía, was also the scene of matches between the A and B teams full of professionals. Between them, Adolfo Pedernera, one of the leaders of the strike. As the conflict escalates and the months pass, the actors also go around with piggy banks to raise funds in solidarity with the players.

In the month of january, Entire teams traveled to different cities around the country to earn a few pesos. In January, Mouth AND Racing They were in Río Cuarto and Laboulaye. In March, Mouth AND River They also played two matches in Córdoba, one in Bell Ville and another in Villa María. Their names were valid, they did not represent the club. In March 1949 it was held Campania city week. Players from Mouth AND River, assumed, as a major attraction. Those matches were never recognized by the clubs. Then they agreed to another meeting in Villa María, 80 kilometers away.

The 1949 tournament began on April 24th and in that first match the youth teams were still playing. The professionals returned to action on the second day, May 7, after a meeting of deputies ended the strike. It was a triumph for the players over the league leaders, which still had its consequences.

The attackers paid a price, the temptation of Colombian dollars with a nascent professional football not affiliated with FIFA and which did not require international passes began an exodus of players that decimated the potential of the First Division championship and the national team. As if that wasn’t enough, the conflict with the Brazilian leadership worsened and Argentina isolated itself, first from the 1949 South American Championships and then from the 1949 and 1950 World Cups. A complex and difficult stage to forget.