Club Atlético Peñarol

Origins

On 28 September 1891, employees of the Central Uruguay Railway Company established the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club (CURCC) of Montevideo, with the purpose of stimulating the practice of cricket, rugby football and "other male sports" (literal from the Spanish). The Central Uruguay Railway company had operated in Uruguay since 1878, with 118 employees, 72 British, 45 Uruguayan and one German. The club was known as CURCC in the neighborhood of Peñarol—the latter from the Peñarol neighborhood, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Montevideo, whose name in turn derived from an Italian city. The club's first president was Frank Henderson, who remained in that position until 1899. In 1892, the CURCC shifted its focus from cricket and rugby to association football. The football club's first game was against a team of students from the English high school and ended with a 2–0 victory. In 1895, Uruguayan footballer Julio Negrón was chosen as the team's first non-British captain.

First titles

In 1900 the CURCC was one of four charter members of the Uruguay Association Football League, making its debut in official competition on 10 June against Albion and winning 2–1. The club won its first Uruguayan championship that year, repeating in 1901, 1905 and 1907. In 1906 Charles W. Bayne took over the railroad, and refused to sponsor the football team due to financial and work issues. Conflict between the company and the football club led to the severance of…

Senior titles

Under-20 team

South American Club of the Century

In 2009, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics released a list of the best clubs of the 20th century on each continent. The organization awarded points for each victory in a quarterfinal or higher in international competition but only took into account games played after 1932 for the Professional era. Peñarol was the number-one team in South America, above Independiente of Argentina and arch-rivals Nacional.