The biggest Argentine teams that never played in the Primera División
Football is a huge passion in Argentina, there's no doubt about it. This is reflected in many elements surrounding both its local clubs and its national teams, as well as its amateur, semi-professional, and professional players around the world. It's estimated that there are around 300 teams in official competitions of the Argentine Football Association, although there are nearly 10,000 clubs at all levels spread across the country.
Club Atletico Mitre (Santiago del Estero)
This is the oldest club on the entire list and is one of the clubs with the longest history in Argentina, having been founded in 1907. It is a sports entity that, while best known for its football, also offers several other disciplines such as basketball, athletics, cycling, rugby, volleyball, figure skating, among others. In the 2016-17 season, it was playing in the Federal A tournament (Argentina's third tier), a competition consisting of three phases and then a knockout round to determine who would advance to the Primera B Nacional (second tier).Mitre would reach the final against Gimnasia de Mendoza, which would be played in home-and-away matches. Due to the aggregate tie, the final was decided on penalties in favor of the Santiago del Estero team, which meant promotion, for the first time in its more than 100-year history, to the second tier of Argentine football. But despite its long history and strong fan base in the region, Mitre has so far been unable to play in Argentina's Primera División.
Club Almirante Brown
The club's origins date back to 1912, and in addition to its football team (the largest in the institution), it also participates in tennis and hockey. Almirante Brown is located in the western part of Greater Buenos Aires, and despite having many other strong teams in the capital, it has built up a significant following over the years. Interestingly, the club has maintained its distinctive features, such as its emblem, colors, and jersey design, since its founding, something that is not always a certainty in the world of football.Unlike Mitre, Almirante Brown is a historic regular in the Primera B Nacional, and in 1970, he had a moment that brought him very close to playing in the first tier; some even say he actually did. After a complicated tournament to determine promotion to the Primera División, the black and gold club entered what was called the Championship Zone, a sort of mini-competition that pitted two teams from the second tier against two from the first tier to determine who would continue or be promoted to the Primera División. Almirante Brown failed to achieve promotion, and the controversy arose because some argue that this tournament should count as participation in the first tier.
Club Social y Deportivo Madryn
A football and basketball (with some importance in this discipline) club founded in 1924 in Puerto Madryn, in the Chubut Province, another institution in the interior region of Argentina. Traditionally, it is one of the most important clubs in its province, having enormous dominance of the region's football in the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-90s, the club's worst moment came when it fell to second tier in the Liga del Valle (regional league) after several seasons in which the institution prioritized investment in the basketball section. The new millennium brought a new board that also managed to promote progressive growth for the football club.Madryn can boast having won fourth and third tier titles from the Argentine Football Association, having conquered the Torneo Argentino B in 2014 (fourth tier) and the Torneo Federal A in 2021. In terms of AFA competitions, Madryn has usually played at those levels, although in the 2020s, it has become a constant in the Primera B Nacional.
Club Deportivo Maipu
The club belongs to the province of Mendoza and was founded in 1927. Although there had been two previous clubs in the city of Maipu, Club Deportivo was the one that survived the passage of time and established a stronger foothold in the area. It has historically played between the third and fourth tiers of Argentine football and achieved its first promotion to the Primera B Nacional in 1986, where it would remain for six seasons. It took 19 years to see them play in the second tier of Argentine football again, as in 2021, after a series of stages that shaped the promotion format of the Torneo Federal A (third tier), Maipu faced Madryn in the final to determine who would advance to the Primera B Nacional. The Mendoza team won 2-0 and earned the right to play in the second tier for the second time in its history.Just two years later, Maipu finished third in Zone B of the Primera B Nacional, which allowed them to play a knockout round alongside 13 other clubs to earn a spot in the Primera División. To the surprise of many, Maipu defeated San Martin de San Juan, Temperley, and Estudiantes de Río Cuarto to reach the final against Deportivo Riestra. This final was played in a single match at a neutral stadium (Juan Domingo Peron Stadium in Córdoba). The match represented a clash of footballing ideas, as Riestra opted for a more counter-attacking and reactionary style, while Maipu had a style much more focused on possession and touch of the ball.Neither team had played in the Primera División before, so in either case, the winner would be a team unfamiliar with the first tier. Ultimately, Riestra won the match 1-0 thanks to a memorable goal from Gustavo Fernández.