Gimnasia: Finding balance in La Plata

Words: Niek Jansen

Images: Niek Jansen

Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata, also known as Gimnasia, is a club from La Plata in Argentina.

It is a club that will not immediately ring a bell with many, but the club has a rich history and became better known to the outside world when legend Diego Maradona was head coach from September 2019 until his death in November 2020.

Furthermore “El Lobo”, play in the very beautiful Estadio Juan Carmelo Zerillo (popularly known as “El Bosque”), which is always full and worth a visit.

During my (football) trip to Argentina, I also thought it would be fun to watch football outside the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires. After reading and looking at the schedule, the choice fell on Gimnasia from La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, who play in the Liga Profesional de Fútbol (highest level in Argentina).

The club is popular and has fanatical supporters from mainly, as was often said in the past, the working class.

©Niek Jansen/ Terrace Edition. Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata.

In addition, it is the oldest existing football club, founded in 1887, that participates in the Argentine competition and it has a beautiful old stadium.

What is particularly striking upon arrival is the beautiful location of the stadium. The stadium is located in the city park El Bosque (Spanish for The Forest) hence the club’s nickname of “El Lobo del Bosque” or “the wolf in the forest.

Furthermore, the beautiful, old stands, including the main stand with a beautiful entrance, catch the eye.

As the name of the club suggests, it is not just a football club. Gimnasia is Spanish for gymnastics and Esgrima means fencing.

Behind the main stand are a swimming pool and tennis courts. The old main stand dates from 1931 and has been classified as a historic building by the city of La Plata.

Estadio del Bosque was one hundred years old on November 19, 2024,

In 1923, construction of the stadium began and on April 26, 1924, the new home of Gimnasia was inaugurated by Governor José Luis Cantilo.

However, the official inauguration took place more than six months later on the birthday of the city of La Plata, which was 42 years old on November 19, 1924, and Gimnasia played a friendly match against Peñarol from Uruguay.

The stands of the stadium were made of wood, as was traditional at the time. The aforementioned main stand was a concrete covered stand to house club members and was completed in 1931, with seats added in the late 1940s.

In the years that followed, renovation and expansion work continued to increase the stadium capacity.

By the late 1990s, the wood on the popular stands was replaced by reinforced concrete beams and the metal structures were expanded to increase capacity.

Because Gimnasia was performing well at the highest level in Argentina in those years, then Gimnasia coach Carlos Timoteo Griguol demanded that Héctor Delmar, the former president of the club, increase the capacity of the stadium and renovate it to meet FIFA requirements.

The International Football Association had stated that from 2001 onwards, no club at the highest level would be allowed to have its stadium built with wood. After the work, the maximum capacity was 21,500 spectators.

The stadium was far from finished. From 2006 to 2008, the stadium was not even allowed to be used for official matches due to safety requirements from the then CoProSeDe, a committee set up in 2002 that aimed to reduce violence at sporting events in the province of Buenos Aires.

After carrying out the necessary renovation work, official matches could be played in the stadium again. In the two years that Gimnasia could not play in its own Estadio Juan Carmelo Zerillo, which is named after Juan Carmelo Zerillo, who was president of Gimnasia from 1929 to 1931 and under which the club won its greatest prize ever (Argentine champion in 1929), it played in the multifunctional Estadio Ciudad de La Plata.

The club is now working hard to further expand and modernise the stadium and its surroundings. For example, a stand (the H-stand) has been rebuilt opposite the old main stand and is almost completely finished. It will not stop there, as the ultimate goal is a complete stadium renovation.

In the latest plans, the idea is to expand the stadium to approximately 40,000 spectators and expandable to 50,000 spectators.

Until then, the old-school stadium can still be enjoyed and that is what I did during my visit.

Despite the somewhat disappointing match against Deportivo Riestra (0-0), I enjoyed myself at Gimnasia. I had a nice spot on a standing tribune behind the goal opposite ‘La Banda de Fierro 22’, as the Barra brava (fierce group) of Gimnasia is called.

The experience was intense and everyone, from young to old, stood behind the team like a block.

With 27,500 spectators, El Bosque was also almost completely full.

The fact that the match was not that high in terms of level suited me well. This gave me time to watch outside the stadium at my leisure, while enjoying a good hamburger, at the old main stand and under the enormous, open metal stands, and to take photos.

Not only in the stands, but also here I quickly made conversation with Gimnasia supporters who were curious in the good sense of the word about what I was doing.

I had a few nice conversations about why I wanted to visit Gimnasia and that was very much appreciated. There are not many visitors from abroad and the general tendency is that they are very proud of the fact that there is a visit from someone who lives thousands of kilometres away and is interested in their club.

Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata, a must for every football fan.

Vamos, El Lobo!