Nickname: El Fortin (the fortress)
Club fun facts: they built their stadium on a former swamp that they managed to dry up. The club was named after the closest railway station (a different one than today, so don’t take the wrong direction, ha). Velez has won many national and international titles and like almost all clubs has teams in different sports. The nickname stems from their fearsome home reputation: it’s somehow very difficult to win in El Fortin at the Los Fortineros 🙂 The club has been playing at the highest level since 1943, only surpassed by Boca. The legendary Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, known for taking penalties and freekicks, made Velez famous in the 1990s.
Official site: https://velez.com.ar/
Stadium: Jose Amalfitani (El Fortin)
Capacity: 49.540
Stadium specifics: renovated and expanded for the 1978 World Cup, this blue concrete temple has no roofs. The main stand and opposite (Platea Carlos Bianchi) have seats only. When I went, I got a seat on the Carlos Bianchi stand. These were all unnumbered: first come, first served. The barra bravas are in the eastern terraces (Este Popular), for the less hardcore members there is the Popular Oeste (west terraces), close to the ticket booths.
How to get there: get to Once railway station (it is connected to the yellow subway line). Take a suburban train (the Western Railway, in Spanish the Ferrocarril Oeste, also the name of another club from the neighborhood).
The fifth stop is Liniers. Exit on the Avenida Rivadavia side (on the left of the train direction!) and go back to Barragan street. From here it is a five minute walk to the stadium, perfectly safe. On Avenida Alfarez Jonte are ticket booths. Around the corner are several bars and small restaurants for decent quick pre-match food, a bit further away is the A Todo Ritmo pizzeria where the barra bravas eat and drink.
Tickets: for non-members often on the day itself until 90 minutes before the game, in cash, at the stadium.
