The Argentina football champion is the winner of the highest league in Argentine football, the Primera División. The league season have had different formats, since the original double round-robin until the Liga Profesional. The champion is the team with the most points at the end of the competition.
The first Argentine football champions, St. Andrew's and Old Caledonians, were crowned in 1891 in the first official championship. Alumni was the most successful club with 10 titles until its dissolution in 1911. River Plate is the most successful club, having won 38 titles to date.
Primera División champions (1891–present)
The following is a list including all the Primera División champions since the first edition held in 1891.[1][2][3] For the first time since 1892, no league championship was held in 2020 after the schedule for a regular league season had been repeatedly delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the National Government allowed football competitions to return in October,[4] AFA organised the 2020 Copa de la Liga Profesional, a domestic cup conceived as a contingency competition.
^ abThe former and disbanded Association considered the title shared between both teams, in contrast to general opinion which held Saint Andrew's to be the champion because they won the final match, held to decide what team would be awarded with medals.[6]
^This was not the club founded by the Hogg brothers but another football club that only participated in this championship. The team's jersey was red and white in vertical stripes while its venue was located in Flores, Buenos Aires.
^When Alumni won the 1900 title the club still named "English High School AC". In 1901 it was renamed due to the Football Association did not allow teams to use the same name as the school they represented to avoid advertising purposes.
^The Liga Argentina de Football (LAF) was a dissident association that organized the first four professional championships between 1931 and 1934. In 1935 it merged with the amateur association Asociación Argentina de Football (AAF) whose teams were relegated to second division.
^ abcThe 1936 season was divided into two single round-robin tournaments, "Copa Campeonato" (won by River Plate) and "Copa de Honor" (won by San Lorenzo). At the end of the season, both teams played the "Copa de Oro", a single match won by River. In its Memoria y Balance (Annual Report) published by the AFA that year, River Plate is mentioned as "1936 Champion" while San Lorenzo is only mentioned as "Copa de honor winning team".[8] In its 100th anniversary book published in 1993, the AFA listed River Plate as the only 1936 champion.[9] In 2013, the AFA included three 1936 championships on its website, mentioning River Plate as Copa de Oro and Copa Campeonato winner and San Lorenzo as Copa de Honor winner, therefore both clubs were added one league title to their honours.[10][11] Moreover, some historians consider Copa de Oro a national cup instead of a league championship, stating that it was only contested to qualify an Argentine representative to play the Copa Aldao against the Uruguayan champion.[12]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrNo third team recorded so the championship was played in a two zones format, where both teams qualified first played a final.
^Although there was an Apertura (Newell's Old Boys) and Clausura champion (Boca Juniors) this season, the half-year champions played in a two-legged final to determine the season champion, which finally was Newell's.
^Since 1991–92 season both Apertura and Clausura were official titles as individuals.
^Only to indicate that Vélez Sársfield was proclaimed as champion of the entire season after winning the "Superfinal" v Newell's.
^Vélez was recognized as the champion of the entire season (2013-14) and awarded its 10th. Primera División title.
^Although River defeated San Lorenzo in the "Superfinal", this did not count as a new Primera División honour.
Titles by club
The list include all the titles won by each club since the first Primera División championship held in 1891. Clubs in italic no longer exist or are currently disaffiliated from the AFA.
^ abThe Association awarded River Plate both titles, Copa Campeonato and Copa de Oro, as individual titles.
^The Argentine Football Association considered the Superfinal as an official Primera División championship (2012-13 season) so Vélez Sarsfield awarded its 10th. title.[14]
Although most of Primera División championships were decided by points in single and double round-robin tournaments, some finals were played when two teams ended tied on points at the end of the season. The following is a list of those cases:[15]
Notes:
The 1936 "Copa de Oro" is not listed because it did not define a Primera División champion but which team would participate in the 1936 Copa Aldao.[note3 1]
Nacional championship finals are listed on their respective articles and not included here. It is due to finals included in the list below were played in exceptional cases (mostly when both teams finished tied on points).
^This point is still under discussion and has caused controversies among football historians, as River Plate was mentioned as "Argentine champion" on the AFA Annual Report of that year.[8] Nevertheless, some historians argue that the "Copa de Oro" was not a league title but a national cup that determined which team would play the Copa Aldao v the Uruguayan representative.[16]
^This match did not decide the champion so both teams had been awarded the title after they finished tied on points. The match was held only to define which team would be awarded the medals.
^Porteño was croned champion after Independiente left the field in protest.
^Only the last match is included so both clubs had played three games before (in a two legged series, one win for each, then a playoff that drew after extra time)
^The association crowned Huracán as champion after players of Nueva Chicago refused to play the extra time.
