Hailing from a small city of the
same name in the province of
Rio Negra in the dusty deserts of
Patagonia,
Club Cipolletti were formed in 1926, and currently play in the regionalised
Torneo Argentino A- the regionalised third level of Argentine football. The club had existed though in other forms before their official foundation, and you can trace their lineage back to the Cipolletti Athletic Club, who first wore the black and white shirts in 1912.
But they haven't always languished in the lower leagues, as they qualified to play in the National Tournament six times in the seventies and eighties, but never made it past the first group stage. Their most recent success though came when they were on of three reginal winners of Torneo Argentino B in 2007, where they had slipped after a narrow relegation play-off defeat to
General Paz Juniors the previous year.
Another club deeply involved in their commune, Cipo run a huge range of sporting activities from their La Visera de Cemento home, and are apparently committed to providing the whole city - nestling as it does in a narrow green strip of agricultural land in the middle of a vast desert that is the country's principal apple and pear growing area - quality sports facilities. And in a move to get the club back into the top flight, they've started an academy with which they hope they can climb up the ranks using only local players farmed from this new youth policy. And good luck to them - I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for their progress.
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