HISTORY
IN MAY 1891 DON ENRIQUE LICHTENBERGER, FOUND THE FIRST URUGUAYAN CLUB DEDICATED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE PRACTICE OF FOOTBALL, THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION.
History
Football arrived in Uruguay with the English immigrants that came to the country in the 1880’s. As from that date and until now, this sport has been a part of one of the most important cultural manifestations of the country.
Albion was founded on June 1, 1891 by Enrique Lichtenberger, under the name Football Association, with the particularity of being the first Uruguayan club dedicated exclusively to the practice of soccer. The first game was against Montevideo Cricket on August 2, 1891 and already by September of that year, the team changed its name to Albion Football Club, in honor of the English, creators of this sport.
In 1896, Albion travelled to Buenos Aires to play two friendly matches. It won 4-1 against Retiro and 5-3 against Belgrano, two of the most important teams at the time in Argentina. This meant the first victory of a Uruguayan club at an international level.
Foundation of AUF
The Uruguayan Football Association (“Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol”, “AUF”) was founded on March 30, 1900 due to the initiative of Enrique Lichtenberger, founder of Albion, who invited the clubs Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club, Deutscher Fussball Klub and Uruguay Athletic to form a new league. That same year, these four clubs, founders of AUF, participated in the first Uruguayan Football Championship.
FIFA: https://es.fifa.com/news/la-auf-cumple-120-anos-3069451#diego-godin-of-uruguay-poses-2368118
Achievements of Uruguayan Football
Uruguayan football forms part of the most important history of this sport. In 1924 and 1928 Uruguay won the Olympic Games. Additionally it obtained two World Cups, the first in 1930 (the first world championship, played in Uruguay) and the second in 1950, where the “Maracanazo” milestone took place. At a continental level, it won 15 America Cups, becoming the country with the most titles in this competition.
Disciplines
Albion founded, in addition to AUF, the Baseball League of Uruguay and the distinguished University Sports League (“Liga Universitaria de Deportes”, “LUD”) in 1914. After more than 100 years leading the amateur sport in Uruguay, LUC is a clear ambassador of the original values that motivated the creation of Albion in 1891: “pay tribute to and spread the practice of football”.
Albion also had a distinguished participation in Uruguayan athletics and obtained victories in basketball championships.
In its effort to be a club that drives sports in Uruguay, it incorporated beach football in 2018, which plays in the men’s AUF championship, and the team of E-sports that competes in the Uruguayan Federation of Virtual Football (“Federación Uruguaya de Fútbol Virtual”, “FUFV”). In 2019 Albion began to compete officially in AUF’s Uruguayan Women’s Championship.
Return to Professionalism
After a restructuring of the club and the beginning of a new professional project, Albion played the “Liguilla” Championship in the National Second B Division in 2013, getting close to obtaining its pass to First Division.
In 2017, Albion was champion of the “Torneo Apertura” of the First Amateur Division and months after this, Uruguayan Champion beating Colón FC 2-1 in the Estadio Centenario, with goals by Xavier Páez and Maximiliano Rodríguez. In this manner, Albion was back in one of the most important categories of Uruguayan soccer.
