Origins of Soccer in the Province of San Juan, Argentina (1905-1980)

Closer to the Wineries than to the Trains?

Abstract

The wineries, and in particular the wine, are fundamental elements when it comes to understanding the daily life of San Juan from the end of the 19th century until today. Not only for the fact of being a basic product for the economy of the province, but also because it contains a deep emblematic burden for the inhabitants of this land. That is why, from the theoretical-methodological perspectives of the New Cultural History, soccer can be thought of as a playful-symbolic object that with the advance of the 20th century becomes a key identity element to consider in our essay; being that this sport arrived in Argentina from the hand of the English (Scottish), through the port and the trains. It is curious that, in the province of San Juan, this emergence is closer to the wineries, since it is the winery owners who started the founding current of the first football clubs in the province or directly influenced the institutionalization of the themselves, being unquestionable protagonists in the networks of power at the beginning of the 20th century. That is why, with this article, we try to explain and show the link that existed between the wineries with the emergence of San Juan soccer as a recreational-cultural practice, very important for the understanding and analysis of the daily life of San Juan from another perspective. It should be remembered and clarified that this work is only a brief approximation to a deeper study that is under development.