Newell’s Old Boys

Newell's Old Boys are one of Argentine football's most fascinating clubs, a Rosario institution with six Primera Division titles and the distinction of having counted both Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona among those who wore the red and black. Named after Isaac Newell, a British teacher who introduced football to the Rosario region, the club carries a history that is inseparable from the story of Argentine football itself. Los Leprosos, they are called, with an unlikely nickname worn with fierce pride. Founded in 1903, Newell's Old Boys play at the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa in Rosario and compete in the Argentine Primera Division. Key honours include six Argentine championships and two Copa Libertadores final appearances (1988, 1992). Known as Los Leprosos (The Lepers), the club is one of Rosario's two great football institutions alongside Rosario Central. Red and black halves are Newell's Old Boys' signature, worn strictly with red on the left side in a combination that has been consistent throughout the club's history. The kit carries the weight of Maradona's five appearances in the famous red and black in 1993. But it is Lionel Messi, a Newell's youth product who wore those colours as a boy, who gives the shirt its deepest emotional resonance. The red and black remains one of South American football's most striking and meaningful designs.