Deportivo Morón

Club Deportivo Morón, popularly known as Deportivo Morón or simply Morón, is a sports institution founded on 20 June 1947 in Morón, province of Buenos Aires, which is mainly active in football and takes part in the Primera Nacional, the second division of Argentine football.

Between 1956 and 2013 it played its home matches at the Estadio Francisco Urbano, a stadium with a total capacity of 20,000 people. Since 2013 it has played at the modern Estadio Nuevo Francisco Urbano, which can hold more than 32,000 supporters.

It reached the top tier of Argentine football by taking part in the 1969 Campeonato Metropolitano of the Primera División and managed some good results, such as a 0-0 draw against Estudiantes de La Plata (world champions at that time), three victories over Newell's (3-0, and twice in a row 1-0) and Argentinos Juniors (3-1, 2-1 and 1-0), one against Huracán (3-2) and another against Rosario Central (2-0). It also faced two of the "big five": River Plate and Racing Club.

It has competed in the AFA since 1951, during which time it has achieved six promotions. It is considered one of the "Grandes del Ascenso" ("Big Clubs of the lower divisions") for its drawing power and its campaigns in them. An example of its popularity is that on 6 June 2017 it drew more than 25,000 people as the home side in a match of the third tier of Argentine football. For this reason, it is considered one of the most popular clubs in the western zone of Greater Buenos Aires.

Club Deportivo Morón has faced 18 of the 20 champions of the Primera División (counting the titles of the amateur era). The champions that "El Gallito" ("The Little Rooster") faced were: River Plate, Racing Club, Huracán, Vélez Sarsfield, Argentinos Juniors, Ferro, Quilmes, San Lorenzo, Newell's, Rosario Central, Sportivo Barracas, Gimnasia y Esgrima LP, Estudiantes de La Plata, Banfield, Lanús, Arsenal de Sarandí, Chacarita Juniors and Dock Sud (the only ones against which it never played an official match were Boca Juniors and Independiente, although it did have several unofficial friendly matches with both). Except for River Plate and Vélez Sarsfield, it beat all the clubs that have been champions of the Argentine football elite, some of them by heavy margins, a great milestone for the club from the city of Morón. In addition, it also played official matches against the winners of the national and international cups played in both the amateur and professional eras, beating each of them. It had notable victories against Colón, Talleres de Córdoba, Tigre, Chicago, Defensa y Justicia, Estudiantes de Caseros, Central Córdoba de Rosario, Tiro Federal de Rosario, San Martín de Tucumán and Atlanta.

It is worth noting that Deportivo Morón was promoted to the top category of Argentine football with just 17 years of competition (1951-1968), passing through all the lower categories up to that point, as it was promoted in 1955 from the "Tercera de Ascenso" to the "Segunda de Ascenso", and in 1959 from the latter to the Primera B, and then won promotion to the Primera División in 1968, after a 0-0 draw against Unión de Santa Fe.

In the 2016/17 Copa Argentina it achieved a historic feat by eliminating four Primera División opponents: Patronato (2-0 in the round of 64), San Lorenzo (1-0 in the round of 32), Unión (0-0, eliminating them on penalties 5-4 in the round of 16) and Olimpo (1-0 in the quarter-finals). It concluded its great campaign as semi-finalist of the tournament, after being eliminated in a historic match against River Plate, under the management of Marcelo Gallardo, by 0-3 (River would later go on to be champion of the tournament). It is worth noting that few clubs from the lower divisions have reached the best four teams of this cup.

It also took part in the Serie A1 of Argentine volleyball, the top category of that sport, winning promotion in the 2015-16 season. Other sports practised at the club are basketball, futsal, handball, boxing and figure skating, among other activities.

Deportivo Morón's women's football team took part in the Primera División in the 2017/18 season, after winning promotion on the penultimate matchday by beating Deportivo Camioneros 15-1, thus closing a successful sporting and football year for the western side (champion of the Primera B Metropolitana, semi-finalist of the 2016/17 Copa Argentina and women's champion of the Segunda División).

The Estadio Nuevo Francisco Urbano (the stadium of "El Gallo", "The Rooster") played a historic part in the 2020 Copa Libertadores Femenina held in Argentina, being, together with the Estadio José Amalfitani, the only venue where matches of that cup were played. Several group-stage matches, quarter-finals and the two semi-finals were held there, contested between the sides of Club Universidad de Chile (women) - Associação Ferroviária de Esportes (women) and Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (women) - América de Cali Femenino.