# 1908 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season

The 1908 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season was the squad's debuting season in Primera B (then named "Segunda División"), the 2nd. level of Argentine league system. After winning some friendly tournaments, the executives of the club decided to affiliate it to the Argentine Football Association. As there was no promotion and relegation system by then, Boca Juniors registered to the second level to play official competitions for the first time in the history of the club.
Boca Juniors' debut in official tournaments was on May 3, 1908, when the squad defeated Belgrano A.C. II by 3–1 in the stadium of Virrey del Pino and Superí of Belgrano neighborhood. Boca Juniors starting line-up for that historic match was: Juan de los Santos; Marcelino Vergara, Luis Cerezo; Guillermo Ryan, Alberto Penney, Juan Priano; Arturo Penney, Manuel Eloiso, Rafael Pratts, Pedro Moltedo, José María Farenga. Boca Juniors' goals were scored by Pratts (2) and Eloiso. Gibraltar-born Rafael Pratts also became the first player to score a goal for Boca Juniors in official matches. The squad finished in first place (among eight teams) and qualified for the next stage, the semifinal, where Boca was defeated by Racing Club 1–0.
The team played in a field located at southwest of Buenos Aires, near the Isla Demarchi and Puerto Madero. Although Boca finished 1st. in the regular season with 29 points in 16 matches played, the team did not promote to Primera División so the squad lost to Racing Club de Avellaneda at playoffs. Then Racing lost to River Plate the final.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ARG | Juan A. De los Santos |
| — | DF | URU | Luis Cerezo |
| — | DF | ARG | Esteban Marcolino |
| — | DF | ARG | Máximo Pieralini |
| — | FW | ARG | Pedro Moltedo |
| — | MF | ARG | Juan Priano |
| — | MF | ARG | Emilio Bonatti |
| — | MF | ARG | Alberto J. Penney |
| — | MF | ARG | Manuel Feijóo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ARG | Guillermo Ryan |
| — | MF | ARG | Marcelino Vergara |
| — | FW | ARG | Juan M. Eloiso |
| — | FW | ARG | Arturo P. Penney |
| — | FW | ESP | Rafael Pratts |
| — | FW | ARG | José M. Farenga |
| — | FW | ARG | P. Chinoli |
| — | FW | ARG | Alfredo Canevaro |

## Championship format and teams

The Segunda División championship was contested by 36 teams divided into four groups of nine teams each. Boca played in Group C with San Isidro II, Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA), Belgrano A.C. II, Bernal, Continental II, Royal, Villa Ballester, and La Plata F.C..
Notes
* ↑ "II" indicates reserve team so the senior squad was already playing in Primera División. Contesting second or lower division tournaments with reserve players was a common practise in those years.
* ↑ Club Atlético Bernal, wore white and purple horizontal hoops shirt.
* ↑ Club Atlético Continental was a team established by former Atlanta players. Its shirt was vertical striped green and black
* ↑ Club Sportivo Villa Ballester, currently disaffiliated but still active as a social club in Villa Ballester.
* ↑ Established in 1902, LPFC was Estudiantes' first official rival in March 1908. Not to be confused with reborn La Plata Fútbol Club, founded in 2000 by then Mayor of La Plata, Julio Alak.

## Matches

= Won;   = Drew;   = Lost

### Segunda División
#### Group C standings

| Pos. | Team | Pts. | Pl. | W | D | L | Gf | Ga |
| 1 | Boca Juniors | 29 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 10 |
| 2 | La Plata | 23 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 14 |
| 3 | Continental II | 18 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 9 |
| 4 | Villa Ballester | 18 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 31 | 17 |
| 5 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA) | 17 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 11 |
| 6 | San Isidro II | 13 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 16 |
| 7 | Belgrano A.C. II | 10 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 25 |
| 8 | Bernal | 4 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 65 |
| 9 | Royal | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 11 |

##### Notes

* 1 2 3 4 Qualified for the semifinals. After Royal withdrew the competition and Villa Ballester players did not attended the match, Boca was awarded the points (6 in total) on the three matches that weren't played.

#### Promotion playoff

Suspended on 86'
Team details :
Boca Juniors
Racing Club
GK Juan De los Santos
DF Marcelino Vergara
DF Luis Cerezo
MF Guillermo Ryan
MF Alberto J. Penney
MF Juan Priano
FW Arturo P. Penney
FW Pedro Moltado
FW Rafael Pratts
FW Juan M. Eloíso
FW José M. Farenga
GK Alfredo Lamoure
DF Juan Seminario
DF Alberto Mignaburu
DF Pedro Viazzi
DF Juan Ohaco
MF Emilio Firpo
MF Ignacio Oyarzábal
MF Alberto Ohaco
FW Modesto Alvear
FW Pablo Frers
FW Germán Winne :

### Copa Bullrich

Copa Bullrich was a domestic cup contested by teams in Segunda División. It was played under a single-elimination format. Boca Juniors was eliminated on the second round.

## Friendly matches

The match v Uruguayan club Universal became the first match played by Boca Juniors outside Argentina.

## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Segunda División | Segunda División |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ARG | Juan De los Santos | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| | DF | URU | Luis Cerezo | 14 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| | DF | ARG | Marcelino Vergara | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Alberto Juan Penney | 13 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| | MF | ARG | Juan Priano | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Guillermo Ryan | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| | FW | ARG | Juan Manuel Eloiso | 13 | 2 | 13 | 2 |
| | FW | ARG | Pedro Moltedo | 14 | 2 | 14 | 2 |
| | FW | ARG | Arturo Penney | 13 | 3 | 13 | 3 |
| | FW | ARG | Jose M. Cayetano Farenga | 13 | 2 | 13 | 2 |
| | FW | ESP | Rafael Pratts | 12 | 21 | 12 | 21 |
| | MF | ARG | Emilio Bonatti | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | ARG | P. Chinoli | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| | FW | ARG | Alfredo Canevaro | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Manuel Feijóo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Esteban Marcolino | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Máximo Pieralini | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
* Source: https://www.historiadeboca.com.ar/segunda-division-1908/1908/1017.html