On 28 September 1891 employees of a British railway company in Montevideo founded the club from which Peñarol counts its history. On 28 September 2027 the club turns 136 years old. It is the team in the yellow and black of a steam locomotive and one of the most decorated in South America.

Born on the rails

In 1891 workers of the Central Uruguay Railway Company set up the Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club, or simply CURCC. At first the club focused mainly on cricket and rugby, with Frank Henderson as its first president.

Football, however, soon took over. The name Peñarol comes from the Montevideo neighbourhood, which in turn was named after the Italian town of Pinerolo.

1891 or 1913? The great dispute

In December 1913 the company separated the football section, and in March 1914 the name Club Atlético Peñarol appeared. This is where sources disagree: some historians, and of course arch-rivals Nacional, argue that the real founding came in 1913.

The dispute is also a matter of pride, because it decides who is the "decano", the country's oldest club. Peñarol, for its part, celebrates on 28 September 1891, and the Uruguayan federation recognises it as the continuation of CURCC.

The colours of the Rocket

The yellow and black were inspired by the Rocket, George Stephenson's legendary locomotive, a fitting symbol for a team of railwaymen. According to the sources, the original CURCC used black and orange, but yellow and black became the team's identity.

The first shirt was split into four squares, alternating black and yellow. Later a shirt with two vertical halves was tried, and from 1911 the yellow-and-black stripes took hold, worn almost without a break to this day.

Stripes and stars on the crest

The shield and flag were designed by the architect Constante Facello. They have five black and four yellow stripes, and above them eleven yellow stars on a black background, which according to the design stand for the eleven players.

Some of football's greatest have worn that crest. Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia scored in the legendary 1950 "Maracanazo" against Brazil. That Uruguay side also featured Obdulio Varela, another Peñarol player.

The "Champion of the Century"

Peñarol has won five Copa Libertadores titles, the first in 1960, and three Intercontinental Cups, the first in 1961. Alberto Spencer remains the Libertadores' all-time top scorer, with 48 goals for the club.

Fernando Morena holds the club record with 440 goals. In 2009 the IFFHS named Peñarol South America's club of the century, which is why its new stadium, opened in March 2016 with around 40,000 seats, is called the Campeón del Siglo.

In 2024 the team won the Uruguayan title and reached the Libertadores semi-finals, knocking out Flamengo before falling to Botafogo. In 2025 it lost the title in the final to Nacional, in extra time of the second leg.

Celebrate with us

One hundred and thirty-six years on, the Peñarol train shows no sign of stopping. Happy birthday, Peñarol, forever yellow and black!

Wear the stripes of the locomotive and celebrate with us one of South America's legends.

See our Peñarol jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: The Estadio Campeón del Siglo with a steam locomotive, Montevideo 2023 – JacobinoWunsh, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.