Arsenal Fútbol Club Julio Grondona's career in football began in 1956, when he and his brother Héctor founded
Arsenal Fútbol Club, inspired by the
homonymous English side, in
Sarandí,
Avellaneda,
Buenos Aires. The team's colours, light blue and red, were chosen because of two different reasons. The light blue represents the sky and the red stripe, is in honor to Julio's grandfather, who was a fan of
River Plate. Grondona was president of the club for nearly twenty years, from 1957 to 1976, when he was elected president of
Club Atlético Independiente. Under his leadership the club was promoted from the lowest rank in the
Argentine football league system, the
Primera D, in 1962 and once again in 1964, when the team won the
Primera C title.
Club Atlético Independiente While holding the Arsenal de Sarandi presidency, he also held positions in neighboring club
Independiente, where he was elected as chair of the professional football subcommittee in 1962. While he was in that role, the team won the
1963 Argentine Primera División, the
Copa Libertadores in
1964 and
1965 and the
Campeonato Nacional in 1967. In 1970 his
Lista Roja lost the club's elections, and he left the club until his return as president in 1976, when he defeated the ruling José Epelbóim in the elections. Under Grondona, Independiente won the
1977 Campeonato Nacional in
Córdoba against locals
Talleres with eight players on the pitch, and the
1978 Campeonato Nacional, beating
River Plate in the final.
Argentine Football Association In 1979 Grondona was elected to succeed
Huracán's David Bracuto as head of the
Argentine Football Association, immediately after
Argentina's
1978 FIFA World Cup win. During his tenure Argentina reached three
World Cup finals (all of them against
Germany, winning in
1986 and losing in
1990 and
2014), three Olympic finals (obtaining the silver medal in
Atlanta 1996 and gold in
Athens 2004 and
Beijing 2008) and won six
FIFA U-20 World Cups (
1979,
1995,
1997,
2001,
2005 and
2007).
Death Grondona died of an
aortic aneurysm at the age of 82 on 30 July 2014 at
Buenos Aires, Argentina ==Controversy==