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Chile's far-flung football outpost

The beautiful game beside the Magellan Strait

By Andy PottsPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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At the very foot of Chile, Punta Arenas is the definition of remote. The town of 130,000 sits on the Magellan strait, opposite Tierra del Fuego. A big part of the local economy is based on providing a starting point for Antarctic expeditions, and it’s barely barely 60km from Cabo Froward, where a cross marks the southernmost point of the American landmass. Beyond lies islands, ice and eventually, the south pole.

Yet, even here, the global passion for football can be felt. The local sports centre, the Estadio Municipal Antonio Rispoli Diaz, is grafted onto the older and more characterful Estadio Ramon Canas, the home of Club Deportivo Prat. It’s reckoned to be the southernmost stadium in mainland Chile, with only its near neighbours in Porvenir and Puerto Williams lying further south on the island of Tierra del Fuego. Even though I was visiting for ice hockey, I couldn’t resist checking out a far-flung footballing outpost.

The highlight of the twin complexes is undoubtedly the crenelated stand at Ramon Canas. It’s some way back from a new artificial playing field, separated from the turf by a velo-track. This is home to CD Prat, named for a naval hero who distinguished himself in action against Peru as the northern city of Iquique was secured for Chile. It’s supposedly the leading team in Punta Arenas, although with three local tournaments, there’s strong competition for that prize. Today, though, the stadium feels run-down. Exposed to the Antarctic winds that lash the town, the stand feels forlorn when there’s no game to inject it with life. On the opposite side, uncovered wooden terracing also feels like a relic; pitchside, a diminutive winners’ podium appeared to have been neglected for years. The action has largely moved next door to the modern, functional field of Antonio Rispoli Diaz.

Inside the Estadio Ramon Canas, Punta Arenas, Chile

Rispoli, who got himself a move to Santiago’s Colo Colo, one of the big guns of Chilean football, is very much the local hero in a town where the pro game never took root. But that wasn’t for the want of trying as waves of immigration from all over Europe made Punta Arenas a sporting hotbed.

Among the early evidence is a letter to the Dundee Evening Telegraph, mailed by a Mr. J.H. Foggie, who describes an expat ‘international’ between England and Scotland played in 1898. Foggie captained the Scots and, after a 2-1 victory over the auld enemy, was happy to tell his hometown paper about the game in a town of 7,000 that was becoming “a second Panama” due to its cosmopolitan mix of residents.

The Telegraph of Nov. 12, 1898 carries his account of a Scotland team that was “much heavier than the English, but not so fast”.

“The Scotch team was represented from Ross and Inverness in the North to Dumfries in the South, and was captained by an old Dundonian (Foggie), while Arbroath was well represented by A. W. Christie. Kirkcaldy more than did its duty in Nicol, a first-class player and athlete. Stirling, too, had a steady player in Forester. The match was voted a great success, and a return match is already on the cards,” our correspondent recalled.

1920s football action in Punta Arenas, Chile, from an exhibition in the town's museum.

Whether that return match ever took place is not clear, but football certainly endured. As was seen all over the world, the exiled Brits were playing ball. The English-language Magellan Times newspaper reported on the exploits of the British Athletic Club in the 1920s, with reference to an upcoming game against ‘Victoria’. The preview carried a warning: “they will be up against a first division eleven so some changes will be needed if they are to win”.

Times change. Punta Arenas no longer has an English newspaper and the old British Club steadily declined. The entry requirements once confidently demanded ‘Brits only’, but had to shift to accommodate ‘English speakers welcome’ and finally Chileans with British ancestry, however remote. By 1981, the club was defunct, wound up by Banco de Chile after failing to pay the rent.

A group photo including Esteban Scarpa Kovacevic and friends on a football field in Punta Arenas, seen at an exhibition in the town's museum.

But it wasn’t just nostalgia for Britannia that painted out the football fields of Chilean Patagonia. The British Athletic Club was competing in the Yugoslav Cup, and to this day the town boasts a Croatian district (albeit Croatian in name only these days). This, undoubtedly, was the home of Esteban Scarpa Kovacevic, who left the Balkans to become one of the more illustrious names in a tenacious community on the other side of the world. He arrived from the Dalmatian coast and played a key role in the local fire brigade, which still has its HQ in the old Croatian district. He was also a keen photographer and film-maker, and an exhibition of his life at the Regional Museum included a few tantalising snaps of early football.

That European legacy took hold across the whole country and today, football is Chile’s top sport by a huge margin. When Los Rojos won back-to-back Copa Americas in the 2010s, they featured on every billboard in the 8,000 km length of the land. DC Prat, though, marking its 90th anniversary this year, has yet to achieve national fame. Since the Punta Arenas FA was established in 1964 it has won seven regional championships but rarely came to wider attention. There have been four appearances in the Zonales Sur championship, one of which saw the team claim second place overall in the top tier of regionalised Chilean football. On three occasions Prat have played in the Tercera, the third tier of the Chilean league. Twice they’ve been in the Chilean Cup proper. Here at the edge of the world, football continues to flicker.

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About the Creator

Andy Potts

Community focused sports fan from Northeast England. Tends to root for the little guy. Look out for Talking Northeast, my new project coming soon.

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