Aldosivi and Alvarado, despite being two clubs who dwell far from the spotlight, are the protagonists of one of the most fierce derbies in the world. The Argentinian clubs from the city of Mar del Plata play a "clasico" known as Clasico Marplatense, but in recent years it became known as the Clasico Prohibido (Forbidden Derby). The events behind this story, like every good story, mix a lot of fact with fiction so I'll try to keep those two separate.
What is definitely a fact is that both clubs hate each other. Around 1988 the matches between Aldosivi and Alvarado started to become increasingly tense both on and off the field. There was a controversial 13-0 win in 1994 for Aldosivi that heightened the tension, and finally in 1997 a match had to be called off after just 30 minutes due to the violence both on the field and on the stands. Aldosivi and Alvarado would go 27 years without playing each other after that and what happens during that period is where fact mixes with fiction.
What is known to be real is that Aldosivi would move further up the Argentinian pyramid, many times even featuring in the top flight, while Alvarado mostly remained 2 or 3 divisions below. This is the main reason the two clubs would not face each other for over a quarter of a century.
Now here are some of the rumors who add to the mystique of the derby and you can choose to believe them or not (I do). At the turn of the millennium, it is said that many times the clubs tried organizing pre-season friendlies but both the police and TV channels wouldn't allow it to happen. The police allegedly equated the match operation to a Boca Juniors x River Plate, and claimed it would require too much money and effort for a friendly game. The TV channels on the other hand allegedly claimed that the game wouldn't attract enough viewership and they didn't want to run the risk of having to transmit live fan violence.
It is also rumored that the Argentinian Federation had blocked Aldosivi and Alvarado from being drawn against each other in the 2014 Argentinian Cup. Again, allegedly to avoid a tragedy but these claims are based on nothing substantial .
As time went by and the clubs continued to not face each other the folklore around the derby grew and the term Clasico Prohibido, or Forbidden Derby, was coined.
27 years later, on March 23rd 2024, the wait was finally over. Alvarado managed to better organize itself financially and climbed up to the second division where Aldosivi has been since its relegation in 2022. There were no major incidents of violence, and in a true South American fashion the derby ended in a scoreless draw.