Born to a family of Italian immigrants, though with an Irish maternal grandmother, Alfredo Di Stéfano began his career at Argentina's River Plate aged 17, in 1943. For the 1946 season he was loaned to Club Atlético Huracán, but he returned to River in 1947. Due to a footballer's strike in Argentina in 1949, Di Stéfano went to play for Millonarios of Bogotá in the Colombian league. He won six league titles during the first 12 years of his career in Argentina and Colombia.
Pictured is a TOFFS River Plate shirt on show in the di Stéfano exhibition in the Real Madrid (Bernabeu) museum.