The club was founded in 1905 when a group of players and fans decided to break away from Gimnasia de La Plata, which favored indoor sport rather than football.

Since its inception, the organization primarily was dedicated to football, but over the years the club expanded and incorporated basketball, handball, field hockey, tennis, swimming and golf, among others.

On 28 February 1906 Estudiantes adopted a jersey design of striped red and white, in honor of Alumni, that had won ten championships between 1900 and 1911.

However, during the early years, Estudiantes had to use a red shirt with a white stripe in the chest, because league authorities decided the uniform was too similar to Alumni's.

The first pitch of the club was located at the intersection of 19th and 53rd streets in La Plata (now Plaza Islas Malvinas), with the first match being played on 7 November 1905, when Estudiantes faced Nacional Juniors from Buenos Aires.

[4] When professionalism was adopted in Argentine football in 1931, Estudiantes had a famous offensive lineup: Miguel Ángel Lauri, Alejandro Scopelli, Alberto Zozaya, Manuel Ferreira and Enrique Guaita, known as Los Profesores ("The Professors"), and still regarded as one of Argentina's all-time finest.

The 1940s saw the emergence of goalkeeper Gabriel Ogando, and players such as Walter Garcerón, Alberto Bouché, Juan Urriolabeitía, Ricardo Infante, Héctor Antonio, as well as the final seasons of striker Manuel Pelegrina, who remains Estudiantes' all-time top scorer with 221 goals.

The decimated team was relegated in 1953, but after the return of Pelegrina (who tricked Huracán by becoming a free agent without the club's consent),[7] Estudiantes was promoted the following year.

Following a violent Intercontinental match against Milan, the entire team was arrested on orders from Argentine President Juan Carlos Onganía.

In an unprecedented step, goalkeeper Alberto Poletti was suspended for life (he was later pardoned) and did time in jail, together with teammates Ramón Aguirre Suárez and Eduardo Luján Manera.

Because of these events, it became a cliché to refer to Zubeldía's football as el antifútbol ("the anti-football"), because of its physical violence, and its frequent resort to timewasting tactics.

Also, he incorporated tactics that were unheard of at the time, such as playbook drills for free-kicks and corner kicks, the offside trap, and double-marking opponents.

[10] The Zubeldía team counted two physicians among its stars: Carlos Bilardo and Raúl Horacio Madero graduated from the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Medicine during their playing days.

He profited from the no-nonsense playing of Marcos Conigliaro, Juan Miguel Echecopar and Madero, and the tactical guidance provided by Bilardo.

Those championship teams were anchored by a solid defense (Julián Camino on the right and Abel Ernesto Herrera on the left were also fearsome attackers, and José Luis Brown provided security as a sweeper), and also had three creative midfielders (José Daniel Ponce, Alejandro Sabella and Marcelo Trobbiani, with Miguel Ángel Russo to guard their backs) and two top-notch strikers (Hugo Gottardi and Guillermo Trama).

The captain of Estudiantes' 1982 champions, José Luis Brown, scored the opening goal in the final match against West Germany.

On 18 May 2006, Burruchaga was replaced by another former Argentine international, Diego Simeone, who built the team around Juan Sebastián Verón, who returned to Estudiantes after 11 years.

Simeone's team was eliminated by São Paulo in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals of the 2006 Copa Libertadores, but went on to an impressive campaign in the local league during the 2006 Apertura.

Estudiantes finished the regular season tied for first place with Boca Juniors (per Argentine league rules, goal difference is not used to determine the champion).

During this campaign, Estudiantes defeated all the "big five", allowed the fewest goals, and three of their players (Pavone, Verón and Braña) were ranked as the league's top three by sports diary Olé.

[14] Verón was chosen as the competition's most valuable player, and Mauro Boselli was its top goalscorer, with a decisive header in the final match.

[15] [16] After the Club World Cup participation, Estudiantes finished second in the 2010 Clausura (with local favorite José Sosa playing on loan), and won the 2010 Apertura after a protracted battle against Vélez Sarsfield.

For some international games in the Zubeldía era, Estudiantes played in Boca Juniors' La Bombonera, noted for its intimidating acoustics.

With the erection of Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in the 1990s, both Estudiantes and Gimnasia decided initially against relocating their home games.

[19] For several periods in the club's history, a group of supporters from Buenos Aires (los porteños) were a powerful element within the fan base.

One of the fans from 1960s to the 1990s was Raúl Bernechea, known as el pelapapas (the "potato peeler") after his job as a kitchen hand; he was noted for lighting bonfires during games, juggling and performing other stunts [1].

In the 1983 presidential election, Estudiantes fans were, together with their peers from Vélez Sársfield, the first to voice their support for eventual winner Raúl Alfonsín in his bid against the Peronistas.

Platense, from the North side of Greater Buenos Aires, held a special place in the hearts of Estudiantes fans for some time, as it cemented Gimnasia's relegation in 1979.

[23] The traditional badge has undergone minor modifications in its history since its inception in 1920, sometimes alternating with a design that resembled a pennant (introduced in 1934)[24] with an "E" at the center and oak leaves at background.

Players who have been top scorers in Primera División seasons: Estudiantes de La Plata has had a long list of managers come up through its ranks who have gone on to become some of most influential and successful Argentine coaches.