River Plate is considered one of the four giants of the first era in Uruguayan football, alongside rivals Montevideo Wanderers and the current big two: CURCC (Peñarol) and Nacional.

In 1901 the AUF finally approved the affiliation of River Plate to the Association, soon after another criollo team, Nacional, had joined the body.

Originally, River Plate jersey was black, but it would be changed to red and white in commemoration of the 1904 Revolution (also known as the Uruguayan last civil war).

[1] River line up was: Cabalotti; José and Miguel Benincasa; Louried, Sanz, García, Módena, Dacal, D'Agosti, Raymonda and Seoane.

[2] Some months later, in August 1910, Uruguay national team wore the light blue jersey for the first time, facing the Argentine side.