Santos FC
Santos Futebol Clube is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a bairro in the city of Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the state of São Paulo's premier state league, as well as the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top flight of the Brazilian football league system, after winning the 2024 Série B title.
The club was founded in 1912 by three sports enthusiasts from Santos: Raimundo Marques, Mário Ferraz de Campos, and Argemiro de Souza Júnior. The initiative was a response to the lack of representation the city had in football. Since then, Santos has become one of Brazil's most successful clubs, becoming a symbol of Joga Bonito in football culture, hence the motto "Técnica e Disciplina". This was largely thanks to the club's golden generation of the 1960s, with players like Gilmar, Mauro Ramos, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pepe, and most notable of all, Pelé, named the "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee, and widely regarded as the best and most accomplished footballer in the game's history. Os Santásticos, considered by some the best club team of all times, won a total of 24 titles during that decade including five consecutive league titles, a feat that remains unequaled today. Os Santásticos won four competitions in 1962, thus completing a quadruple, comprising the Campeonato Paulista, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the Copa Libertadores, and the European/South American Cup.
Santos Futebol Clube is one of the most successful clubs in the Brasileirão, becoming national champions on eight occasions. It has also won 22 Paulistão titles, three Copa Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups, one Supercopa de Campeones Intercontinentales, one Copa CONMEBOL, one Copa do Brasil, and one Recopa Sudamericana. On 20 January 1998, Santos became the first team, in any category in the world, to reach the milestone of 10,000 goals in the entire history of football and was voted by FIFA as one of the most successful clubs of the 20th century.
The team plays their home games at the Vila Belmiro, which currently holds up to 20,120 spectators. Santos' regular kit is white shirts, with white shorts, accompanied by white socks. Santos is nicknamed the Peixe, in reference to significance of the city's port. The most recognized Santista anthem is the "Leão do Mar" written by Mangeri Neto. In 2013, the club is the 2nd most valuable club in Brazil and South America, and 38th most valuable club in the world according to Brand Finance, worth over $65 million. In terms of revenue, Santos is Brazil's fourth-richest sports club and one of the biggest football clubs in the world, generating an annual turnover of over $114 million in 2012. Santos has many long-standing rivalries, most notably against Corinthians, Palmeiras, and São Paulo.
History
Birth of Santos FC: 1912
In the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Santos grew to become of great importance to Brazil. Its port became one of the largest in the world with coffee, a major product in those times, being the most exported product. With the influx of income, the wealthy socialites of the city became increasingly interested in having the city represented in sports. Being a port, water sports such as rowing were generally the most practiced activity by the city's youth, but the city had teams strong enough to compete in the Campeonatos Paulista or Paulistão, with Clube Atlético Internacional and Sport Club Americano being the two strongest representatives. Football was introduced to Santos in 1902 via the Instituto Presbiteriano Mackenzie, and the students created the two aforementioned clubs as a result.However, Atlético Internacional dissolved in 1910 and Americano moved to São Paulo in 1911. With the city students dissatisfied at this turn of events, a meeting was held at the headquarters of the Concordia Club, with the aim of creating a football team. The conference, which lasted 14 hours, was spearheaded by three sportsmen from the city: Raymundo Marques Francisco, Mário Ferraz de Campos and Argemiro de Souza Junior. During the meeting, there was doubt as to the name that should be given to the club. Several suggestions emerged: África Futebol Clube, Associação Esportiva Brasil, Concórdia Futebol Clube, among others. But the participants unanimously approved the proposal of Edmundo Jorge de Araujo: Santos Foot-Ball Club. Thus, the club was formally born on 14 April 1912, hours before the RMS Titanic sank into the Atlantic Ocean. As is commonly said, " One Giant sank into the ocean, and on the same day Another One was born". The club's first president was Sizino Patuska.
Early years: 1912–1935
The club's first practice match took place on 23 June 1912 at the Villa Macuco field, against a local club called Thereza. Santos won 2–1. The first Santista goal was scored by Anacleto Ferramenta da Silva, with Geraule Moreira Ribeiro adding another one later on. The first official match took place on 15 September of that same year, beating Santos Athletic Club 3–2. Arnaldo Silveira, one of the original founders of Santos, scored the first official goal of the club. The Alvinegro Praiano took part in their first Campeonato Paulista in 1913, being thrashed 8–2 by Germânia on 1 June. Although Santos earned their first victory against Corinthians, a 3–6 away win at the Parque Antárctica, the 5–1 and 6–1 thumpings that Santos suffered at the hands of SC Internacional and Americano, respectively, and the high cost of travel, forced the team to abandon the tournament and make much needed improvements.However, in 1913 the Campeonato Santista was first played, with the Alvinegro earning their first ever title after winning all six matches, scoring 35 goals and conceding only seven. In 1914, due to an internal financial crisis, Santos only played friendly matches, winning all seven of them. In 1915, Santos changed their name temporarily to União Futebol Clube in order to compete in another city tournament due to budgeting reasons. Even so, Santos still went on to earn another title, their second in three years. With economic stability on hand, the Vila Belmiro sports park was inaugurated on 12 October 1916. That same year, Santos returned to compete in another Campeonato Paulista finishing in a much-improved 5th place.
Between the 1917 and 1926 seasons, Santos was recognized as a solid and talented team, but one that could not offer a true challenge for the state title, finishing no higher than fourth place. That changed in 1927 when the tradition of the Alvinegro became defined during the 1920s: the discovery and creation of young talent. The team, known as O ataque dos 100 gols, was led by the first major club idol, Araken Patusca, son of the first president of Santos. With the Araken Patusca was the first Santista to participate in a World Cup, as a member of the Brazilian national team in the FIFA World Cup in 1930, the first World Cup. He played one match against Yugoslavia. Santos finished as runners-up in 1927, 1928 and 1929, scoring 100 goals in 16 games in the 1927 season, resulting in an incredible rate of 6.25 goals per match. The milestone of 100 goals was a result of work characteristics that later would become an excerpt in the official anthem of the club: Técnica e Disciplina. Santos entered a period of irregular campaigns, coinciding with the club's transition to professionalism; in 1933 the president of Santos publicly declared Santos a professional side for the first time.
This was followed by the club's first great success in 1935. During that season, the club prepared heavily for the Paulistão with 14 friendlies, winning seven, losing four and drawing three matches. The 10–1 thrashing of Espanha at the hands of Santos provided the highlight of its preseason preparations. On the last match of the state competition, Santos defeated Corinthians 2–0 at the Estádio Parque São Jorge, Corinthians' home ground at the time, to win their first state title ever, thanks to goals by Raul and an experienced Araken Patusca. This historic consecration sealed Santos' first major title and paved the way for future generations to follow.
Although Santos failed to retain the state title next season, the club remained undefeated in international matches during the 1930s, with seven wins and one draw. The most overwhelming win occurred against the France national football team, who arrived at Santos on 30 July after the FIFA World Cup in Uruguay and decided to use the stop to play against a local team, handidly losing 6–1 with four goals from Feitiço. Claiming they faced the Seleção rather than the club, the suspicious French were invited to the clubhouse to prove that the team that had just faced them was not the Brazilian team in disguise.
The road towards the second ''Paulistão'': 1936–1955
Following their triumph in the 1935 Paulistão, many key players of the winning squad left or retired soon afterwards, depleting the club of its veterans. Santos would finish in 4th place in their failed attempt to defend the state title in 1936. Patusca's departure in 1937 proved to be the closing chapter of his generation and the beginning of dismal campaigns in the Paulista tournament for the following 10 years, finishing no higher than 5th place.However, Santos' fortunes changed when former goalkeeper Athié Jorge Cury became club president in 1946 and immediately sought out to reconquer the state title. After getting the club's finances in order, he sanctioned a tour into the Brazilian northern and northeastern regions to face the top teams in Belém, Fortaleza, Natal and Recife, among other cities, and give the upcoming generation much needed experience. Santos soundly defeated many of the regions' top clubs such as Paysandu, Fortaleza EC, ABC, Santa Cruz, etc. Led by the club's second chronological idol Antoninho, the club went on undefeated in what was, until then, the longest football trip any Brazilian club has taken. It lasted from 29 November 1946 to 2 February 1947 with Santos obtaining 12 wins and three draws. The leading goal-scorers of the tour were Caxambu, with 19 goals, and Adolfrise, scoring 18.
The club managed to finish in 2nd place in the 1948 edition of the Paulistão, thanks to Antoninho, Pinho and Odair dos Santos. Odair become the club's season topscorer with 20 goals; he will repeat this feat for the following three seasons. Odair and Antoninho would also help the club finish 3rd in the 1950 edition of the state competition. This was the first time Santos had two top-three finishes in three seasons in the Paulistão since the O ataque dos 100 gols generation. Santos also participated in the Torneio Rio – São Paulo for the first time in 1952, finishing in third place overall. The arrivals of younger prospects such as Formiga, Manga, Tite, Zito and Vasconcelos coincided with the retirements of Odair and Antoninho in 1952 and 1953 respectively, ensuring the club had the quality to maintain its pursuit on the State championship. Antoninho would become the club's assistant manager in 1954 with Lula becoming the club's manager that same year.
It was in 1955 when Santos finished building its base and establishments that would make it a success in the future. Despite starting that year's Paulistão with a mediocre 0–0 draw against Noroeste, the club would go on to remain undefeated for the first 11 matches in the competition which included a 7–1 victory over Jabaquara, the heaviest defeat they would inflict in that competition's edition. A 4–2 defeat to Guarani and an 8–0 drumming by Portuguesa brought setbacks and instability. A 3–1 loss to São Paulo and consecutive losses to São Bento and Corinthians put the club's aspirations to the state title in danger. However, the club's strong team spirit, the goals of Emanuele Del Vecchio, its relatively stable campaign and the 2–1 victory over Taubaté, Santos' last match in the competition, ensured the club would win their second state title ever, the first in 20 years. Del Vecchio's 38 goals were the club's highest season tally since Patusca's 53 in 1927. He was also the Paulistãos' top scorer with 23 goals. An infamous club anthem, "Leão do Mar", was created in order to commemorate this triumph.
In order to build upon the moment and provide a capable defense of the state title, Cury set in motion a series of plans and contracts after predicting that several of its veterans might opt to leave the club in a repeat of the aftermath in 1935. He secured the services of several established players such as Zito. Cury also invested to keep several young potentials like Pepe and the upcoming Pagão. The club president also gave Lula leeway to scout talented individuals who were trying out for the club. Perhaps the greatest signing Cury approved of was that of a 15-year-old boy brought over to Vila Belmiro by Waldemar de Brito. De Brito, who was a manager of Bauru Atlético Clube's junior squad, won three consecutive São Paulo state youth championships between 1954 and 1956 with the child. The boy, called Edson Arantes do Nascimento and who would be better known as Pelé in the near future, was the main driving force behind those victories. The contract between Santos and the young Pelé was finalized in June 1956.