Santos F.C.

Santos F.C. is a Brazilian professional football club founded in 1912 and currently competes in Paulistão, the State of São Paulo’s premier league and Brasileirão, the top flight of Brazilian football. Renowned as one of the most prestigious and successful clubs in Brazilian football, Santos F.C. or commonly known as ‘Peixe’ is a true powerhouse that has amassed nine domestic trophies and eight international trophies. Along with the clubs success in silverware it is perhaps more famously known as the breeding ground of some of the most iconic players to have ever played the game. The ‘Peixe’s’ golden generation of the 1960s alone had the likes of Gilmar, Pepe, Mauro Ramos, Mengálvio and most notable of all, ‘Athlete of the century’ Pelé who of course is widely recognised as the best and most accomplished footballer in the game’s history.
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, which brought wealthy families into the area making Santos a hub for water sports under the Atlético Internacional and Sport Club Americano. However by 1911 these two sporting representatives had either dissolved or relocated leaving the city without a sporting identity. With the community dissatisfied at this turn of events, a meeting was held with the aim of creating a football team. The conference was spearheaded by three sportsmen from the city: Raymundo Marques Francisco, Mário Ferraz de Campos and Argemiro de Souza Junior. There was doubt as to the name that should be given to the club as several suggestions emerged but the participant’s unanimously approved Santos Foot-Ball Club and thus the club was formally born on April 14th 1912.
With eager excitement from a stable backing, Santos F.C. found early success by winning their first official match, beating Santos Athletic Club 3-2. In 1913 the club took part in their first Campeonato Paulista however they could not recreate their early success as both the competition and operating costs proved too much, forcing the team to abandon the tournament and make much needed improvements. That same year the Club did go onto win their first regional title in the Campeonato Santista, winning all six matches, scoring 35 goals and conceding only 7. After several years the club gained enough stability and in 1916 the Vila Belmiro was inaugurated, a stadium which has been the home of Santos F.C. for 104 years. Later that year the Club returned to the Campeonato Paulista and presented themselves respectively, finishing in 4th place.
After 50 years Santos was beginning to be seen as the best team in the world. When Pelé made his debut in the Campeonato Paulista in 1957, the team had already won the state championship twice (1955/56) and was on the verge on becoming the most dominant team in Brazilian football history. From 1956 to 1976 Santos won 27 titles, including the first continental treble in the world. This era of domination was seen worldwide and Santos F.C. became the first globetrotting football team, playing exhibition matches in dozens of countries. The golden era of Santos F.C. had a significant influence on the Brazil national teams during their winning World Cup campaigns that the national team wore the same numbers that were used at Santos. Many experts see the Santos 62 and World Cup 70 squads as the two best football teams ever, further cementing how historic this period of Santos F.C. truly was.