Santos

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 (located in Rosario Street No. 18, at the top of the old bakery and Switzerland confectionery, currently Avenida João Pessoa), 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 (who had participated in the founding of Atlético Internacional and was the founder of Americano).

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 (now known as the Estádio Palestra Itália), 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 (English: The 100-goal attackers), 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 (English: Technique and Discipline). 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.

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.

After 50 years Santos began to be seen as the best team in the world. When Pelé made his debut in the Campeonato Paulista in 1957, the team was already twice state champion (1955/56). Pelé had as fellow players Zito, Pagão, Formiga, Hélvio, Jair da Rosa Pinto, Urubatão, Tite and Pepe. Santos won the third state title in 50 years, the magical year of 1958 – in which Brazil won the World Cup in Sweden, with Zito Santos, Pelé and Pepe, and won in spectacular fashion. Santos scored 143 goals in 38 games, averaging 3.76 per game, and conceded only 40 goals. Pelé set a record that has never been equaled in any state competition in the country: he scored no less than 58 goals. Santos' traditional rivals were heavily beaten in 1958, particularly a 10–0 win against the Nacional. In addition to state titles, Santos won the Rio-São Paulo in 1959, beating Vasco in the final by 3–0 with two goals by Coutinho, who was only 16 years old. Coutinho also scored five goals against Ponte Preta, and Santos won the game by 12–1 even without Pelé.

No other team had a dominance in Brazilian football as great as Santos in the 1960s. The club won eight titles: six Brazilian Championships (five Taça Brasil and one Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa), two Copas Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups, three Rio-São Paulo, a South American Recopa, a World and numerous international tournaments. A poll in the magazine El Gráfico saw dozens of experts from South America and Europe choose the Santos side of 1962/63 as the best team of all time.

In demand worldwide, Santos became the first globetrotting football team and played exhibition matches in dozens of countries. A war in Africa was stopped so that the two sides could see Pelé's team play. Under pressure from the CBD (Brazilian Sport Confederation), which the team did not want to risk their star players in unsafe stadiums in South America, Santos did not participate in the editions of the Libertadores 1966, 1967 and 1969. Players from Santos and Botafogo formed the basis of the Brazilian World Cup sides in Chile (1962) and Mexico (1970). On two occasions – against Germany and England – the national team had eight Santos players in the team. In six games of qualifying for the 1970 World Cup "The beasts of the Saldanha" played with six Santos players : Carlos Alberto, Djalma Dias, Joel Camargo, Rildo, Pelé and Edu. The influence of Santos was so great that the defense played with the national team the same numbers that were used at Santos: right-back with the shirt 4, right center-back with the second, left center-back with the sixth and left-back with three. Finally, left-winger Antônio Simões, Benfica and Portugal said: "I compare the Santos 62 team with the national team of Brazil in 70. These are the two best football teams I have ever seen. The 70 side is the confirmation of a game model that Santos already demonstrated long ago."^[]

Santos was champion in 1973, still with Pelé in the team, and again in 1978, driven by the amazing Meninos da Vila, Pita, Juary, João Paulo and Nilton Batata, the Santos of the 1970s were no longer just appreciated for the refinement of their football and became a symbol of passion and rapture. Their fans, who for a long time could not compete with the teams of the capital, steadily grew in number and started to compete with the massive Morumbi crowd, and significantly passed São Paulo and Palmeiras.^[]

When it seemed that the fate of the club would be hopelessly compromised by debt made millions for the purchase of the luxurious Spa Park, Santos came back to be only eleven shirts who fought and drew crowds. In one of the worst moments of its history, which resulted in the loss of the Spa Park and all that was invested in him, Santos rose a charismatic worship, which had its greatest asset in his legions of fans.

The period began with the Santos became the vice-champion of the São Paulo state championship of 1980, and the executioner of this final Santos – São Paulo fan striker Serginho – is who would become the idol of the decade Santos. Passionate team Belmiro since childhood, the irascible Sérgio Bernardino only felt at home when he was hired by President Milton Teixeira to the team that would compete in the 1993 Brazilian Championship. Opportunist, kicking strong and big stamina, Serginho was the terror of the defenses that the Brazilian Championship and became the top scorer with 22 goals. The team took the runner-up slot, to win in São Paulo, Rio lose and be overtaken on goal for Flamengo. The following year the team became São Paulo state champions in a rally-point competition, ending Corinthians' dream of reaching the championship for the third straight year. In the decisive game of ecstasy to Santos, the team defeated Corinthians 1–0 with a Serginho goal in the second half. Santos' striker was again the top scorer, this time tied with Chiquinho of Botafogo, with 16 goals.

In the 1990s Santos won only two tiles: the Rio – São Paulo Tournament in 1997 and the Copa CONMEBOL in 1998. In the final of the national Championship of 1995, Santos faced Botafogo, but could not beat the team from Rio de Janeiro the Santos's stars in 1995.

The new chairman Marcelo Teixeira, son of former chairman Milton Teixeira, tried to prepare Santos for domination in the 21st century. No expense was spared to build a complete squad, with names as Freddy Rincón, Marcelinho Carioca, Edmundo, Márcio Santos, Carlos Germano, Valdo and Carlos Galván. Those big names could not translate their reputation into excellence on the pitch, resulting in a runner-up and a semi-final loss in the state championships of 2000 and 2001. In the national league Santos performed sub-par, with an 18th place in 2000 and a 15th in 2001.

In 2002, after being in a severe financial crisis, Santos let go of high-profile players and focused at their youth squads for reinforcements, aiming to avoid relegation. Bringing in low cost players like André Luís (loan return from Fluminense), Maurinho (Etti-Jundiaí), Júlio Sérgio (Comercial-SP), Alberto (Rio Branco), and promoting Alex, Robinho and Diego from the youth setup, all of those seven players would become starters under new head coach Emerson Leão, along Elano, Paulo Almeida, Léo and Renato.

In a more than reasonable campaign Santos finished eighth in the regular season and thus qualified for the play-offs. Eliminating São Paulo (and its young duo Kaká and Luís Fabiano) in the quarter-finals, the club faced Grêmio in the semi-finals. After a 3–0 victory at the Vila Belmiro, they went through the final even after a 0–1 away loss.

With Robinho and Diego as the most important of Meninos da Vila, Corinthians was beaten in both of the final legs and thus Santos conquered its seventh national championship. The pedalada, one of the most disseminated tricks nowadays, was popularized by Robinho in the final match.

In 2003, Santos finished in second position in the first ever Brazilian national championship without a post-season play-off to determine the champion. The next year, however Santos returned to glory. In a year where fans felt their team was being intentionally hampered by referees, lost the right to play in its own stadium on various occasions and the kidnapping of Robinho's mother, Santos had an impressive campaign. Only two matches before the end of the competition, Santos was able to surpass Atlético Paranaense, who had been on top of the table for the majority of the season. In the last match Santos did not crumble and beat Vasco da Gama 2–1 for its eighth title.

With Robinho, Léo, Deivid and manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo leaving Santos in 2005, the team was unable to win more titles that year. Despite leading figures leaving, Santos was headed for a sixth-place finish until the Zveitão. Upon discovery that referee Edilson Pereira de Carvalho participated in manipulating results, all matches he led were played over again. Santos' 4–2 win against Corinthians thus became a 2–3 loss, which meant Santos dropped to the 11th place and gave its rival, Corinthians, the championship at cost of Internacional.

In 2006, Santos was fourth in Brazil, securing itself a spot in the Copa Libertadores, and won the Paulista Championship for the first time since 1984. In 2007 Santos lost its first match only in the first leg of the final yet winning the title through a second leg victory nonetheless. In the national championship Santos led the team to second place, 15 points behind champion São Paulo.

With again various big names leaving, 2008 proved to be a troublesome year for Santos. Only thanks to a comeback in the last few games was relegation avoided. In 2008 Santos played Copa Libertadores again. They endured until quarter-finals, when they were beaten by America (Mexico).

With a recurrence of financial problems, Santos recruited young players. In 2009, Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso joined the professional team; Neymar signed with the team when he was 13, while Ganso came from Paysandu, a northern team, when he was 15. They started to play together and developed a very strong bond. In 2010, they led a great team, which is the base of the actual squad. The team that won Campeonato Paulista this year was formed by: Felipe; Pará, Edu Dracena, Durval and Léo; Wesley, Arouca and Ganso; Neymar, André, and the repatriated Robinho. They also won Copa do Brasil 2010, beating Vitória in the finals, but with an overwhelming campaign. For example, they beat Naviraiense 10–0, which gave them the status of Santástico (Santos + Fantastic) again. This team is also known for the irreverent game style and the dancing celebrations.

2011 was also a good year for the club. It raised its revenue with marketing and rights, mainly because of Neymar's success. Santos traded away some players from the previous year's team, but maintained some of the main players. Also, some other named players came from Europe to Peixe's squad, like Elano, Alan Kardec and Ibson. This year Santos won the Campeonato Paulista, beating two of its biggest rivals, São Paulo and Corinthians. The main team was formed by: Rafael Cabral; Danilo, Edu Dracena, Durval, Léo; Arouca, Adriano, Elano, Ganso; Neymar and Borges. This team also won the Copa Libertadores, beating Peñarol (Uruguay) in the finals. In December, Santos traveled to Japan and finished in the second position in the FIFA Club World Cup, beaten by Barcelona.

In 2012, Santos kept the two title per year ratio, winning the State Championships (Paulistão) against Guarani and the Recopa against Universidad de Chile. The team started to fragment, and saw the departures of Ganso (São Paulo), Borges (Cruzeiro), Elano (Grêmio) and other key players.

2013 marked the end of the latest Santástico era. Without achieving the fourth Paulistão in a row (runner-up), the eventual negotiations and departure of Neymar (negotiated with Barcelona), the coach Muricy Ramalho and the goalkeeper Rafael Cabral (Napoli) ended up leaving Santos as a shadow of its latest victorious installment. Santos ended the 2013 season in seventh place and had the best finish of any team from the state of São Paulo. At the end of the season, interim manager Claudinei Oliveira was let go of by the club on mutual terms and Santos hired Oswaldo de Oliveira to begin in 2014.

In 2014, Santos began the year competing in the Paulistão and completing several signings, including the most expensive player ever bought by Santos, Leandro Damião. On 1 February, Gabriel (another player who came through the youth setup) scored Santos' 12,000th goal in a 5–1 routing over Botafogo-SP. Despite playing an enthusiastic football during the tournament (also being the most effective attack), Santos was defeated in the final round by fourth division side Ituano on penalty kicks, eventually finishing runner-up. On 2 September 2014, Oswaldo de Oliveira was released by the Santos board and replaced the next day by Enderson Moreira.

Santos finished 9th in the year's Brasileirão, and on 13 December 2014, Modesto Roma Júnior was elected the new president, after winning by 1,329 votes. The club also suffered with several financial troubles from the previous management, led by Odílio Rodrigues, and saw Damião, Arouca, Aranha and Eugenio Mena take legal actions against the club due to unpaid wages.

In 2015, due to the club's financial problems, free agents Elano and Ricardo Oliveira returned to Santos with a low wage, and the club also loaned out Damião (the most expensive player of the previous campaign). On 5 March, despite the club's unbeaten status, Enderson Moreira was sacked.

Marcelo Fernandes was appointed manager shortly after, winning the year's Paulistão. After a poor start in the Brasileirão, Dorival Júnior returned to the club after five years, taking it to the finals of 2015 Copa do Brasil and returning to G-4 after more than 130 rounds.

Dorival remained in charge of the club for the 2016 campaign, winning the year's (22nd) and achieving a first place in for one week after eight years. During the 2017 campaign, the club sacked Dorival and subsequently appointed Levir Culpi; however, after the club's elimination of the Copa Libertadores and due to poor form, Levir was himself dismissed.

On 9 December 2017, José Carlos Peres was elected as the new president. The first manager of his tenure was Jair Ventura, who left the club in July 2018 after being in the relegation zone; Cuca (who already worked at the team in 2008) later took over and led the club to a 10th position.

For the 2019 season, Santos hired widely known manager Jorge Sampaoli to take over the first team, and he led the club to a second position in the league; in the cups and in the state league, however, the club failed to repeat the same success after being knocked out in the first round of the Copa Sudamericana, in the round of 16 in the Copa do Brasil and in the semifinals of the Paulistão.

Sampaoli later resigned, and Jesualdo Ferreira was signed on his place for the 2020 campaign. Jesualdo was sacked in August, with the team having the worst campaign of a Série A side in the year's Paulistão, and Cuca returned to the club after being named manager in his place. Shortly after, president José Carlos Peres was removed from his role, and vice-president Orlando Rollo (who was also out from the club for more than a year after having public altercations with Peres) took over in an interim manner.

Santos also suffered various bans from FIFA during the 2020 season, after failing to pay the debts of Cléber Reis, Yeferson Soteldo and Felipe Aguilar. These bans led to debuts of several youth prospects in the first team, the most notable being Ângelo with just 15 years of age. On 12 December 2020, Andrés Rueda was elected as president of the club for the 2021–2023 three-year term, in which was the first online voting of the club's history.

In January 2021, Santos reached the Final of the 2020 Copa Libertadores, but lost to local rivals Palmeiras after a goal in the stoppage time. In the following month, Cuca announced his departure from the club, and Argentine Ariel Holan was hired on his place for the 2021 campaign.

Holan resigned in April 2021, after a poor campaign in the Campeonato Paulista, and Fernando Diniz was appointed manager in May; he was himself dismissed in September, as the club was threatened with relegation in the Série A, and Fábio Carille finished the season as manager, leading the club to a 10th place. Carille was sacked in February 2022, with Argentine manager Fabián Bustos being appointed in his place.

Following a 2–1 home defeat against Fortaleza on the final matchday of the 2023 season, Santos finished 17th to be relegated to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B for the first time in their 111-year history. On 9 December 2023, Marcelo Teixeira was elected the new president, returning to the role after 14 years.