| Full name | Botafogo Futebol Clubе | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Pantera (Panther) Botinha (Little Bota) Tricolor |
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| Founded | November 12, 1918 | ||
| Stadium | capacity = 50,000 | ||
| President | Silvio Martins | ||
| Head coach | Lori Sandri | ||
| League | Campeonato Paulista Série A1 | ||
| 2010 | Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, eliminated in first stage | ||
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Botafogo Futebol Clube is a Brazilian association football club based in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo state, founded on November 12, 1918. The club currently competes in the Campeonato Paulista Série A1, alongside the great clubs of the state, and in the Copa Paulista de Futebol.
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In the beginning of the century, the city of Ribeirão Preto had very bitter disputes between football clubs. Every neighborhood had at least one club representing it. In Vila Tibério, there were at least three clubs: União, Paulistano Tiberense and Ideal Futebol Clube. As a result, the neighborhood could never achieve good results in the championships played in the city. In 1918, representatives of Ideal, through meetings hosted at the "Bar Piranha", proposed a merger of the clubs in the neighborhood. Besides the members of the boards of the three clubs, employees from the old Mogiana Railroad, and employees from the Antarctica Paulista Company participated in the meeting.
There was a consensus regarding the formation of a new club that would represent the neighborhood, but the choice of the name did not reached a conclusion. After a heated discussion, one member was quoted as saying: "Either you define the name or just 'puts fire' in everything and end this story ..." Because of what that member said, the club's name discussion had an unexpected conclusion. The threat of the incendiary leader ended up helping in the choice of name. The proposal was accepted, and in 1918 the club was named Botafogo Futebol Clube (contrary to popular belief, Botafogo of Ribeirão Preto was not inspired by Botafogo Football Club of Rio de Janeiro, defunct in 1942).
Botafogo's debut was in Franca, against local club Esporte Clube Fulgêncio. The match ended 1-0 in favor of the team from Ribeirão Preto. The first title of Botafogo was the São Paulo State Countryside Championship in 1927. In 1956, the club won the Ribeirão Preto Centennial Cup, beating Commercial in the final 4-2. Botafogo also won the Undefeated Cup after a series of 19 games unbeaten. In the same year, the team was also champion of the Second Division of the São Paulo State Championship.
In 1962, the club toured in Argentina, where they won nine games, drew three games and lost two games. Among them, a loss to Boca Juniors 1-2 at La Bombonera, and a victory over Estudiantes de La Plata 5-2. After this trip, the club became known as the "Panther of America."
In the year 1977, Botafogo won the São Paulo City Cup (first stage of the São Paulo State Championship), playing the final against São Paulo Futebol Clube, and beating the opponent team after normal time and overtime. The game ended 0-0 giving the title to Botafogo, as the club have done better a campaign in the competition.
In the 1990s, the club was runners-up twice, thus being promoted twice in the national league pyramid: the Série C in 1996, and Série B in 1998. In the following year, Botafogo was relegated and in 2000 competed in the Copa João Havelange, in the Yellow Module (equivalent to the Série B). In 2001, Botafogo was São Paulo State Championship's runners-up, an extraordinary achievement for a countryside club, playing in one of the most competitive leagues in the football world. In 2002,it was relegated again, this time to the Série C. Botafogo was relegated to the São Paulo State Championship Série A3 in 2005 because of problems fielding a player without registration with the Federação Paulista de Futebol, the famous "tapetão." In the following year,they won access to the São Paulo State Championship Série A2 after winning the Série A3.
In 2008, the club returned to the elite of São Paulo state soccer, having played in the Série A1 in 2009, when they finished in the 15th place. In 2010 Bota qualified for the Série D, which is the fourth level of the national championship, and won the São Paulo State Countryside Championship, defeating São Caetano 1-0 in the final.
| Paulo Egídio | Zé Mario |
| Baldochi (Three times champion of the world in 1970) | Geraldão |
| Sócrates | Boiadeiro |
| Eurico | Raí (Four times champion of the world in 1994) |
| Doni | Leandro |
| Cicinho | Diego Alves |
| Bordon | Lucas |
| Paulo Cesar Camassuti | Marquinhos (Brazil Under-17) |
| Tim | Silva Batuta |
| Aguilera | Mário Sérgio |
| Palinha | Pablo Escobar |
| Nélio | Biro-Biro |
| Edson Abobrão | Mauricinho |
| Chicão | André Neles |
| Ivan | Dario Alegria |
| Polozzi | Peu |
| Zé Luiz |
Botafogo de Riberião Preto's stadium is Estádio Santa Cruz, inaugurated in 1968, with a maximum capacity of 50,000 people.
Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto's greatest rival is Comercial, which is also a Ribeirão Preto club. The derby between the two clubs is known as Come-Fogo.
The panther has as main features the strength and flexibility in the animal world. In the football field, Botafogo won the nickname "Pantera da Mogiana (Mogiana's Panther)" after beating clubs from that region of São Paulo state. They won the Campeonato do Interior in 1927, making justice to the club's nickname.
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