Santos FC

Santos Futebol Clube (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɐ̃tus futʃiˈbɔw ˈklubi]) is a Brazilian professional football club based in Santos, São Paulo^[1] They play in the Campeonato Paulista^[2] and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A,^[3] the highest professional leagues in São Paulo state and Brazil, respectively. It is also notable for having featured Pelé as its main player between 1956 and 1974.

Santos is the defending Paulista and South American champion, and is one of the most successful clubs in Brazil. Domestically, the club have won nineteen Campeonato Paulista titles, one Copa do Brasil, and a joint record of eight Brazilian championships. Internationally, they are amongst Brazil's most successful clubs with seven international titles, including three Copa Libertadores and two Intercontinental Cups. In 1962, Santos became the first club in the world to win the continental treble consisting of the Paulista, Taça Brasil, and the Copa Libertadores.^[4][5][6] That same year, it also became the first football club ever to win four out of four competitions in a single year, thus completing the quadruple, comprising the aforementioned treble and the Intercontinental Cup.^[7] Their international and domestica success has led IFFHS to name Santos as one of the top twenty clubs in South America in the 20th century.

Founded as Santos Foot-Ball Club on April 14, 1912 by the initiative of three sports enthusiasts from Santos by the names of Raimundo Marques, Mário Ferraz de Campos, and Argemiro de Souza Júnior,^[8] the club has become a symbol of Joga Bonito (English: The Beautiful Game) in football culture. It is one of Brazil's richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual revenue of $45.1m (€31.5m), and one of the most valuable clubs, worth over $86.7m (€60.6m) in 2011.^[9] Santos was a founding member of the Clube dos 13 (English: Club of the 13) group of Brazil's leading football clubs.^[10][11]

History

Birth of Santos FC: 1900–1912

In the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Santos began to grow of great importance to Brazil. Its port was growing as one of the largest in the world with coffee, a major product in those times, being the most exported product.^[13] With the influx of income, the socialites of the city grew rapidly interested in having the city represented in sports. Although water sports such as rowing were the most practiced activity by the city's youth, the city had teams strong enough to compete in the Campeonatos Paulista, 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 forementioned clubs as a result.^[12]

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 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), to create a football team.^[12] 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.^[12] 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 hailed unanimously at the proposal of Edmundo Jorge de Araujo: Santos Foot-Ball Club.^[12] Thus, the club was formally born on April 14, 1912, hours before the Titanic would sink into the Atlantic Ocean. The club's first president was Sizino Patuska (who had participated in the founding of Atlético Internacional and was the founder of Americano).

Early years: 1912–1935

The first practice match the club partook on June 23, 1914 at the Villa Macuco field, against a local club called Thereza Team which 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 September 15 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 June 1. 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.^[14]

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 having been scored on only seven times.^[15] 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 dispute 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 October 12, 1916.^[16] That same year, Santos returned to dispute another Campeonato Paulista finishing in a much-improved 5th place.

Between the 1917 and 1926 seasons, Santos was characterized as a solid and talented team, but one that couldn't offer a true challenge for the state title, finishing no higher than fourth place.^[17] 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 the 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 Brazilian national team Araken Patusca participated in the first edition of the FIFA World Cup in 1930, playing one match against Yugoslavia, becoming the first Santista to participate in a World Cup.^[18] 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 (Engllish: 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.^[12] During that season, 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 consegration sealed Santos' first major title and paved the way for future generations to follow.^[12]

The second Paulista title: 1936–1955

Although Santos failed to retain the state title next season, the club remained undefeated in international matches for the rest of the decade, with seven wins and one draw. The most overwhelming selection occurred against the French, who returned from World Cup in Uruguay and decided to use the stop at the Port of Santos to partidinha against a local team. After losing by 6–1, the suspicious French were invited to the clubhouse to prove that the team that had just faced the Brazilian team was not disguised. In the 1940s, Santos did not win any state title, but from the second half of the decade, when the presidency was assumed by former goalkeeper Jorge Cury Athi and idol, began to show signs of great category. He was vice-champion in 1948 and 50 aces and showed how the right-winger Christopher Claudio Pinho, head of the Brazilian team in the American South of Montevideo, and midfielder Antonio Fernandes, Antoninho, one of the biggest idols in club history. His greatest achievement during this period was the trip to the North / Northeast of the country of 29 November 1946 to February 2, 1947. Until then no Brazilian team had such a long tour to the region without losing. For the Saints had 15 games and went undefeated with 12 wins and three draws. Traditional teams were hopelessly beaten, such as Santa Cruz (4–0), ABC (6–0), Ceará (5–2), Fortaleza (4–1 and 4–0), Sampaio Correa (5–1) and Paysandu (4–1).

The team that played the last match of the tour, Remo and hit the 3 to 2, was formed by Osny, Artigas and Expedito, Nene, and Ayala Dacunto; Zeferino, Leonaldo (after Maracaí), Chippenham, Adolfrises (after left-handed) and Rui. Yet acted on this journey players Dewey, Castanheira, Dinho, Antoninho and Alfredo. The gunners were Caxambu tour, with 19 goals and Adolfrise, 18.

Os Santásticos: 1956–1973

In 50 years the Saints began to be the best team in the world. When Pele made his debut in the Campeonato Paulista in 1957, the team already was twice state champion (1955/56) and base the selection of Sao Paulo. The King had as fellow players like Zito, Pagan, Ant, Hélvio, Jair da Rosa Pinto, Urubatão, Tite, Pepe. Therefore, it is true that the Saints were lucky to have Pele, Pele is also true that lucky just beginning his career at Santos. Santos The third state title in 50 years, the magical year of 1958 – in which Brazil became world champion, Sweden, with Zito Santos, Pele and Pepe – was won in spectacular fashion. The team scored 143 goals in 38 games, averaging 3.76 per game. How has 40 goals, had a positive balance of 101 goals! Pele was a record never equaled in any state competition in the country: made no less than 58 goals. Traditional teams were massacred in 1958, especially 10 to 0 on the National, St. Paul. In addition to state titles, the Saints won the Rio-Sao Paulo in 1959, beating Vasco in the final by 3–0 with two goals of the boy Coutinho, 16. Even in that Coutinho 1959 São Paulo had five goals against Ponte Preta in the Saints game, even without Pele won 12–1.

No other team had a prevalence in Brazilian football as sharp as the Saints in the 60's: São Paulo won eight titles, six Brazilians (Brazil and a five Bowls Tournament Roberto Gomes Pedrosa), two Libertadores Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, three Rio-São Paulo , a South American Recopa, Recopa a World and numerous international tournaments. A poll of the magazine El Gráfico heard that dozens of experts from South America and Europe chose as the best team of all time world champion Santos in 1962/63, whose time-base was formed by Gylmar, Lima, Mauro, Calvet and Dalmo; Mengálvio and Zito, Dorval, Coutinho, Pele and Pepe. Coach: Luis Alonso Perez, Lula. Required worldwide, Santos was the first Globe Trotters of football and played in dozens of countries. He even stopped a war in Africa so that the two sides could see the team play of Pele. As a Copa Libertadores was lacking and also by the pressure of the CBD, which the team did not want to risk their star players in unsafe stadiums in South America, the Saints failed to participate in the editions of the Libertadores 1966, 1967 and 1969. Beside the Botafogo, was the basis of the Brazilian world champion in Chile (1962) and Mexico (1970). On two occasions – against Germany and England – the national team played with eight holders Santos. In six games of qualifying for the 1970 World Cup "The beasts of the Saldanha" played with six holders of the Saints: Carlos Alberto, Djalma Dias, Joel Campbell, Rildo, Pelé and Edu. The influence of Santos was so great that the defense played with the national team the same number that was used in Santos: right-back with the shirt 4, center-linebacker with the second, quarterback with the sixth and left-back with 3. Finally, it is defined as left-winger Antonio Simoes, Benfica of Portugal and Selection: "I compare the Santos 62 with the national team of Brazil in 70. These are the two best football teams I have ever seen. The selection 70 is the confirmation of a game model that the Santos already demonstrated long ago. "

State champion in 1973, even with Pelé, and in 1978, driven by the amazing Pita Boys Town, Juary, John Paul and Nilton Batata, the Saints 70 years is no longer appreciated by the refinement of his football and became a symbol of passion and rapture. His fans, who for a long time can not compete with the teams of the capital, has grown amazingly and started to share with the massive Morumbi crowd corintiana decanted, and are overcome with a great degree, Pauline and Palmeiras.

Intermittency: 1974–1994

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 vice-champion Sao Paulo of 1980, and, interestingly, 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 dispute the Brazilian 1993. 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, to win in São Paulo, Rio lose and be overtaken on goal for Flamengo. Ms joy did not come in Brazil did not take long. The following year the team became champion São Paulo in a rally-point competition, ending the dream of reaching the third championship Corinthians. In the decisive game of ecstasy to Santos, the team won by Corinthians 1–0, Serginho goal in the second half. Santos striker was again the top scorer, this time tied with Chiquinho, Botafogo, with 16 goals.

The renewed Peixe: 1995–2008

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. For fans of Santos, the outcome was determined by the referee, who cancelled a supposedly valid goal by Camanducaia and allowed Botafogo striker Túlio Maravilha to score while in an offside position.

The new chairman Marcelo Teixeira, son of forme chairman Milton Teixeira, tried to prepare Santos for domination in the twenty-first century. No expense was spared to build a complete squad, with names as Rincón, Marcelinho Carioca, Edmundo, Marcio Santos, Carlos Germano, Valdo and Galván. Unfortunately these 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.

By 2002 the big names had left and financial space was narrow. This forced Santos to look at their youth squads for reinforcements, hoping they could prevent an eve worse campaign leading to relegation. The new head coach Emerson Leão would proof he could do much more. In a more than reasonable campaign Santos finished eighth in the regular season and thus qualified for the play-offs. In the quarter finals the São Paulo of the young Kaká and Luis Fabiano was eliminated over two legs, and in the semi-finals Grêmio was effectively knocked out with a 3-0 victory in Belmiro. 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 nowdays, was popularized by Robinho in the final match.

In 2003 Santos continued its excellent performance, but came second in the first ever Brazilian national championship without a post-season play-off to determine the champion. The next year Santos returned to glory, however. In a year where fans felt their team was bein 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 majorit 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 lead 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 left an excellent impression in the state championship, losing 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 had a reasonable campaign leading the team to second place, albeit 15 points behind champion São Paulo.

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

The 2nd Santástico: 2009- present

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. 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 it's 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 is now 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.^[19]

Crest and colors

The first colors chosen for the new club were white, azure blue and golden lemon as an homage to Concórdia Club.^[20] But the difficulty to fabricate the colors on the uniform during those times forced a board meeting a year after the club's foundation.^[20] Pelúcio Paul suggested switching the official colors to white and black. According to Paul, the color white represents peace and black represents nobility. It received wide approval from the club members and the president of Santos, Raymundo Marques, based the club on the new colors.^[20]

Since the club's foundation, Santos have had eight main crests, though all underwent minor variations.^[21] In 1912, Santos adopted a black and white striped shield, with one of the early leather footballs in the middle and a diagonal band with the letters "SFBC".^[22] In order to pay homage to Concórdia Club (who let Santos use their headquarters to plan its foundation), the club used a crest that incorporated three golden lemon letters, the letters S, F and C, in the center of an azure blue circle.^[22] At the end of 1912, the crest was remade with a white band around the circle.^[22] The white band band was surrounded by a golden lemon border.^[22] The letters were colored white with golden lemon serving as its outside borders.^[22] Due to the difficulty of creating these colors consistently, the crest was rebranded to a white badge with black borders and the letters 'SFC' colored black.^[22]

Later in 1913, the crest was redesigned as a badge inside a globe showing longitude and latitude lines as well as the equator.^[22] The badge had a black, diagonal band with "S.F.C." in white text. The top half above the band was white with a leather ball at the top left corner.^[22] The bottom half was a black and white striped background.^[22] Above the badge was a crown.^[22] During 1915, the club temporarily changed its name to União Futebol Clube and were forced to create a temporary crest for that year.^[22] The crest was an escutcheon with a white band that read 'União F.C.' and a black background.^[22] In 1925, the globe and crown were removed from the crest and it took its future form, only going through a remodelling in 2005.^[22]

Sponsorship

Like many major football clubs around the world, Santos FC is sponsored by many corporations. Since 1979, Santos has had 38 different sponsors, with Rainha being the club's first kit manufacturer.^[23] Casas Bahia, a Brazilian retail chain which specializes in furniture and home appliances, became the first sponsor for the Peixe.^[24] The club is currently primarily sponsored by Umbro, an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England.^[25][26]

The team has had many kit-manufacturing sponsors that invest in the club as well. Many of these sponsors are nationally based but have expanded to other nations. The current material manufacturers sponsors are Banco BMG (a financial institution in the BMG Group, based in Belo Horizonte),^{[25] [27]} CSU (an American business unit that offers contact centers and large investments),^[25][28] Netshoes (a company of internet retailers which began operations in February 2000 and is now the largest store of its kind in Latin America)^[25][29] and Seara (a Brazilian food company that specializes in the development and distribution of meat products).^[25][30]

Stadiums

Soon after its foundation, Santos held their training in a field located in the district of Macuco.^[31][32] As the pitch did not meet the minimum size standards to dispute official matches, Santos played on the "Igreja Coração de Maria" pitch in Ana Costa Avenue.^[31][32] The field, however, was also used by other clubs in town.^[31][32] In 1915, the situation reached its breaking point, when Santos had constant conflicts with other city clubs on when the field could be used, forcing the club to reject several requests for international friendlies.^[31][32] To solve the problem, the leaders began searching for land in the city.^[31][32] On May 31, 1916, a general assembly approved the purchase of an area of 16,500 square meters, in the bairro of Vila Belmiro.^[31][32] On October 12 of that year, the inauguration of the Vila Belmiro sports park. The first game was held 10 days later, against Ypiranga for the 1916 Campeonato Paulista which Santos won 2–1.^[31][32] Adolfo Millon Jr. scored the first ever goal on that stadium.^[31][32]

The capacity has changed frequently, peaking at 32,989 in a 0–0 draw between Santos and Corinthians for the 1964 Campeonato Paulista.^[33] Since then, there have been a number of reductions due to modernizations. The last change was a new illumination system being installed in January 27, 1998, with a illumnination level of 1200 lux, more than the FIFA minimum recommendation.^[31][32] The Vila Belmiro was one of the venues of the 1949 Copa América,^[34] hosted the 1962 Copa Libertadores final and the 1998 Copa CONMEBOL final.^[35][36] It has also hosted a Copa do Brasil final in 2010.^[37] Due to its relative-low capacity, Santos has used other stadiums for high-profile matches such as the Estádio Palestra Itália,^[38][39] Pacaembu and Morumbi,^[40][41][42] all located in São Paulo, and the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro.^[43] Current Santos President Luis Alvaro Ribeiro and other club directors are agreeing on building a stadium in a city nearby Santos called Cubatao, a stadium for 40,000 people which would become Santos' home field for almost 70% of the games during the season which would increase the team's profit.

On October 2005, the Centro de Treinamento Rei Pelé was inaugurated. Located in the Jabaquara bairro, the site was constructed by Engeplus Construtora and Emgempre Mão-de-Obras Especializada. The training ground, one of the most modern in Brazil, includes medical and training facilities for the first team and a hotel, "Recanto dos Alvinegros". The Centro de Treinamento Meninos da Vila, located in the Saboó bairro, constitutes two fields of equal size to the Vila Belmiro and it is intended for the formation and development of players. The two fields are named in homage to the revelation of players Diego and Robinho. It was inaugurated in August 2006.

Brand

The core strength of Santos's global brand is often attributed to Lula's success in leading Os Santasticos, which drew worldwide acclaim.^[44] The iconic team included Gilmar, Mauro, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pepe and Pelé.^[45] This attention often generates greater interest in off-the-field, with the popularity of the club and brand spanning five continents across the globe.^[46] Many domestic and international clubs were founded in homemage to Santos.^[47] In Macapá, Santos Futebol Clube do Macapá was founded in 1973.^[48] In João Pessoa, Santos Futebol Clube do João Pessoa was founded in 1949.^[48] In Viana, Angola, Santos Futebol Clube de Angola was founded in 2002.^[48][49] In Porto Alegre, Santos Futebol Clube de Alegrete also took after its Paulista model.^[48] Santos F.C. from Providence, Guyana is another example of the popularity of the infamous brand of the club.^[48] Kingston's Santos Football Club, four times national champions of Jamaica, pays tribute not only to the club, by using its name and crest, but also to the Brazilian national team by replacing the white color on the badge with yellow.^[48] The "Santos FC Academy" in Oak Park, California is a youth soccer academy in the United States that uses the club's name in tribute.^[50] In Iwata, Japan, "Santos FC Soccer Academy Japan" has grown in popularity since ts creation in 1993, having categories from the ages of six to nineteen while the club expanded its brand to Cairo, Egypt in 2008.^[51][52] "Santos FC’s Soccer Academy" in Orlando, Florida is another one of the club's international branches.^[53] In Hong Kong, Nene Leung created the group Nene & The Santos Boys, a group of Chinese and Hong Kongers who dedicate themselves to watch Santos' matches.^[54]

Santos is one of Brazil's most economically powerful and richest football clubs; it had an annual turnover of $45.1m (€31.5m) in 2011 and became one of the most valuable clubs, worth over $86.7m (€60.6m).^[9] That same year, Santos' squad became the most valued in South America, being worth over €82m,^[55] surpassing every club in the Dutch Eredivisie and the English Football League Championship,^[56][57] most of the clubs in Portugal's Primeira Liga, Ukraine's Premyer-Liha, Turkey's Süper Lig, Russia's Premier League and France's Ligue 1,^{[58][59][60][61][62]} as well as over half the clubs in Germany's Fußball-Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A, Spain's La Liga and England's Premier League.^{[63][64][65][66]} Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer, a secondary sponsor of the official Copa Libertadores video game, will feature Santos in the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2012. This is the first time that the club is being featured on a video game.^[67] The flambouyant, attacking style of play adopted by this team (in contrast to the physical-minded approach favoured by European, Uruguayan and Argentinian teams of the era) was a constant, world-wide exhibition that saw Santos travel in over 50 countries at every continent (except Antarctica).^[68] The club's focus on commercial and sporting success brought significant profits in an industry often characterised by chronic losses.^[69] The strength of the Santos' brand was bolstered by its FIFA World Cup winners, especially Pelé. Pelé is hailed as a national hero.^[70] He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football.^[71] He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal with Santos he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil).^[72] During his career, he became known as "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King" (O Rei).^[73]

Popular culture

Santos FC has been featured in several documentary and semi-documentary films such as Guadalajara 70,^[74] Uma história de futebol,^[75] Dogão calabresa,^[76] and Boleiros.^[77] Former players have also been published, most notably Pelé,^[78][79][80] but others have appeared in films such as Ginga.^[81] Santos was the featured club in the film Asa Branca:Um Sonho Brasileiro, a story of a modest but talented soccer player for Santos and reaches stardom.^[82] Pelé appeared, alongside other footballers of the 1960s and 1970s, with Michael Caine, and Sylvester Stallone, in the 1981 film Escape to Victory, about an attempted escape from a World War II German POW Camp.^[83][84] The club has become a symbol of Joga Bonito (English: The Beautiful Game) in football culture. This was largely thanks to the Peixe's golden generation of the 1960s, the Santasticos, considered by some the best club team of all times.^[85]

The club has many local celebrities in its fan group, such as Brazilian singer Mariana Belém, prosecutor Luiz Antônio Marrey, director, writer, actor and television hoster Marcelo Tas and Danielle Zangrando, gold and bronze judo medalist at the 2007 Pan American Games and 1995 World Judo Championships, respectively.^[86] Bob Marley, a famous Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician and the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, played a practice match with Santos in 1980 along with the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers.^[87][88] Bob Marley even wore the Santos uniform.^[89] The film Santos: Especial by Mercado Livre was published in 2011, which talks about the most successful moments of the club during its coming centenary.^[90]

Players

Brazilian teams are limited to three players without Brazilian citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; some players on the squad have dual citizenship with another country.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Personnel

Current technical staff

See also List of Santos FC managers

Last updated: 14 July 2011
Source: Santos FC

Management

Last updated: 14 July 2011
Source: Santos FC

Honors

Historically, Santos is Brazil's most successful team, having won nine domestic trophies, and one of the most recognized football clubs in the world, having won eight international trophies, making them the seventh most successful team in South America for official international competitions won, all recognized by CONMEBOL and FIFA; it also has the record in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles, alongside Palmeiras (with 8), and Supercopa Sudamericana and Intercontinental Supercup titles (being the only winners of the latter competition).

Regional

• Campeonato Paulista (19):^[17] 1935, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1984, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011
• Copa Paulista de Futebol (1):^[91] 2004

National

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (8):^[92] 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 2002, 2004
• Copa do Brasil (1):^[93] 2010
• Torneio Rio-São Paulo (5):^[94] 1959, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1997

International

• Copa Libertadores (3):^[95] 1962, 1963, 2011
• Copa CONMEBOL (1):^[96] 1998
• Intercontinental Cup (2):^[97] 1962, 1963
• Recopa Sudamericana (1):^[98] 1968
• Intercontinental Supercup (1):^[99] 1968

Doubles and Trebles

• The Double

Domestic Double (5)

State and Cup: 2010^[100][101]

State and League: 1961,^[102][103] 1964,^[104][105] 1965,^[106][107] 1968^[108][109]

Continental Double (2)

State and Copa Libertadores: 2011^[110][111]

League and Copa Libertadores: 1963^[112][113]

• The Treble

Continental Treble (1)

State, League and Copa Libertadores: 1962^{[5][114][115]}

Especially short competitions such as the Recopa Sudamericana, Intercontinental Cup (now defunct), or FIFA Club World Cup are not generally considered to contribute towards a Double or Treble.

Statistics and records

Pelé holds the record for most Santos appearances, having played 1106 first-team matches from 1956 to 1974.^[116] Pepe comes second, having played 750 times.^[116] The record for a goalkeeper is held by Manga, with 404 appearances.^[117] Five other players also have more than 500 appearances: Zito (727),^[116] Lima (696),^[116] Dorval (612),^[116] Edú (584)^[116] and Clodoaldo (510).^[116] Pelé is Santos's all-time top goalscorer, with 1098 goals.^[118] Four other players have also scored over 200 goals for Santos: Pepe (405),^[118] Coutinho (370),^[118] Toninho Guerreiro (283)^[118] and Feitiço (216).^[118]

Serginho Chulapa holds the record for the most Brasileirão goals scored in one season for the club (22 in 1983).^[119] Feitiço's 31 goals in the 1931 Campeonato Paulista was, for two decades, the one-season highest tally record in the Campeonato Paulista, until it was surpassed by Pelé in 1958, which still stands today.^[120] Officially, the highest home attendance figure for a Santos match is 132,728, which was for a football cup competition, the Intercontinental Cup, in 1963.^[121] Santos has also set records in Brazilian football, most notably the most domestic titles (8 as of 2011) and the most seasons won in a row (5, during 1961 and 1965).^[92]

Santos is the joint-most successful Brazilian team in the Copa Libertadores, winning the 1962, 1963 and 2011 editions.^[122] It is also the only Brazilian club outside Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre to win an international tournament.^{[95][96][98][99][123][124][125][126][127]} Santos is Brazil's joint-second in Copa Libertadores semifinal appearances with seven in total. The club is also the only Brazilian side to win the Copa Libertadores without losing a single match during the 1963 season. In 1962, Santos became the first club in the world to win the continental treble consisting of the Paulista, Taça Brasil, and the Copa Libertadores. That same year, it also became the first football club ever to win four out of four competitions in a single year, thus completing the quadruple, comprising the aforementioned treble and the Intercontinental Cup.

Sections in other sports

• Santos FC (women)
• Santos FC Caratê
• Santos FC Futebol de mesa
• Santos FC Futsal
• Santos FC Golbol
• Santos FC Judô
• Santos FC Taekwondo
• Santos FC Tênis de mesa
• Santos FC Tsunami
• Santos FC Voleibol

See also

• Clube dos 13
• Santos FC and the Brazilian national football team

References

Further reading

Filmography

External links

• Official website (Portuguese)
• Santos Futebol Clube's channel on YouTube (English)(Portuguese)
• Santos Futebol Clube at FIFA (English)(French)(German)(Portuguese)(Spanish)
• Santos Futebol Clube at Sempre Peixe, the official club encyclopedia (Portuguese)
• Santos Futebol Clube at Wikia (Portuguese)
• Santos Futebol Clube at Globo Esporte (Portuguese)
• Santos Futebol Clube at ESPN Soccernet (English)