Club Profile: Santos

Santos Futebol Clube was formed on April 14 1912 by three football fans living in Santos. They are nicknamed Peixe, meaning fish, due to the city being a seaport, and play at the Estadio Vila Belmiro, which opened in 1916 and has a capacity of 21,256. The club is tied with Palmeiras as the most […]
by
sambafoot_admin
2011-05-28 01:20:00

Santos Futebol Clube was formed on April 14 1912 by three football fans living in Santos. They are nicknamed Peixe, meaning fish, due to the city being a seaport, and play at the Estadio Vila Belmiro, which opened in 1916 and has a capacity of 21,256. The club is tied with Palmeiras as the most successful in Brazilian football.

 

The club enjoyed its greatest spell of success in the 1960s. They won the Taça Brasil five times and the Robertão once. Both competitions are now defunct, but both were equal in stature to the current Brasileirão, the top league competition in Brazil. Santos also won the Copa Libertadores twice in the 60s, and the Intercontinental Cup twice, beating European giants Benfica and AC Milan.

 

During this time Santos had the best player in the history of the club, and arguably the world: Edison Arantes do Nascimento, or simply Pelé. He played for the club for 18 years, and upon his arrival for a trial at age 15, told the club directors he would be the best player in the world.

 

He was not lying: Pelé scored over 1000 goals in his career, including 77 for Brazil, and helped the Seleção to win the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970. He also helped Santos to win all but one of the Campeonato Paulista championships in the 1960s, with the club only failing to lift the trophy in 1963 in that decade.

 

The success of the 60s dried up for many years afterwards, but recently Santos has started to return to its former glory. The club won the Brasileirão in 2003 and 2004, and are the current holders of the Copa do Brasil. They were runners up in the Libertadores in 2003, and are currently in the semi-finals of this year’s competition.

 

With a squad boasting the likes of wonderkids Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso alongside experienced players Elano and Edu Dracena, who both enjoyed successful careers in Europe, Santos are one of the favourites for the 2011 Brasileirão, and could lift their first Copa Libertadores for 48 years.

Brazilian legend Ronaldo could be set for a return to competitive football according to the president of his most recent club, Corinthians.

Previous

by
sambafoot_admin
May 28, 2011

Next