Santos FC

Santos Futebol Clube (pronounced /ˈsɐ̃tus futʃiˈbɔw ˈklubi/), popularly known as Santos, is a Brazilian multi-sport club based in the city of Santos, in the State of São Paulo. It is also the team with the most goals in the history of football. It was founded on 14 April 1912 and in the 2024 season it competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, after being relegated for the first time in its history. Its initial colours were to be white, blue and gold, but a year after its foundation it was decided that the club's colours would be white and black. Its greatest rivals in football are Palmeiras, against whom it competes in the Clássico da Saudade; Corinthians, against whom it plays the Alvinegro Clássico; and São Paulo, against whom it competes in the San-São.

O Peixe (“The Fish”) plays its home matches at the Estádio Urbano Caldeira, better known as Vila Belmiro, which currently has a capacity of 20,120 spectators. The best-known Santos anthem is “Leão do Mar”, written by Mangeri Neto.

Santos has become one of the most successful clubs in Brazilian football and is recognised worldwide. It became famous in the 1960s for the many international and national titles it won and for having brought forth Pelé, considered by many to be the best player in the history of the sport and, according to FIFA, the best player of the 20th century.

Throughout its history, Santos has won a large number of international titles, among which the most notable are the Intercontinental Cups of 1962 and 1963, the Copa Libertadores of 1962, 1963 and 2011, the Intercontinental Supercup of Champions of 1968, the South American Intercontinental Supercup of Champions of 1968, the Copa Conmebol of 1998 and the Recopa Sudamericana of 2012. On the national stage, it was Brazilian champion eight times, in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 2002 and 2004. Also at national level, the club has one Copa do Brasil, in 2010, for a total of nine national titles. Other important titles include five Torneios Rio–São Paulo (a record shared with Corinthians and Palmeiras), 22 Campeonatos Paulistas and the 2004 Copa Paulista. In the sum of official international and national titles, the club has 17 achievements. In total, adding up official competitions, friendlies and other cups, the club has 305 titles. Santos, together with Palmeiras, Cruzeiro and Internacional, was one of the few to win the Campeonato Brasileiro unbeaten, in 1963, 1964 and 1965. It is also the only Brazilian club to be state, national, continental and world champion in the same year, in 1962.

In a FIFA poll in the year 2000 it was chosen, among ten Latin American clubs, as the best club in the Americas of the 20th century and the fifth greatest in the world, and in its centenary year it also received from FIFA, in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília, the title of “greatest South American club of the 20th century”.

The IFFHS has chosen it four times as World's Best Team of the Month. This ranking has been compiled since the year 2000. A study carried out in 2013 by the London consultancy Brand Finance shows Santos as the second most valuable club in Brazil, second in Latin America and 38th in brand value in the world, at US$65 million, ahead of other great clubs on the continent such as Flamengo, São Paulo, Boca Juniors and River Plate.

Furthermore, thanks to its victories in 1962 and 1963 in the now defunct Intercontinental Cup, it belongs to the select group of only 31 clubs in the world that have won the highest club football championship at world level, among more than 300,000 clubs recognised by FIFA. It is therefore also the first “two-time World Champion” in history, having won the two world championships consecutively.

Santos is one of the most popular teams in Brazil. According to research by the DataFolha Institute, published on 2 February 2006, Santos has the sixth-largest fan base in Brazil, with 4% of national preferences. The club is estimated to have 8 to 10 million fans, present in every state of Brazil. A curious fact is that the city with the largest number of fans is not Santos but the city of São Paulo and the São Paulo metropolitan region, Greater São Paulo, where the club has around 1.8 million supporters. At present Santos has more than 70,000 paying members. It also has a large number of branches around the world. The largest is in Argentina, a branch that has been active for more than 40 years in Paraná, Entre Ríos.