Santa Cruz Futebol Clube

Early history

On 3 February 1914, eleven young men aging from 14 to 16 years founded a football society. Because the boys used to play football on the streets by the yard of the Santa Cruz Church, the club was named after that church, which is situated on Santa Cruz Street in Recife. At the first meeting, they decided the position of each member, the name of the club "Santa Cruz Foot-Ball Club", and the society's colors. The original colors were black and white. Some time after, the color pattern was changed because another local team (Sport Club Flamengo) already had those colors. Therefore, the club included the red color by suggestion of Teófilo Batista de Carvalho, also known as Lacraia. Lacraia has participated in all major early events of Santa Cruz's history, except the foundation. Many people came to see the first match at Derby plains. The "team of boys" as Santa Cruz was called at the time beat Rio Negro (Black River) by 7–0. Rio Negro demanded revenge in another match. Curiously, the terms of the revenge stated that Sílvio Machado (he scored five goals in the first match) could not play. Despite that, Santa Cruz accepted the challenge. Carlindo, who substituted Sílvio Machado, scored six goals and Santa Cruz won again by 9–0. A subsequent victory over the Western Telegraph Company team, very famous at the time, made the popularity of Santa Cruz increase even more. The club was almost closed in its very first year. Some members proposed to use the club…

Official tournaments

Others tournaments

International

Marco Antonio Maciel Tournament (1): 1979 Vinausteel Tournament (1): 2003

Regional and Inter-state

Torneio Bahia-Pernambuco (1): 1956 Torneio Paraíba-Pernambuco (1): 1962 Torneio Hexagonal Norte-Nordeste (1): 1967 Taça Asa Branca (1): 2017

State

Torneio Início de Pernambuco (12): 1919, 1926, 1937, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1954, 1956, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1976

Runners-up

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (3): 1999, 2005, 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D (2): 2011, 2025 Campeonato Pernambucano (31): 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1929, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1943, 1949, 1953, 1960, 1962, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2020 Copa Pernambuco (2): 1998, 2011

The Super-Championship

The Pernambucan Football Championship is usually divided into three turns. Each turn is a small championship itself. If a team wins all the three turns then it is automatically declared as champion. If a team wins two turns and another team wins the remaining turn, the championship has a final play-off. Generally, the play-off consists of two matches or three matches. However, if three different teams win each one a turn, the championship has a play-off named the Super-championship. The Super-championship consists of a play-off among the three winners of each turn. Super-championships are rare and very prestigious.

Awards…