Santos Futebol Clube is a football club based in Santos,[1] that competes in the Campeonato Paulista,[2]São Paulo's state league, and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A or Brasileirão,[3] Brazil's national league. The club was founded in 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, and played its first friendly match on June 23, 1912.[4] Initially Santos played against other local clubs in the city and state championships, but in 1959 the club became one of the founding members of the Taça Brasil, Brazil's first truly national league.[5] As of 2010, Santos is one of only five clubs never to have been relegated from the top level of Brazilian football, the others being São Paulo, Flamengo, Internacional and Cruzeiro.
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Santos enjoyed a successful start in the Brasileirão, finishing runners-up in the competition's first season.[7] In the period from 1956 to 1974, the "Peixe" team won the Brasileirão six times, including a record-consecutive five titles from 1961 to 1965, and the Campeonato Paulista 11 times.[7][8][9] The club did not win the league again until 2002.[10] In 1978 Santos had finished 23rd, which remains, as of 2010, the club's lowest finishing position.[11] Santos became the first club in the world to win the continental treble during the 1962 season consisting of the Paulista, Taça Brasil, and the Copa Libertadores.[12][13][14] In 1955, Lula was appointed manager and assembled what would later be known as the Os Santásticos. In 1961 he led the club to its first league title and repeated the feat the following four seasons when the club also won the Copa Libertadores for the first time and successfully defended the trophy once.[7][15]
Carravetta, Elio (2006). Modernização da Gestão no Futebol Brasileiro [Modernization in Brazilian Football Management] (in Portuguese). ISBN85-7497-287-8.
Cruz, Antonio (2003). Futebol Brasileiro [Brazilian Football] (in Portuguese). ISBN85-87293-31-1.
Cunha, Odir (2006). Donos da Terra – A História do Primeiro Título Intercontinental do Santos. Realejo Edições.
Cunha, Odir (2008). Na Raça! – Como o Santos Se Tornou o Primeiro Bicampeão Mundial [97-8859990-517-3] (in Portuguese).
Cunha, Odir; Unzelte, Celso (2009). O Grande Jogo – Corinthians X Santos – O maior duelo alvinegro do futebol contado por dois historiadores fanáticos (in Portuguese). ISBN978-85-7679-222-2.
Cunha, Odir (2003). Pedrinho Escolheu um Time (in Portuguese). ISBN978-85-87306-19-7.
Cunha, Odir (2003). Time dos Sonhos [Dream Teams] (in Portuguese). ISBN85-7594-020-1.
Guarche, Guilherme Gomez (2003). Santos FC – O Melhor do Século nas Américas (in Portuguese). ISBN85-901925-1-2.
Helal, Ronaldo; Jorge, Antônio; Soares, Gonçalves; Lovisolo, Hugo (2001). Invenção do país futebol [The invention of a football nation] (in Portuguese). Mauad Editora Ltda. ISBN85-7478-046-4.