Esporte Clube Vitória

The club was founded on May 13, 1899, by the brothers Artur and Artêmio Valente, along with seventeen other young fellows. They were from an old Bahia family, and discovered football during their studies in England. Initially Vitória was a cricket club, named Club de Cricket Victoria, because all of them lived at the Vitória neighborhood, in Salvador.[4][5]

On May 22, 1901, Vitória played its first football match, at Campo da Pólvora, against International Sport Club, a team whose players were English seamen. Vitória beat International 3–2. Two months after that match, Vitória changed its original colors, which were black and white, to red and black, which are still in use.

1908 Bahia State Champions – Milzen, Álvaro Tarquinio e Mario Pereira; A. C. Martins, Adriano Porto e Noé Nunes; Armando Gordilho, Oscar Alves, Fernando Alves, C. Muller, R. Mc. Nair, Oscar Luz, A. Galeão e Alfredo Seixas.

On September 13, 1903, Vitória beat a club formed by people from São Paulo state, São Paulo Bahia Football Club 2–0 in the club's first official match. In 1908, Vitória won its first title ever, the Campeonato Baiano. They won the next year as well.

From 1910 to 1952, they didn't win any titles because they were still an amateur club. In 1953, the club turned professional, and won its third Baiano honor. Bahia was dominating the state championship, and Vitória only won titles in 1955, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1972, 1980, 1985 and 1989.

The club was runner-up in the 1993 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A to Palmeiras, with an extremely small payroll. Vitória was champion of Bahia in 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000, becoming the top club of the state for the first time. In the 1999 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Vitória reached the semifinals.

In the 2000s, the Campeonato Baiano trophy was won by Vitória eight out of ten years.[6]

In 2004 Vitória, after a poor campaign, was relegated to the Brazilian Second Division. In 2005, the club competed in the Brazilian second division, finishing 17th, and so was relegated to the Third Division for the first time in its history.

In 2006, Vitória was runner-up of the third division, and was promoted to the Brazilian second division. In 2007, the club was promoted back to the first division after finishing in fourth place. This meant the club had managed to return from the lowest Brazilian national division to its original place in the first division in only two years.

In February 2018 the intense rivalry between Vitória and Esporte Clube Bahia drew international attention when ten players (five from each team) were shown the red card in a State Championship match.[7]

The club's mascot is a lion named Lelê Leão (Lion), and according to Vitória's official site, his objective is to stimulate the club's supporters and players on match days.

The competitions record of Vitória's last ten seasons:

  Champion.

  Runner-up.

  Promoted.

  Relegated.

Many kinds of shirts have been worn by Vitória's players over the years.

1987

1993

2000

2003

2007

2008

2009

As of 22 February 2022[8]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  BRA Cabral — GK  BRA Lucas Arcanjo — GK  BRA Yuri — DF  BRA Alisson Cassiano — DF  BRA Carlos — DF  BRA Ewerton Páscoa — DF  BRA Marco Antônio — DF  BRA Mateus Moraes — DF  BRA Alemão — DF  BRA Iury — DF  BRA Salomão — DF  BRA Vicente — MF  BRA Alan Santos — MF  BRA Jefferson Renan (on loan from Boavista)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  BRA João Pedro — MF  BRA Maykon Douglas — MF  BRA Pablo (on loan from Fortaleza) — MF  BRA Eduardo — MF  BRA Gabriel Santiago — MF  BRA Jádson — FW  BRA Dinei — FW  BRA Erik — FW  BRA Guilherme Queiróz — FW  BRA Luidy — FW  BRA Roberto — FW  BRA Ruan Nascimento — FW  BRA Samuel — FW  COL Santiago Tréllez

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  BRA Caíque (at Rochester New York until 31 December 2022) — DF  BRA João Victor (at Guarani until 30 November 2022)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  BRA Rodrigo Andrade (to Guarani until 30 November 2022)

• Camisa 12
• Os Imbatíveis – Founded in 1997, is one of the most active ultras in Brazil.

• (in Portuguese) Official website
• (in Portuguese) Canal ECVitoria – The Biggest Non-Official Site

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Esporte Clube Vitória.