Sport Club Rio Grande

Sport Club Rio Grande is a professional association football club based in Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Founded in July 1900, they are Brazil's oldest active football club.[1]

Rio Grande
Full nameSport Club Rio Grande
Nickname(s)Vovô (The Grandfather)
Veterano (The Veteran)
FoundedJuly 19, 1900
GroundEstádio Arthur Lawson
Capacity5,000
LeagueCampeonato Gaúcho Série B
Copa FGF

They play in the Campeonato Gaúcho Série B and has played at state level since its founding. The club also won the Campeonato Gaúcho in 1936; its greatest achievement to date.

History
Monument to Sport Club Rio Grande in Rio Grande

Sport Club Rio Grande were founded on July 19, 1900, by the German Johannes Christian Moritz Minnemann and a group of friends, during the celebrations of his 25th anniversary. The colours chosen were a red, green and yellow tricolor, directly taken from the flag of Rio Grande do Sul.[2]

The club did exhibition games all over the state of Rio Grande do Sul; in 1901 the club played a friendly match against the football club of the sailors from British ship HMS Nymphe.[3] In 1903 the club went to Porto Alegre to do an exhibition, the first football game in the city. This match directly inspired the founding of Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, one of Brazil's largest clubs, in the same year.[4]

The club won its first achievement, which is the Campeonato Gaúcho, in 1936.[5] In 1962 the club won the Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2, the second division and in 2014 the Campeonato Gaúcho Série B, the third division. Thus, Rio Grande is one of the few clubs in Rio Grande do Sul to have won all the three state divisions.

Brazil's National Football Day is celebrated on July 19 in honor of Sport Club Rio Grande's condition as Brazil's oldest football club.[5]

In 2020, Rio Grande sued Ponte Preta for using the slogan "oldest team in Brazil". Both clubs were created in the same year in 1900 but Ponte Preta was founded in August while Rio Grande was founded a month earlier. While São Paulo's SPAC, Internacional, Germania and Mackenzie College, although created before the Rio Grande do Sul team, had already officially closed their football departments. In 2022 the case was decided in favor of Rio Grande and Ponte Preta had to remove any mentions that it was "the oldest team in Brazil" and pay R$2 million in compensation.[6][7]

Stadium

Rio Grande play their home games at Estádio Arthur Lawson.[8] The stadium has a maximum capacity of 5,000 people,[8] and was inaugurated on August 31, 1985.[9]

Achievements

Derby

The derby between SC São Paulo and Rio Grande is known as Rio-Rita.[10]

References
  1. Paglia, Ernesto (2011). "Rio Grande (RS)". O Diário de Bordo do JN no Ar (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Editora Globo. pp. 288–289. ISBN 978-85-250-1842-7.
  2. Poli, Gustavo; Carmona, Lédio (2009). Almanaque do Futebol Sportv. Rio de Janeiro: Casa da Palavra. p. 33. ISBN 978-85-7734-090-3.
  3. Prefeitura Municipal do Rio Grande (14 August 2006). "SC Rio Grande fará amistoso internacional contra marinheiros ingleses". Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  4. Diário Gaúcho (18 September 2010). "Coração verde está de aniversário". Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  5. Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro Lance Volume 1. Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A. 2001. p. 231. ISBN 85-88651-01-7.
  6. "Ponte Preta terá de arcar com indenização milionária por uso indevido de slogan; entenda". www.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  7. "Sport Club Rio Grande ganha indenização milionária da Ponte Preta por uso indevido de marca histórica". GZH (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  8. "Arthur Lawson" (in Portuguese). Zerozero. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  9. "Estádio Arthur Lawson" (in Portuguese). Templos do Futebol. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  10. "Esporte: Rio Grande vence o Rio-Rita e é líder da Chave 2" (in Portuguese). Diário Popular. April 14, 2008. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
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