The Campeonato da Região Serrana, commonly known as the Copa Serrana, is an annual competition organized by the Rio Grande do Sul state football federation for clubs that are in the first, second and third divisions of the

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

and are located in the mountainous region and northern of the state. It is held in the second half of the year and usually clubs participating in the higher levels of the Campeonato Brasileiro do not participate with the first team squad, using his academy. The competition was founded in 2013, being a qualifying tournament for the Super Copa Gaúcha, where the winner ensures participation in the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série D The Campeonato Brasileiro Série D (English: Brazilian Championship Serie D) is the fourth division of the Brazilian football league system, and was announced by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) on April 9, 2008. The Campeonato Brasilei ...

of the following year. The Copa Serrana occasionally receive a different name, honoring important people related to football in Rio Grande do Sul. The 2014 edition is called Copa Paulo Sérgio Poletto, in posthumous tribute to former Grêmio and Ypiranga-RS manager who died in April of the same year. The current holders are

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the twelfth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants living in a total municip ...

, having beaten the

Lajeadense Clube Esportivo Lajeadense, commonly referred to as Lajeadense, is a Brazilian football club based in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul. It currently plays in Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2, the second level of the Rio Grande do Sul state football lea ...

by 2–1 aggregate in the 2013 finals. With this title, the Passo Fundo became the first winner of the Copa Serrana in history.

History

Over the past decades, one of the major problems of

Brazilian football Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country’s national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any team, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Brazil a ...

has been the lack of an annual schedule for smaller clubs. These teams usually played in the state leagues and in the rest of the year closed, only reopening in the following year. Thus, FGF decided to create new competitions for this to not occur more, creating three regional tournaments: the Copa Serrana, the

Copa Metropolitana The Campeonato da Região Metropolitana, commonly known as the Copa Metropolitana, is an annual competition organized by the Rio Grande do Sul Federação Gaúcha de Futebol, state football federation for clubs that are in the first, second and t ...

and the

Copa Sul-Fronteira The Campeonato da Região Sul-Fronteira, commonly known as the Copa Sul-Fronteira, is an annual competition organized by the Rio Grande do Sul state football federation for clubs that are in the first, second and third divisions of the Campeona ...

. Along with the traditional domestic cup, the

Copa FGF The Copa Federação Gaúcha de Futebol, commonly known as the Copa FGF, is an annual cup competition organized by the Rio Grande do Sul state football federation for clubs that are in the first, second and third divisions of the Campeonato Ga� ...

, the winners qualify for the Super Copa Gaúcha, where the four clubs play a qualification for the

and also a place in the dispute of the state supercup, the

Recopa Gaúcha The Recopa Gaúcha ( en, Rio Grande do Sul Winners Cup), is a super cup tournament organized by the Rio Grande do Sul Football Federation (FGF), disputed between the winners of Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Cham ...

, against the champion of the

. The first edition of the Copa Serrana was held in the second half of 2013, with the participation of six clubs of the mountainous region and northern of the state. The finals was played between

, winner of the first round, and

, winner of the second round. The Passo Fundo won by 2–1 aggregate, winning the first title.

Format

Competition

In the first stage, all teams face off in round-robin, which will qualify the top four for the next phase, known as the semi-finals. At this stage, the first placed facing the fourth place and second place playing against the third placed in two matches each. The winners face off in the final two matches to define the winner of the competition.

Qualification for competitions

The Copa Serrana winners qualify for the Super Copa Gaúcha, where it will have the opportunity to qualify for next year's

. The winner of the Super Copa Gaúcha also dispute the

, against the winner of

at the beginning of next season.

Clubs

Having been established in 2013, the Copa Serrana is played by clubs located in the mountainous region and northern of the Rio Grande do Sul and compete in the first, second or third division of the

. The following seven clubs will compete in the Copa Serrana during the 2014 edition.

Records and statistics

List of champions

Below is the complete list of winners and runners-up of the competition.

Goalscorers

Are exposed here the goalscorers of all editions of the competition.

References

External links

FGF website
Federação Gaúcha de Futebol. {{Football in Brazil State football cup competitions in Brazil Football competitions in Rio Grande do Sul