Flamengo

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo neighborhood and is best known for their professional football team. They are one of two clubs to have never been relegated from the top division, along with São Paulo and is the most popular football club in Brazil with more than 46.9 million fans, equivalent to 21.9% of the population that supports a team in Brazil.

The club was first established in 1895 specifically as a rowing club in the Flamengo neighborhood and did not play their first official football match until 1912. Flamengo's traditional uniform features red and black striped shirts with white shorts, and red and black striped socks. Flamengo has typically played their home matches in the Maracanã (which is also the Brazilian national team stadium) since its completion in 1950, with some exceptions in recent years. Since 1969, the vulture (Portuguese: ''urubu'') has been the mascot of Flamengo.

Flamengo is the most successful Brazilian team of the 21st century.

It's Brazil's richest and most valuable football club with an annual revenue of R$1.2 billion (€ 218 million) and a valuation of over R$3.8 billion (€691 million). Flamengo became the non-European football club with the most followers on social media with 49 million followers across all platforms as of 18 June 2023.

Flamengo's youth academy is one of the most prolific in Brazil and in the world, and have developed a number of Brazilian internationals such as Zico, Zizinho, Vinícius Júnior, Lucas Paquetá, Júlio César, Adriano, Mário Zagallo, Júnior and Leonardo.

Flamengo's training center, officially known as " Ninho do Urubu" (which translates to "Vulture's Nest" in English), is located in Vargem Grande, Rio de Janeiro. It serves as the primary training facility for the Flamengo football club, housing their professional teams as well as youth academy.

Flamengo have also been well represented in the Brazil national football team; At the 1938 FIFA World Cup, forward Leônidas da Silva, a Flamengo player at the time, was the Golden Boot winner with 7 goals and won the Golden Ball, thus becoming the first Brazilian player ever to win those two awards. Twelve years later at the 1950 World Cup, Zizinho, a midfielder for Flamengo, also won the Golden Ball after he was voted best player; 4 out of the 10 top scorers for the Brazil National Team have all been Flamengo players at one point in their careers, seven players have won the World Cup whilst playing for Flamengo, and Flamengo player Mário Zagallo scored Brazil's third goal in the 1958 World Cup final.

History

Establishment of the club (1895–1912)

Flamengo was founded on 17 November 1895, by a group of rowers gathered at club member Nestor de Barros's manor on Flamengo Beach in Rio de Janeiro. In the late 19th century, rowing was the elite, upper middle class sport in the region and the group hoped to impress the young women of the city's high society by establishing a rowing club. Previously, they could only afford a used boat named ''Pherusa'', which had to be completely rebuilt before it could be used in competition. The team debuted on October 6, 1895, when they sailed off the Caju Point toward Flamengo Beach. However, strong winds turned over the boat and the rowers nearly drowned. They were rescued by a fishing boat named ''Leal'' (Loyal). Later as the ''Pherusa'' was undergoing repairs, it was stolen and never found again. The group saved money to buy a new boat, the ''Etoile'', renamed ''Scyra''.

On the night of 17 November, the group gathered at Nestor de Barros's manor on Flamengo beach and founded the ''Grupo de Regatas do Flamengo'' (English: ''Flamengo Rowing Group'') and elected its first board and president (Domingos Marques de Azevedo). The name was changed a few weeks later to its current title of ''Clube de Regatas do Flamengo'' (''Flamengo Rowing Club''). The founders decided that the anniversary of the club's foundation should be commemorated on 15 November to coincide with Republic Proclamation Day, a national holiday.

Flamengo's football team was only established after a group of ten dissatisfied players from Fluminense broke away from that club following a board dispute. The players decided to join Flamengo because Alberto Borgerth, the team's captain, was also a rower for Flamengo. Also, establishing a land sports department at Flamengo was preferable to joining football rivals Botafogo or the all-English club Paissandu. The new members were admitted on 8 November 1911. A motion against the club taking part in football tournaments was put to a vote but was defeated, and as a result the members officially established the club's new football department on 24 December 1911.

Football in the amateur era (1912–1933)

The new team trained on and gradually gained the support of the locals, who closely watched their practice matches. The first official match was played on 3 May 1912, and marked, to this day, the largest margin of victory in the club's history, as they defeated Mangueira 16–2. Flamengo's first ever match against Fluminense, the start of the Fla-Flu rivalry, was played on 7 July of that year and was won by Fluminense by a score of 3–2. That same year, Flamengo finished as runners-up of the Campeonato Carioca, the Rio de Janeiro State Championship. The team's first uniform was nicknamed the "''papagaio vintém''", due to its similarity to a particular type of kite.

In 1914 the club won the Campeonato Carioca for the first time, dressed in a red, black, and white-striped shirt nicknamed the "''cobra coral''" (coral snake) was worn until 1916. Flamengo won the Campeonato Carioca again the following year, in 1915, and secured their first back-to-back championship; something they also did with their titles in 1920 and 1921.

In 1925, the team won the Campeonato Carioca and five other tournaments, a record at the time. In 1927 the prominent Rio newspaper Jornal do Brasil, in partnership with a mineral water company, held a mail-in contest to find "the most beloved club in Brazil." Though Flamengo enjoyed their largest increase in fan support after the club professionalized in the 1930s, they still defeated popular rivals Vasco da Gama in the vote. This was the first of many times that Flamengo would be polled as the nation's most popular club, originating the nickname "''O mais querido do Brasil''" ("the most beloved of Brazil"). In 1933 the team went on its first tour outside Brazil (to Montevideo and Buenos Aires) and on 14 May of the same year played its final match as an amateur team, defeating River Futebol Clube by a score of 16–2. After this, the club's football department became professional.

Early professional era (1934–1955)

Local advertiser José Bastos Padilha was elected club president in 1934 and served until 1937. Under his tenure, the club massively improved its popularity in both Rio de Janeiro and the entirety of Brazil. For publicity, he organized a contest for students in schools to create phrases describing Flamengo, from which the phrase ''uma vez Flamengo, Flamengo até morrer'' ("Once you are Flamengo, you are Flamengo 'til you die") was developed and would later be adopted as part of the club's anthem. In 1936 Padilha signed excellent players such as Domingos da Guia and Leônidas da Silva (who would go on to be the leading goalscorer in the 1938 FIFA World Cup as a Flamengo player). These beloved players endeared Flamengo to the public and it is believed that by this time Flamengo was the most popular club in the country. In 1937 Flamengo hired Hungarian coach Izidor "Dori" Kürschner, who introduced the WM system to Brazil and other innovations from Europe such as training without the use of the ball and playing a more defensive, controlled style. Padilha facilitated the construction of Flamengo's new stadium and current training center, the Estádio da Gávea. The stadium was inaugurated on 4 September 1938, when Vasco da Gama defeated Flamengo 2–0 and Kürschner was promptly fired.

In 1938, the five-year split in Rio de Janeiro football over the dispute between professionalism and amateurism was resolved with the merger of the two competing leagues (Flamengo had been a member of the professional LCF - ''Liga Carioca de Football''). In 1939, after twelve years without winning any titles, Flamengo conquered the state championship with a team that would become the basis of the three-time state champions in the 1940s.

In 1941, the group played its first international competition, the Hexagonal Tournament of Argentina. In 1942, the first organized supporters group in all of Brazil, Charanga Rubro-Negra, was founded in support of Flamengo. Flamengo's popularity grew incidentally during World War II when Brazil's allies, the United States, installed two high-powered antennas in Natal and Belém in the north of Brazil to intercept enemy radio signals. They also allowed residents in the North and Northeast regions to receive the radio broadcasts of football matches. As Rio de Janeiro was the national capital at the time and Flamengo was highly successful in the war years with Zizinho and Domingos da Guia, nationwide support increased. In 1944, Flamengo completed their first ''tricampeonato Carioca'': three consecutive Rio de Janeiro state titles (winning the 1942, 1943, and 1944 competitions). The key player of this squad was Zizinho, a player developed at Flamengo and considered the first ever "idol" of the club. Zizinho was transferred to Bangu just before the start of the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, where he scored twice and the ''Seleção'' finished runners-up. From 1953 to 1955, Flamengo once again won the Rio de Janeiro State League three consecutive times.

Zico and the world champions (1974–1983)

Flamengo won their 18th Campeonato Carioca state championship in 1978. The following five years would come to represent the club's most glorious era. Brazilian stars like Júnior, Carpegiani, Adílio, Cláudio Adão and Tita were led by Zico to become state champions three times in a row - the club's third tri-championship. This run of sustained excellent play pushed Flamengo towards its first Brazilian Championship in 1980. As national champions, the club qualified to play in the South American continental tournament, the 1981 Copa Libertadores