Esporte Clube Vitória

History

The club was founded on 13 May 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 the United Kingdom. Initially Vitória was a cricket club, named Club de Cricket Victoria, because all of them lived at the Vitória neighborhood, in Salvador.

On 22 May 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.

On 13 September 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 semi-finals.

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

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 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 third to the first division in only two years. The team was also relegated in 2010, promoted back in 2012, relegated again in 2014, but this time they were promoted back after one season in 2015.

In February 2018 the intense rivalry between Vitória and Esporte Clube Bahia drew international attention when nine players (four from Bahia and five from Vitória) were shown the red card in a State Championship match. The team was relegated back to the second division of the Brazilian league later that year.

In 2021, Vitória was relegated to the third division for a second time. However this was followed by back to back promotions, in 2022 to the second tier and as champions of the second division in 2023, the first national title of the club.

Mascot

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.

Competitions record

This is the competition record of Vitória's last few seasons: : Champion. : Runner-up. : Classified for Sudamericana. : Promoted. : Relegated.

Colours

Its colours are red and black, which made it to be called "Rubro-Negro" ("red-black", in portuguese). In the early years, the club's colours would be green and yellow, but due to difficulty in find the proper materials in these colours, it was chosen to be white and black. That was the colours worn in the inaugural match facing the International Sport Club. The current red-black colours were adopted 3 years later, in 1902.

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

2023 kit

2024 kit

2025 kit

Current squad

Youth team

Out on loan

Honours

Official tournaments

• shared record

Others tournaments

International

• Dakar Tournament (1): 1992
• Trofeo Ciudad de Valladolid (1): 1997

National

• Torneio Quadrangular de Salvador (2): 1954-Ii, 1967-II
• Torneio Maria Quitéria (1): 1996

Regional

• Torneio José Américo de Almeida Filho (1): 1976

State

• Torneio Início da Bahia (11): 1926, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1961, 1980

Runners-up

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (1): 1993
• Copa do Brasil (1): 2010
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (1): 1992
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série C (1): 2006
• Copa do Nordeste (3): 1998, 2000, 2002
• Campeonato Baiano (29): 1906, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1942, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2025
• Taça Estado da Bahia (2): 2001, 2002

Youth team

• Copa do Brasil Sub-20 (1): 2012
• Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores (1): 1994
• Copa Votorantim Sub-15 (1): 2000

Women's Football

• Campeonato Baiano de Futebol Feminino (2): 2016–17, 2018

References

References

1. "Football stadiums of the world – Stadium List South America – Football stadiums of the world".
2. "Principais Títulos Internacionais". ECVitoria.com.br.
3. "PRIMEIROS CLUBES BRASILEIROS EM ATIVIDADE A ENTRAREM EM CAMPO.".
4. "Esporte Clube Vitória".
5. "Vitória conquista seu oitavo título e é o maior campeão da década".
6. (19 February 2018). "Súmula do Ba-Vi confirma triunfo por 3 a 0 do Bahia sobre o Vitória". [[Universo Online]].
7. [http://ecvitoria.com/equipe/ Vitória Official Website] (in Portuguese)