Futebol Clube Santa Cruz

History

Santa Cruz was founded on March 26, 1913 when a group of young men led by André Klarmann met at the Hotel Schmidt in the center of Santa Cruz do Sul, to set up a new football club.

In 1920, the club built a stadium, Estádio dos Plátanos.

In 1944, a group of surplus players from Santa Cruz decided to leave the club and found their own, which became known as Esporte Clube Avenida. The two clubs soon became rivals and developed a derby known as "Ave-Cruz", which stands to this day.

Due to financial problems that both clubs had, from 1974 to 1978 Santa Cruz and Avenida merged, forming the Associação Santa Cruz de Futebol. However, internal issues between the boards of both clubs soon led to the separation.

In February 2012, TV cameras caught a single Santa Cruz fan at the Olímpico Monumental, in Porto Alegre, celebrating the team's only goal in a 4–1 defeat against Grêmio for the 2012 Campeonato Gaúcho. Shortly afterwards, they discovered that it was Tiago Rech, a journalist born in Santa Cruz do Sul who worked near the stadium and went to watch his favorite team. In 2013, after returning from the United States, Rech took over as the club's press officer and, shortly afterwards, was elected president. The club was playing at the Campeonato Gaúcho Série B — the third state division — and with severe debt issues. Rech restructured the club, which soon paid off as Santa Cruz conquered the 2020 Copa FGF, the Rio Grande do Sul state cup. He again made international headlines now as the "lonely fan" who became president and won a title for his club. The victory at the Copa FGF gave the club a spot at the 2021 Copa do Brasil, where it was eliminated in the first round to Joinville. The club also won a spot at the state supercup Recopa Gaúcha, where it lost 3–0 to Grêmio.

Just 7 months after the FGF Cup title, Santa Cruz was crowned champion again, this time in the 2021 Campeonato Gaúcho Série B (equivalent to the third state division) in an unprecedented way, playing against Gaúcho from Passo Fundo. Santa Cruz lost the first game 2–0 in Passo Fundo, but won 4–2 in the return fixture at home with midfielder Leylon scoring a hat-trick and took everything to penalties, eventually prevailing 3–2.

In 2023, Santa Cruz was crowned Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2 champions after winning against Guarany from Bagé. The first game at Bagé was a 0-0 draw, while the return game in Santa Cruz do Sul ended 1–1. Santa Cruz won in a penalty shootout 5–4. Additionally, the club was promoted to the Campeonato Gaúcho after 10 years outside the first division.

Honours

Official tournaments

Others tournaments

City

• Campeonato Citadino de Santa Cruz do Sul (7): 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953
• Copa Centenário de Santa Cruz do Sul (1): 2013
• Copa dos Vales/Taça CIGHA (1): 2017

Runners-up

• Recopa Gaúcha (1): 2021
• Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2 (2): 1952, 1983

References

References

1. [https://www.kodromagazine.com/tiago-rech-aficionado-presidente-santa-cruz/ Tiago Rech aficionado Presidente Santa Cruz]
2. FC, ESPN. (14 January 2021). "In 2012, Tiago Rech was the only Santa Cruz fan at an away game against Grêmio. Two years later, he became the club's president and last month he guided them to the Copa FGF, the biggest title in their history".
3. "História".
4. "História".
5. (2019-02-22). "Causos do Gauchão: a origem do nome do Avenida, o clube de bairro que deu trabalho ao Timão".
6. TI. (2022-05-08). "Clássico Ave-Cruz retorna depois de cinco anos neste domingo".
7. "História".
8. (2021-01-02). "Conheça a trajetória do torcedor solitário que levou o Santa Cruz à Copa do Brasil".
9. Alegre, Por GloboEsporte comPorto. "Aos 27 anos, "Torcedor Solitário" assume a presidência de clube no RS".
10. "O início de um sonho... "Torcedor Solitário" vira presidente e leva clube do RS à Copa do Brasil".
11. "Santa Cruz vence Gaúcho nos pênaltis e é campeão da Segunda Divisão 2021".
12. "Nos pênaltis, Santa Cruz vence o Guarany e conquista o título do Gauchão Série A2 – Esportes da Sorte".