O Campeonato Pernambucano

If all goes well tomorrow, I'll be writing a lot about the Pernambuco state championship (Campeonato Pernambucano), so here's some background info.

The state championships have a long history. Until 1959 there was no national football (soccer) competition in Brazil. There only state championships (and occasional all-star games -- between Rio and São Paulo, for example). The first Campeonato Pernambucano was held in 1915, and Flamengo (not to be confused with the more famous team from Rio) won. The next year Sport won (and the year after that), and thus began the finest footballing tradition in Pernambuco, if not the world.

The Campeonato Pernambucano is presently organized into two divisions, the top division consisting of ten teams. Each team plays each other team once in the first round, and then again in the second round. If the different teams won the two rounds, they play two games (home and home) to determine the champion.

Since 1944, the championship has been dominated by the three largest clubs in Recife (the smaller clubs either moved to the interior of the state or folded) -- Náutico, Santa Cruz, and Sport. Náutico, the oldest of the three, has won 21 championships (six in a row from 1963 to 1968). Santa, the youngest, has won 24. Sport, the best, has won 34 35. (América, one of the oldest teams in the state, is in fourth place with 6.)

Náutico began as a rowing club, and is (according to tradition) the team of the elite level of society. Santa Cruz is, again according to tradition, the team of the poor. Sport has no such identifying characteristic, but rather serves as the unifying figure of Pernambucano football. Some people say that in Recife there are only two torcidas (groups of fans), those who cheer for Sport and those who cheer against Sport. A Santa fan once told me, "I hate Sport more than I love Santa."

The three teams are known by their colors. Náutico is red and white (alvirrubro), Santa is red, white and black (tricolor), and Sport is red and black (rubronegro). I heard a story once about the colors of the teams that I didn't believe, but an alvirrubra told me (and another alvirrubro later corroborated it) -- and since the story reflects poorly on Náutico, I suppose I should believe it. She said that Náutico was formed to represent the white, rich Recifenses, so the colors are red and white. Sport formed shortly after Náutico, and chose black and red because Sport represented the black people in Recife. Then came Santa, combining the three colors, to represent all the people. (Náutico was the last team in Pernambuco to integrate its roster, and the fans took decades to accept the presence of non-white players.)

While the national championship is the bigger prize (Sport won it in 1987 -- the only team from Pernambuco to do so, although Náutico was runner-up in 1967), the state championship is the most important. The state championship is the subject of far more discussion, more intense rivalries, and bigger crowds. The state championships involve more teams, more players, and are thus the source of Brazil's football tradition. The state championships involve everyone. Not every state is represented in the top two divisions of the national championship, but everyone has a stake in their state's championship.

In the past, the state championships lasted almost the entire year. Now they go from January until April, although some of the states with no representation in the top divisions may stretch their championships until June. The national championship begins at the end of April and lasts until early December. Brazil is truly football heaven.