The Auto Esporte Clube was a Brazilian association football club in the city of

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

, capital of the state of Amazonas. Its colors were green and yellow and it played in various sports in the state, such as

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

History

The club was founded by professional midfielders in

. Although it was reported that the club was founded on September 16, 1950, as early as 1941 the club's existence was reported as playing in suburban tournaments, as in the October 5, 1941, edition of

Jornal do Commercio Jornal do Commercio was a newspaper published in Rio de Janeiro. It was founded in 1827 by French journalist Pierre Plancher. It was the oldest newspaper in circulation in South America South America is a continent entirely in the Weste ...

where its participation was reported. in a commemorative competition alongside clubs that played in the state's official football such as Barés, Comercial and 13 de Maio. During 1941, news reports indicating the existence of the club became common. He held a car competition on November 16 of that year, at the General Osório stadium (belonging to the army). The "motorized club" competed in the 2nd division until 1954, when it secured the right to enter the 1st division for the year 1955 alongside Santos, Suburbano champion. Reaching the elite, in 1955 the club did not do well but in 1956 the club brought in Cláudio Coelho, who was four-time Amazonian champion consecutively with América. The renowned sportsman brought players such as Guarda, Clemente, Juarez Souza Cruz, Brás Gioia, Hélcio Peixoto, Gordinho, Osmar, Mário Matos and Nicolau from Alvirrubro. With this entry of ex-Americans, the club came on strong and became Amazonian champion that year, as a continuation of the work that was already done in América. The 1956 Auto Esporte team debuted in a friendly game on April 8 of that year and contrary to what was expected, the start was not so good and they ended up losing 4–1 to Sul América. * 1956 champion team: Vicente, Guarda and Gatinho; Juarez Souza Cruz (Jaime Basílio), Gilberto and Gioia; Silvio (Gildo), Gordinho, Osmar, Sadoval and Nicolau. Also playing were: Mário Matos, Anacleto, Moacir, Osmar and Ruy (goalkeepers) and Clemente. Coach: Cláudio Coelho.

Two-time champion in 1959

The club was also two-time state champion in 1959: * 1959 champion team: Alfredo, Valdér and Gatinho; Nonato, Almério and Guilherme; Totinha, Osmar, Gordinho, Caramuru and Manoel Conte. They also played: Chagas, Sandoval, Guarda, Claudionor, Nonato and Ronaldo. Coach: Cláudio Coelho.

Runner-up of 1961

In 1961, Auto Esporte won the 2nd of 3 rounds, guaranteeing the right to decide the title in a Triangular Final with São Raimundo and Rio Negro (the latter now with Cláudio Coelho). In that final, Auto Esporte lost to Rio Negro 3-1 when some fans from “Clube Motorizado” invaded the field 10 minutes into the 2nd half, dissatisfied with the performance of referee José Pereira Serra. The match was suspended and resumed 4 days later, with Dorval Medeiros on the whistle. There was no change in the score and the title went to São Raimundo. The club remained among the state's football elite until 1963, participating a total of 9 times in the first division of the Campeonato Amazonense (between 1955 and 1963).

Top scorers

The club had two top scorers in the Campeonato Amazonense: in 1959, Gordinho (Mário da Cruz Gordinho), with 25 goals (2nd place, Pratinha, from Nacional, scored 15 goals); in 1961, Nonato, with 10 goals. His biggest scorers in the championship were, in 1956: Osmar, 13 goals; in 1957: Gordinho (26 goals) and Osmar (25 goals); in 1958: Sandoval (6 goals); in 1959: Gordinho (25 goals); in 1960: Osmar (9 goals); Totinha (8 goals); in 1961: Nonato (10 goals); in 1962: Coelho (6 goals); in 1963: Torrado (12 goals).

Honors

Campeonato Amazonense The Campeonato Amazonense, officially Campeonato Amazonense de Futebol Profissional, is the football championship for professional clubs of the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Format The 2021 Campeonato Amazonense is divided into two stages: First S ...

: 1956, 1959 * Campeonato Amazonense de Basquetebol: 1956

References