Ituano Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as simply Ituano, is a Brazilian association football club in

Itu The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of

Brazilian football Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country’s national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any team, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Brazil an ...

, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista Série A1, the top flight of the São Paulo state football league. Founded on May 24, 1947, Ituano won the São Paulo State League twice. The club's home colours are red and black and the team mascot is a

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

History

The club was founded on May 24, 1947, by employees of

Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana Rail transport in Brazil began in the 19th century and there were many different railway companies. The railways were nationalised under RFFSA (Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima) in 1957. Between 1999 and 2007, RFFSA was broken u ...

(Sorocabana Railroad), based in Itu. When founded the club was originally known as Associação Atlética Sorocabana. In the 1960s, the club changed its name to Ferroviário Atlético Ituano and in the 1990s the club again changed its name, this time to Ituano Futebol Clube. In 1977 a group of sportsmen of Itu unified the football of the city around Ferroviário Atlético Ituano (FAI) and reactivated the Liga Ituana de Futebol (Ituano Football League). In 1978 the club played in Série A3 the third level of the São Paulo state professional football championship. They were promoted to the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

, the top-flight professional football league in São Paulo in 1989 after clinching the Série A2 championship. In 2002, Ituano became one of the few teams from outside the São Paulo metroplex area to win the

Juninho Paulista Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior (born 22 February 1973), known as Juninho or Juninho Paulista, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and is now the national team co-ordinator of the Brazil national football team. During ...

, a former player from the club's academy and former Brazilian international, became the club's president in 2010. Juninho joined in a player-president capacity helping the team avoid relegation on the final day of the 2010 season with the decisive goal in a 3–2 victory. In 2014, Ituano won the Campeonato Paulista, defeating the storied

Santos Futebol Clube Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals in ...

on penalty kicks. In 2019,

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

signed young winger

Gabriel Martinelli Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva (born 18 June 2001), known as Gabriel Martinelli, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Arsenal and the Brazil national team. Born and raised in Guarulhos, Martinelli began h ...

from the club and he quickly became a first-team regular.

Stadium

Ituano's stadium is Estádio Novelli Júnior, inaugurated in 1947. The stadium has a capacity of 18,000 people.

Mascot

The club mascot is a cock wearing the team kit. The nickname was received in 1957 when Sorocabana played against Club Atlético Ituano (Third Division champions in 1954–55, who have no connection with the current Ituano FC). On this occasion Sorocabana lost the match but the supporters said that the team had fought like a cock and from there the club received its nickname.

Rivalries

Ituano's biggest rival is

Paulista Futebol Clube Paulista Futebol Clube, or Paulista as they are usually called, is a Brazilian football team from Jundiaí, in São Paulo, founded on 17 May 1909. They currently play in the Paulistão Segunda Divisão, the fourth tier of the São Paulo state ...

and they contest the Briga de Galo. Other major rivals are Ponte Preta and São Bento, representing the cities of

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

and

Sorocaba Sorocaba () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is the eighth-largest city in the state of São Paulo. Outside the Greater São Paulo region, it ranks behind only Campinas, São José dos Campos and Ribeirão Preto. It ...

, respectively.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Honours

Domestic competitions

Campeonato Brasileiro Série C The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C is the third tier of the Brazilian football league system. Unlike the first and second divisions, the Série C is not played in a double round robin system, arguably because many participating teams lack the f ...

**Winners (2):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

**Winners (2):

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Campeonato Paulista do Interior The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and ty ...

**Winners (2): 2017, 2022 *

Copa Paulista The Copa Paulista de Futebol, formerly known as Copa FPF, also sometimes called Copa Federação Paulista de Futebol or, in English, São Paulo State Cup, is a tournament organized by Federação Paulista de Futebol Company every second half of ...

**Winners (1): 2002 *

Campeonato Paulista Série A2 Campeonato Paulista Série A2 is the second level of the São Paulo state professional football championship, one of the Brazilian state championships. This tournament is played by 16 teams, in which the two best teams are promoted to Série A1 ...

**Winners (1): 1989

References

External links

Official Website

Current Squad
{{Campeonato Paulista Association football clubs established in 1947 Football clubs in São Paulo (state) 1947 establishments in Brazil