Santa Cruz Futebol Clube, usually known as Santa Cruz or Santa Cruz de Natal, is a Brazilian football club from

Natal, Rio Grande do Norte Natal ( ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in northeastern Brazil. According to IBGE's 2021 estimate, the city had a total population o896,708 making it the 19th largest city in the country. Natal is a ...

. Santa Cruz is currently ranked fifth among Rio Grande do Norte teams in CBF's national club ranking, at 163rd place overall.

History

Originally founded in 1934 as Santa Cruz Esporte e Cultura, the club won one

Campeonato Potiguar The Campeonato Potiguar is the football league of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Format First Division First stage: standard round-robin, in which all teams play each other once. Second stage: home-and-away playoffs between the to ...

in 1943 before ceasing activities in the early 1960s. In 1965, the club was refounded as Santa Cruz Futebol Clube. Santa Cruz subsequently spent more than 30 years without playing, only returning to amateur competitions in 2011. Four years later, the club entered in the second division of the Potiguar, finishing second and missing out promotion as only the champion moved up to the first division. In 2017, after being crowned champions of the second division in the previous year, Santa Cruz returned to the first division after more than 50 years, and narrowly avoided relegation. In 2018, the club finished in an impressive 3rd place, qualifying to the following year's Série D and the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

References

External links

FNF team profile

Soccerway team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Cruz de Natal Association football clubs established in 1934 1934 establishments in Brazil Association football clubs established in 1965 1965 establishments in Brazil Football clubs in Rio Grande do Norte