ABC Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as ABC, is a Brazilian professional club based in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte founded on 29 June 1915. It competes in the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série C The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, commonly known as the Série C or the Brazilian Série C to distinguish it from the Italian Serie C, is the third tier of the Brazilian football league system. Unlike the first and second divisions, the Sér ...

, the third tier of Brazilian football, as well as in the Campeonato Potiguar, the top flight of the Rio Grande do Norte state football league. ABC is the top ranked team from Rio Grande do Norte in CBF's national club ranking, at 44th overall.

History

At precisely 13 hours on 29 June 1915, a group of young men belonging to the elites of the state of Rio Grande do Norte met in Rio Branco Avenue, in the back of the Carlos Gomes Theatre, now known as the Alberto Maranhão Theatre, to decide about the creation of the first football club of the state. The club's foundation ceremony occurred in the house of Avelino Alves Freire, a respected merchant in the state. The first subject to decide in the meeting was the name of the club. One of the founders, José Pinheiro, gives the idea of calling the new club as ABC Futebol Clube in which it was unanimously approved. The name ABC is given in honour of the pact of fraternal friendship which was diplomatically supported by three countries:

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, called the ABC Pact, whose letters refer to the initials of the three countries. The team incorporated on 13 December 1927, when the state's football league registered the club charter. ABC's first interstate match was in 1917, defeating Santa Cruz of

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

, Pernambuco 2–1. ABC is in the Guinness Book for having won ten consecutive state championships from 1932 to 1941, sharing this record with América Mineiro, that won ten consecutive titles from 1916 to 1925. The team also is the team with the most state championship titles in Brazil, holding 57 titles. In 1979, Rivellino played for ABC in a 1–1 friendly match against Vasco da Gama. In the same year ABC played against the Brazil Olympic team, losing 1–0. The club won the Série C in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

after beating Ituiutaba in the final.

Stadium

The club owns Estádio Maria Lamas Farache, nicknamed ''Frasqueirão'', which has a maximum capacity of 18,000.

Players

''As of 20 September 2023''

Out on loan

Honours

Official tournaments

Others tournaments

Inter-state

* Torneio Rio Grande do Norte-Paraíba (1): 1983

State

* Campeonato Potiguar Second Division (1): 2010 (reserve team) * Copa Cidade do Natal (5): 2012, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 * Copa RN (9): 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 *Torneio Início do Rio Grande do Norte (34): 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1973, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998

Runners-up

(1): 2022 * Copa do Nordeste (1): 2010 * Campeonato Potiguar (31): 1922, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1956, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1996, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025 * Copa Rio Grande do Norte (1): 2006

Women's Football

* Campeonato Potiguar de Futebol Feminino (1): 2007

References

*''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 1 – Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001. *''Especial Placar – 500 Times do Brasil'', São Paulo: Editora Abril: 2003.

External links

* {{Campeonato Brasileiro Série C ABC Futebol Clube ABC Association football clubs established in 1915 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 1915 establishments in Brazil