The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão
Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight professional
state football league in the Brazilian
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
. It is run by the
Rio Grande do Sul Football Federation (FGF).
The
rivalry
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
of two of the better-known Brazilian teams (
Grêmio and
Internacional) have a significant impact in the history of the tournament. Since 1940, the
Grenal duo did not win the title on just four occasions: the defunct
Renner was champion in 1954,
Juventude almost 44 years later in 1998,
Caxias, in 2000, under
Tite's command, and
Novo Hamburgo
Novo Hamburgo ('New Hamburg', ; ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, located in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, the state capital. As of 2020, its population was 247,032. Th ...
in 2017.
Internacional is the biggest winner of the competition, with 46 titles, followed by Grêmio with 43 titles and
Guarany of
Bagé
Bagé () is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In 2020, its population was 121,335 in a total area of 4,096 km2. It is the seventeenth largest city in the state according to the 2011 census. The city was f ...
with two titles.
History

The first edition of the Campeonato Gaúcho was scheduled to take place in 1918, featuring the teams
Esporte Clube 14 de Julho representing
Santana do Livramento,
Brasil de Pelotas, and
Esporte Clube Cruzeiro from
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
in a final triangular. However, due to an outbreak of
Spanish flu
The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...
in Rio Grande do Sul, the tournament was cancelled and postponed until the epidemic subsided. In 1919, with the end of the epidemic, the first edition of the tournament was finally held. In December 2021, the Federação Gaúcha de Futebol recognised the three participating clubs from the 1918 edition as "Honorary Champions.", connecting the struggles with the Spanish flu the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
The original plan of the organisers was to include representatives from various cities and regions. However, the representatives from
Bagé
Bagé () is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In 2020, its population was 121,335 in a total area of 4,096 km2. It is the seventeenth largest city in the state according to the 2011 census. The city was f ...
(
Guarany Futebol Clube),
Cruz Alta (unknown club),
Santana do Livramento (
Esporte Clube 14 de Julhoo),
São Leopoldo (Sport Club Nacional), and
Uruguaiana (
Esporte Clube Uruguaiana were unable to register their players in time and were therefore eliminated. As a result, only the representatives from Pelotas and Porto Alegre remained: Brasil and Grêmio. Brasil de Pelotas emerged as the champions of the tournament.
Until 1960, the Campeonato Gaúcho was contested on a regional basis, using a knockout system between the champion of the capital and a variable number of other clubs representing regions of the state. For this reason, until 1960, there had never been more than one team from Porto Alegre among the top four finishers—in fact, there had never been more than one representative from the capital competing in the championship.
During this period, Grêmio reached the final 18 times against the champion from the interior, winning 12 times and losing 6. Internacional, on the other hand, were crowned champions of Porto Alegre in 16 seasons and, when facing the champion from the interior, won 15 times and lost only once—against Rio Grande in 1936. The other Porto Alegre clubs that reached the finals of the Campeonato Gaúcho under this regional format (Americano in 1928,
Cruzeiro-RS in 1929, and
Renner in 1954) all won their matches against the interior clubs.
Thus, in 42 years of the championship under this format, there were 30 victories for the capital compared to 7 for the interior. The Campeonato Gaúcho was not held in 1923 and 1924 due to the
Revolution of 1923. Additionally, the main teams from Porto Alegre did not participate in 1937, 1938, and 1939 due to a split within the AMGEA (Associação Metropolitana Gaúcha de Esportes Atléticos) over the adoption of professionalism between clubs and their players.
From 1961 onwards, the Campeonato Gaúcho was unified, with the top clubs from the capital and the interior competing for the title in the top division, and a promotion and relegation system (which varied over time) for the lower divisions.
In the first seven years after unification (1961–67), the Campeonato Gaúcho was contested by 12 clubs in a
double round-robin format. Between 1968 and 1971, with the number of clubs increasing to 18 (later 25 and 23), a preliminary qualifying phase was introduced, but the final phase, contested by 8 clubs, remained a double round-robin. In 1972, the final phase expanded to 10 clubs under the same format.
In 1973–74, with more of the year dedicated to the Campeonato Brasileiro, the preliminary phase of the Gauchão no longer included the Grenal duo (Grêmio and Internacional). For the first time, the final phase was contested using the "Fórmula Fraga" system, with two independent rounds. [The "Fórmula Fraga" is the Brazilian term for tournaments played in two independent rounds, with separate points tallies, but with only one champion, determined by a final match between the winners of each round.] In 1975–77, the "Fórmula Fraga" became more complex, with three independent phases, though the first round served as a qualifier for the subsequent phases, which were contested by only 4 teams (8 in 1977). In 1978, the championship format became so convoluted that Grêmio found themselves in a position where they had to lose a match to secure their place in the final phase.
Qualification for competitions
The best placed of league qualify for the next year's
Campeonato Brasileiro Série D
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série D (English: Brazilian Championship Serie D), commonly known as the Série D or the Brazilian Série D to distinguish it from the Italian Serie D, is the fourth division of the Brazilian football league system, and ...
, excluding the teams having already qualified for the
Série A,
Série B,
Série C or
Série D by other means. The worst placed are relegated to the
Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2.
The winner of the Campeonato Gaúcho faces the winner of the state cup
Copa FGF at the
super cup
A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...
Recopa Gaúcha.
Champions
Amateur era
Professional era
Notes
*9º Regimento de Pelotas is the currently
GA Farroupilha.
*Floriano is the currently
EC Novo Hamburgo.
*Ulbra is the currently
Canoas SC.
Titles by team
Teams in bold still active.
By city
Participation
Most appearances
Below is the list of clubs that have more appearances in the Campeonato Gaúcho.
*
SER Caxias includes the participations of "Associação Caxias de Futebol" (1972–1975), when GE Flamengo and
EC Juventude were merged.
See also
*
Campeonato Gaúcho Série A2
*
Campeonato Gaúcho Série B
*
Copa FGF
*
Recopa Gaúcha
*
Super Copa Gaúcha
*
Copa Metropolitana
*
Copa Sul-Fronteira
*
Copa Serrana
References
External links
FGF website Federação Gaúcha de Futebol.
Campeonato Gaúcho regulations Federação Gaúcha de Futebol.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campeonato Gaucho
Gaúcho