How to Bet on Santos

Santos began with a practice match against a local side named Thereza, played at the Villa Macuco field on 23 June 1912. The first Campeonato Paulista, in 1913, began with a shock, an 8–2 thrashing by Germânia on 1 June. Between 1917 and 1926 Santos was solid and talented but no higher than fourth, and in 1927 the club found its identity in the discovery of young talent, finishing second in every season from 1927 to 1929, with a haul of 100 goals from only 16 matches in the first of them. The first great success came in 1935. By the time Pelé arrived on the Paulista stage in 1957, the club had already lifted the state title twice. In 1958 it hammered Nacional 10–0, and in 1959 it beat Vasco 3–0 in the Rio-São Paulo final, thanks to a brace from the 16-year-old Coutinho. Santos supplied the backbone, together with Botafogo, of the national squads at the 1962 and 1970 World Cups. A Copa Libertadores final against Palmeiras in January 2021 ended in defeat, and 2024 brought a first season in the division below, the second tier.

Santos play at the Estádio Urbano Caldeira, known to everyone as the Vila Belmiro, a ground of 16,068 seats that opened in 1916. A general assembly on 31 May 1916 approved the purchase of the land, and the first match followed ten days later, a 2–1 win over Ypiranga in the Campeonato Paulista. Capacity peaked at 32,989 for a goalless draw with Corinthians in 1964, and a new illumination system was installed on 27 January 1998. The ground has hosted matches of the 1949 Copa América, the 1962 Copa Libertadores final, the 1998 Copa CONMEBOL final and the Copa do Brasil final of 2010. It is a compact, old-fashioned ground, where the crowd sits on top of the action and visiting teams are made to feel it.

Santos have no close rival in their own city, so the historical rivalries are with clubs from nearby São Paulo: Corinthians, São Paulo and Palmeiras. The meeting with Corinthians is called Clássico Alvinegro, the Black and White Derby, a nod to the colours both teams wear. The derby with São Paulo goes by the name San–São and counts among the biggest in Brazil, because both clubs are world champions and three-time Copa Libertadores winners. Against Palmeiras the fixture is the Clássico da Saudade, the Nostalgia Derby, a reminder of the 1960s, when both teams had great names and kept turning up in title deciders. These derbies are matches where history, pride and a long list of finals shape the mood, and the outcome often comes down to who handles the occasion better.