Campeonato Carioca


The Campeonato Carioca, officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is under the authority of the state football federation, Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
The first season of the Campeonato Carioca was played in 1906. It is predated by: the Campeonato Paulista of São Paulo and the Campeonato Baiano of Bahia.
Rivalries amongst four of the most prestigious Brazilian teams have marked the history of the competition.
The oldest clubs from Rio de Janeiro had inspired the creation of many clubs from other states.
Fluminense is the team considered the "champion of the century" with the highest number of titles of the 20th century at 28. Flamengo leads the new century with 9 titles, and an overall count with 36 titles.

History

The early years

The 20th century saw in Rio de Janeiro and Niterói a significant popularity in football with the establishment of clubs such as Rio Cricket and Athletic Association in Niterói, Fluminense Football Club in 1902, and Bangu Atlético Club, América Football Club, and Botafogo Football Club in 1904 being founded. Organizing leagues for competition amongst clubs followed by Rio Cricket and Athletic Association, Fluminense Football Club, Football and Athletic Club, America Football Club, Bangu Atlético Club, Sport Club Petrópolis and Payssandu Cricket Club. On June 8, 1905, the Liga Metropolitana de Football was founded. LMF's first president was Bangu's José Villas Boas, who was replaced by Francis Walter in December of the same year.
In 1906, the first Campeonato Carioca was contested by six clubs: Fluminense, Botafogo, Bangu, Football and Athletic, Payssandu and Rio Cricket. America, despite being one of the league founders, did not contest the league's first edition. Fluminense became the first Rio de Janeiro state champion.
In 1907, the championship ended with a tie between Botafogo and Fluminense. The league rules did not address ties. Botafogo claimed an extra-match advantage; Fluminense claimed that the league should adopt the goal-average criteria. It went unresolved until 1996 when both clubs were declared champions.
On February 29, 1908, Fluminense, Botafogo, America, Paysandu, Rio Cricket, and Riachuelo founded Liga Metropolitana de Sports Athleticos, the organizer of the 1908 Campeonato Carioca. Fluminense won.

The splits of the league

AFRJ: the first split

The first league split was in 1911 when Botafogo left LMSA and founded Associação de Football do Rio de Janeiro. The league was nicknamed Liga Barbante, because Botafogo was the only significant club to question the full realisation of the sport under LMSA. AFRJ was incorporated by LMSA in 1913.

LMDT: 1917-1932

In 1917, several accusations of bribery caused LMSA to rebrand as Liga Metropolitana de Desportos Terrestres . Fluminense won the competition of that year.

AMEA: the second split

On March 1, 1924, a second league split occurred, and Associação Metropolitana de Esportes Athleticos was founded. AMEA, founded by the "aristocratic" clubs Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo and America, with restrictions on its blacks and lower class citizens to their members. The Confederação Brasileira de Desportos remained with AMEA recognizing it as the official league of Rio de Janeiro from 1924 on, and disassociating with LMDT. AMEA's competition was won by Fluminense. LMDT's competition was won by Vasco da Gama, the only significant club that remained on the old league. In 1925, AMEA rescinded its racial conditions and Vasco left LMDT, while LMDT continued with its minor clubs. Years later, the LMDT championship of 1924 was considered official - but not the following LMDT championships.

Professionalization and the union of the league

On January 23, 1933, Bangu, Fluminense, Vasco and America founded the first professional league of Rio de Janeiro, Liga Carioca de Futebol . The Confederação Brasileira de Desportos was an amateur-only league supported AMEA. For this reason, LCF was nicknamed "pirate league". In 1934 CBD finally accepted professionalism, but LCF and AMEA did not merge for political reasons. On December 11, 1934, Botafogo, Vasco, Bangu, São Cristóvão, Andaraí, Olaria, Carioca and Madureira founded the professional Federação Metropolitana de Desportos , replacing AMEA as the official Rio de Janeiro league affiliated to CBD.
In 1937, the Brazilian football clubs were professionalized. On July 29, 1937, FMD and LCF merged, creating Liga de Football do Rio de Janeiro, also called LFRJ. In 1941, LFRJ rebranded as Federação Metropolitana de Futebol . The occasion was celebrated by a friendly match between Vasco da Gama and America that would come to be nicknamed Clássico da Paz for any game played between the two teams.

Federação Carioca de Futebol (FCF)

On April 21, 1960, the Brazilian capital city became Brasília, so, Federação Metropolitana de Futebol rebranded as Federação Carioca de Futebol . América won the state championship of that year.

After 1975

On March 15, 1975, Rio de Janeiro and Guanabara states merged under the name of Rio de Janeiro.
On September 29, 1978, Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro , was founded, after Guanabara state's FCF and Rio de Janeiro state's FFD fused.
In 1979, there was an extra Campeonato Carioca which also included the countryside state teams, which, until that year, contested the Campeonato Fluminense. This extra competition, known as Primeiro Campeonato Estadual de Profissionais was won by Flamengo, which was also the champion of the regular competition, but did not count in the overall titles.
In 1996, Taça Cidade Maravilhosa was contested only by clubs from Rio de Janeiro city. This competition was contested by eight teams, which played against each other once. Botafogo was the champion, Flamengo being the runner up. In the same year, a state championship was played, won by Flamengo.

Format

The competition is usually divided in three stages: the traditional Taça Guanabara, Taça Rio and the Finals.
Taça Guanabara is the first stage of the competition, with the teams divided into two groups. The traditional "big four", namely, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama are seeded—two teams of the "big four" put into each group. It is possible other teams also be seeded in some ways, but the seeding criteria is not codified in the regulation and has never been publicly available. The teams play one match with each team in their group. The top team in each group plays the second team in the semi-finals; the winners qualify for the final match.
Taça Rio is the second stage of the competition. Teams are divided into the two same groups of Taça Guanabara, but each team plays once against every team from the other group. The top team from each group compete in the semi-finals with the second team from the opposite group, and winners of the semi-finals compete for the Taça Rio.
The winners of Taça Guanabara and Taça Rio compete in the two-legged finals of Campeonato Carioca, with the winner champion.

2020 members

TeamHome cityStadiumCapacity2019 season
AA PortuguesaRio de JaneiroLuso Brasileiro12th in 1st Division
AD CabofrienseCabo FrioAlair Corrêa6th in 1st Division
America FCRio de JaneiroGiulite Coutinho2nd in 2nd Division
Americano FCCampos dos GoytacazesElcyr Resende11th in 1st Division
Bangu ACRio de JaneiroMoça Bonita3rd in 1st Division
BoavistaSaquaremaElcyr Resende7th in 1st Division
Botafogo FRRio de JaneiroNilton Santos8th in 1st Division
CR FlamengoRio de JaneiroMaracanã1st in 1st Division
CR Vasco da GamaRio de JaneiroSão Januário2nd in 1st Division
Fluminense FCRio de JaneiroMaracanã4th in 1st Division
MacaéNova FriburgoEduardo Guinle1st in 2nd Division
MadureiraRio de JaneiroConselheiro Galvão10th in 1st Division
Nova Iguaçu FCNova IguaçuLaranjão13th in 1st Division
Resende FCResendeTrabalhador9th in 1st Division
Volta Redonda FCVolta RedondaRaulino de Oliveira5th in 1st Division

List of champions and top scorers

Amateur era

SeasonWinnerRunner-upCommentsTop ScorerClubGoals
1906Fluminense PaissanduHorácio CostaFluminense18
1907Botafogo
Fluminense 		Paissanduboth clubs were declared champions in 1907Flávio RamosBotafogo6
1908Fluminense Botafogo
América		Emílio Etchegaray
Edwin Cox		Fluminense13
1909Fluminense BotafogoFlávio RamosBotafogo16
1910Botafogo FluminenseAbelardo DelamareBotafogo22
1911Fluminense AmericaJames CalvertFluminense5
1912Paissandu Flamengoby LMSA, Liga Metropolitana de Sports AthleticosHenry RobinsonPaissandu - LMSA24
1912Botafogo SC Americanoby AFRJ, Associação de Football do Rio de Janeiro - recognized later as an official championshipMimi SodréBotafogo - AFRJ12
1913America FlamengoMimi SodréBotafogo13
1914Flamengo BotafogoOjeda
Riemer
Harry Welfare		America
Flamengo
Fluminense		9
1915Flamengo FluminenseHarry WelfareFluminense19
1916America BotafogoAluízioBotafogo12
1917Fluminense AmericaLuís MenezesBotafogo16
1918Fluminense BotafogoLuís MenezesBotafogo21
1919Fluminense FlamengoBrás de OliveiraSão Cristóvão24
1920Flamengo Fluminense:pt:Arlindo Correia Pacheco|Arlindo
Claudionor		Botafogo
Bangu		17
1921Flamengo AmericaNonôFlamengo11
1922America FlamengoPastorBangu10
1923Vasco da Gama FlamengoNonôFlamengo17
1924Fluminense Flamengoby AMEA, Associação Metropolitana de Esportes AthleticosNiloFluminense28
1924Vasco da Gama Bonsucessoby LMDT, Liga Metropolitana de Desportos Terrestres - recognized later as an official championshipTelê - LMDT16
1925Flamengo FluminenseNonôFlamengo27
1926São Cristóvão Vasco da GamaVicenteSão Cristóvão25
1927Flamengo FluminenseNiloBotafogo30
1928América Vasco da GamaVicente
Telê		São Cristóvão
20
1929Vasco da Gama AmericaRussinho
Telê		Vasco
América		23
1930Botafogo Vasco da GamaPreguinho
Ladislau		Fluminense
Bangu		20
1931America Vasco da GamaRussinhoVasco17
1932Botafogo FlamengoPreguinhoFluminense21
1933Botafogo Olariaby AMEA, Associação Metropolitana de Esportes AthleticosNiloBotafogo19
1934Botafogo Andarahyby AMEA, Associação Metropolitana de Esportes AthleticosBianco - AMEA13

Professional era

Titles by club

The 25 top score for team of the history of the Campeonato Carioca, all Brazilian, except the English Henry Welfare: