 | |||
| Full name | Nacional Atlético Clube | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Ferrinho Naça NAC | ||
| Founded | February 16, 1919; 106 years ago (1919-02-16) | ||
| Ground | Nicolau Alayon | ||
| Capacity | 10,117[1] | ||
| President | Ayrton Santiago | ||
| Head coach | Tuca Guimarães | ||
| League | Campeonato Paulista Série A4 | ||
| 2024 [pt] | Paulista Série A4, 13th of 16 | ||
| Website | www | ||
Nacional Atlético Clube, commonly referred to asNacional, is aBrazilian football team based inSão Paulo, in the district ofBarra Funda. The team competes in theCampeonato Paulista Segunda Divisão, the fourth tier of theSão Paulostate football league.
Nacional was founded on 16 February 1919 as anassociation football club by employees of the British ownedSão Paulo Railway Company asSão Paulo Railway Athletic Club, changing its name in 1946 when theFourth Brazilian Republic was established and itnationalized the railways. The club is also known asNAC,Naça andFerroviário ("Rail"), and its mascot is alocomotive. Since 1975, the club focuses on youth programs for football,volleyball,futsal,boxing,basketball, andbutton football, with a senior football team that has usually been relegated to the lower tiers of theSão Paulo state football league system. A traditional rivalry existed withJuventus, in the nearbyMooca district of São Paulo, with their matches known as theJuvenal.[citation needed]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
For the construction of a railway fromJundiaí, about 50 km north of São Paulo, to the seaportSantos from 159 forward theSão Paulo Railway Company was founded. The company operated largely with British capital, and management and engineers where primarily of same origin. In addition the project also attracted many British immigrants to work as common labourers. There were similar ventures, e.g., in the electricity sector. By the end of the century the employees of these companies also transported the association football game to Brazil.
On 14 April 1895 the first organised football match in Brazil between two sides is to have taken place when SPR employees encountered in Brás, a quarter close to the centre of São Paulo, employees of theGas Company of São Paulo. One of the SPR employees at play there wasCharles Miller, regarded alongside the GermanHans Nobiling and in RioOscar Cox one of the great pioneers of the game in Brazil. Railway Company won the match 4–2.
However, it took until 1903 when the SPR officially organised football as a leisure activity for its employees and another one-and-a-half decades when a proper football club was formed on 16 February 1919.
In 1924 the club found access to the third division of thestate league of São Paulo and reached ascension to the second division in 1925. In 1935 Nacional was one of the co-founders of today's state football association o São Paulo, theFederação Paulista de Futebol and in 1936 played the new first division of the now professional football league of São Paulo, finishing in 9th position. In 1939 the club achieved its best result, ending up fourth, only behind championsCorinthians,Palestra Itália, today's Palmeiras, andPortuguesa.
In 1943 Nacional won the Torneio Início, a traditional pre-season tournament of short matches between the first division teams held over a day or two. Nacional's Passarinho was, jointly with Servilio from Corinthians, top scorer of the1945 season.
In 1946, after a military coup, theFourth Brazilian Republic was established. The new governmentnationalized the nations railways that year, eliminating the SPR Company. As a result, the club was renamed to Nacional, though it retained the colours red, white and blue as homage to its British heritage. In their first game as Nacional, the team played with their SPR name and uniforms for the first half of a match againstCR Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro atPacaembu Stadium, then played for the first time in their Nacional uniforms for the second half of the match, losing the (full) match 3–5.
In1948 the club finished last in the league, but was fortunate, that this season was played without relegation. Another last place in1953 was however consequential. Nacional suspended football operations but was readmitted by the São Paulo football association to the first division for 1956. The next relegation followed in1959.
Nacional remained in the second division until 1971. In1974 it once more achieved access to the first division, but was immediately relegated again.
After this Nacional restricted its activities to the amateur and youth levels, where in 1972 the club had already won theCopa São Paulo de Juniores, a success the club could repeat in 1988.
In later years the club made some attempts to revive professional football at the club. In 1994, the club won the third division of the state league of São Paulo and competed in the following year in the national third division, theSérie C, but was eliminated there in the first stage. In 1998 the club competed again in the Série C, but once more was ousted in the first round.
In 2000, Nacional won the Campeonato Paulista Série A-3 and also competed in the preliminary stages of the official national championship, in that year held asCopa João Havelange. Nevertheless, Nacional was eliminated in the first stage. In the same decade the club also played 2005 and 2007 in the second state division.
Since 2010 the club competes in the fourth division of São Paulo. It runs theAcademia Nacional de Esportes, the name of which is solely based on the name of the club.
The club owns since 1938 theNicolau Alayon stadium, often named after the street where it is locatedEstádio Comendador Sousa, which has a maximum capacity of 9,650 people.
| State | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitions | Titles | Seasons |
| Campeonato Paulista Série A3 | 3 | 1994, 2000, 2017 |
| Campeonato Paulista Série A4 | 1 | 2014 |
