Esporte Clube Vitória
Brazilian association football club based in Salvador, Bahia

Soccer club
Vitória
Full nameEsporte Clube Vitória
NicknamesLeão da Barra (Barra's Lion)
Nêgo
Rubro-negro (Red and Black)
Colossal
Founded13 May 1899; 126 years ago (1899-05-13)
GroundBarradão
Capacity35,618
PresidentFábio Rios Mota
ManagerJair Ventura
LeagueCampeonato Brasileiro Série A
Campeonato Baiano
2025
2025		Série A, 15th of 20
Baiano, 2nd of 10
Websiteecvitoria.com.br
Current season

Esporte Clube Vitória (Brazilian Portuguese: [isˈpɔʁtʃi ˈklubi viˈtɔɾi.ɐ]) is a Brazilian professional club based in Salvador, Bahia founded on 13 May 1899. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top flight of Brazilian football, as well as in the Campeonato Baiano, the top flight of the Bahia state football league.

Vitória's home games are played at the club's own stadium, Manoel Barradas, which has a capacity of 35,632.[1] The team plays in red and black horizontal striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. The stripes have changed over time: they have been sometimes vertical, horizontal, wide and narrow.

The youth system of the club is one of the most successful of the world, holding, between 1995 and 2000, at its peak, at least 21 international titles.[2] Recent names that started playing in the club are Bebeto, Vampeta, Dida, Júnior, Hulk, David Luiz, Dudu Cearense, Marcelo Moreno, Gabriel Paulista and others.

The rivals of Vitória are Esporte Clube Bahia. Their matches are known as Ba–Vi ("Ba" from Esporte Clube Bahia and "Vi" from Esporte Clube Vitória). It is one of the most intense rivalries, consistently ranked among the world's most bitter.[citation needed]

History

The club was founded on 13 May 1899, by the brothers Artur and Artêmio Valente, along with seventeen other young fellows. They were from an old Bahia family, and discovered football during their studies in the United Kingdom. Initially Vitória was a cricket club, named Club de Cricket Victoria, because all of them lived at the Vitória neighborhood, in Salvador.[3][4]

On 22 May 1901, Vitória played its first football match, at Campo da Pólvora, against International Sport Club, a team whose players were English seamen. Vitória beat International 3–2. Two months after that match, Vitória changed its original colors, which were black and white, to red and black, which are still in use.

1908 Bahia State Champions – Milzen, Álvaro Tarquinio e Mario Pereira; A. C. Martins, Adriano Porto e Noé Nunes; Armando Gordilho, Oscar Alves, Fernando Alves, C. Muller, R. Mc. Nair, Oscar Luz, A. Galeão e Alfredo Seixas.

On 13 September 1903, Vitória beat a club formed by people from São Paulo state, São Paulo Bahia Football Club 2–0 in the club's first official match. In 1908, Vitória won its first title ever, the Campeonato Baiano. They won the next year as well.

From 1910 to 1952, they didn't win any titles because they were still an amateur club. In 1953, the club turned professional, and won its third Baiano honor. Bahia was dominating the state championship, and Vitória only won titles in 1955, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1972, 1980, 1985 and 1989.

The club was runner-up in the 1993 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A to Palmeiras, with an extremely small payroll. Vitória was champion of Bahia in 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000, becoming the top club of the state for the first time. In the 1999 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Vitória reached the semi-finals.

In the 2000s, the Campeonato Baiano trophy was won by Vitória eight out of ten years.[5]

In 2004 Vitória, after a poor campaign, was relegated to the Brazilian Second Division. In 2005, the club competed in the Brazilian second division, finishing 17th, and so was relegated to the Third Division for the first time in its history.

In 2006, Vitória was runner-up of the third division, and was promoted to the second division. In 2007, the club was promoted back to the first division after finishing in fourth place. This meant the club had managed to return from the third to the first division in only two years. The team was also relegated in 2010, promoted back in 2012, relegated again in 2014, but this time they were promoted back after one season in 2015.

In February 2018 the intense rivalry between Vitória and Esporte Clube Bahia drew international attention when nine players (four from Bahia and five from Vitória) were shown the red card in a State Championship match.[6] The team was relegated back to the second division of the Brazilian league later that year.

In 2021, Vitória was relegated to the third division for a second time. However this was followed by back to back promotions, in 2022 to the second tier and as champions of the second division in 2023, the first national title of the club.

Mascot

The club's mascot is a lion named Lelê Leão (Lion), and according to Vitória's official site, his objective is to stimulate the club's supporters and players on match days.

Competitions record

This is the competition record of Vitória's last few seasons:

  Champion.
  Runner-up.
  Classified for Sudamericana.
  Promoted.
  Relegated.
Year Campeonato Baiano Campeonato Brasileiro Copa do Brasil Copa do Nordeste Copa Sudamericana
Pos Pld W D L Division Pos Pts Pld W D L Pos Pld W D L Pos Pld W D L Pos Pld W D L
2020 5º 13 3 4 2 Série B 14º 48 38 11 15 12 27º 4 1 1 2 9º 8 4 2 2 - - - - -
2021 5º 9 2 5 2 Série B 18º 40 38 8 16 14 14º 6 3 0 3 4º 9 4 4 1 - - - - -
2022 5º 9 3 4 2 Série C 4º 59 25 10 8 7 52º+ 3 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - - -
2023 6º 12 3 3 3 Série B 1º 72 38 22 6 10 52º+ 1 0 0 1 14º 8 1 3 4 - - - - -
2024 1º 13 9 2 2 Série A 11º 47 38 13 8 17 31º 2 0 0 2 9º 8 4 2 2 - - - - -
2025 2º 13 8 4 1 Série A second-stage quarter-finals group stage

Colours

Its colours are red and black, which made it to be called "Rubro-Negro" ("red-black", in portuguese). In the early years, the club's colours would be green and yellow, but due to difficulty in find the proper materials in these colours, it was chosen to be white and black. That was the colours worn in the inaugural match facing the International Sport Club. The current red-black colours were adopted 3 years later, in 1902.[citation needed]

Many kinds of shirts have been worn by Vitória's players over the years.

1993
1997
2000
2003
2007
2008
2009
2012
2022
2023

2023 kit

home
away
alternative

2024 kit

home
away
third

2025 kit

home
away

Current squad

As of 11 January 2026[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  BRA Lucas Arcanjo
2 DF  BRA Claudinho
3 DF  BRA Zé Marcos
4 DF  BRA Camutanga
6 MF  BRA Pepê
8 MF  BRA Ronald
10 FW  BRA Matheuzinho
11 FW  BRA Osvaldo
16 MF  POR Rúben Ismael
17 MF  ESP Aitor Cantalapiedra
19 FW  ECU Kike Saverio
20 MF  POR Rúben Rodrigues
21 MF  BRA Dudu
22 FW  BRA Lucas Braga
23 FW  BRA Fabrí
31 FW  URU Renzo López
33 FW  BRA Erick
No. Pos. Nation Player
35 GK  BRA Fintelman
43 DF  BRA Edu Ribeiro
44 MF  BRA Gabriel Baralhas
76 FW  BRA Felipe Cardoso
77 DF  BRA Neris
79 FW  BRA Renato Kayzer
83 DF  BRA Jamerson (on loan from Coritiba)
95 MF  BRA Caíque Gonçalves
98 DF  BRA Mateusinho
— GK  BRA Gabriel
— GK  BRA Yuri Sena
— DF  BRA Felipe Vieira
— DF  BRA Riccieli (on loan from Famalicão)
— MF  BRA Pablo Baianinho
— MF  BRA Filipe Machado
— MF  BRA Dudu Miraíma

Youth team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF  BRA Kauan Neves
24 GK  BRA Luis Eduardo
26 MF  BRA Edenilson
36 FW  BRA Kauan Vitor
41 MF  BRA Wendell Santos
42 GK  BRA Davi Barbosa
No. Pos. Nation Player
47 FW  BRA Marquinhos Cabrobó
50 DF  BRA Paulo Roberto
52 MF  BRA Lucas Lohan
53 DF  BRA Andrei
55 FW  BRA Emanoel
88 DF  BRA Emerson Buiú

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  BRA Willean Lepo (at Criciúma until 31 December 2026)
— MF  BRA Léo Naldi (at Novorizontino until 31 December 2026)
— FW  BRA Wellington Rato (at Goiás until 31 December 2026)

Honours

Official tournaments

National
Competitions Titles Seasons
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B 1 2023
Regional
Competitions Titles Seasons
Copa do Nordeste 4 1997, 1999, 2003, 2010
State
Competitions Titles Seasons
Campeonato Baiano 30 1908, 1909, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1972, 1980, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2024
Taça Estado da Bahia 3s 2004, 2005, 2006
  •   record
  • s shared record

Others tournaments

International

  • Dakar Tournament (1): 1992
  • Trofeo Ciudad de Valladolid (1): 1997

National

Regional

State

  • Torneio Início da Bahia (11): 1926, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1961, 1980

Runners-up

Youth team

Women's Football

See also

References

  1. ^ "Football stadiums of the world – Stadium List South America – Football stadiums of the world". www.fussballtempel.net.
  2. ^ "Principais Títulos Internacionais" (in Portuguese). ECVitoria.com.br. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  3. ^ "PRIMEIROS CLUBES BRASILEIROS EM ATIVIDADE A ENTRAREM EM CAMPO". www.rsssfbrasil.com. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Esporte Clube Vitória". www.campeoesdofutebol.com.br. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Vitória conquista seu oitavo título e é o maior campeão da década". Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Súmula do Ba-Vi confirma triunfo por 3 a 0 do Bahia sobre o Vitória". Universo Online (in Portuguese). 19 February 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  7. ^ Vitória Official Website (in Portuguese)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Esporte Clube Vitória.
  • (in Portuguese) Official website
  • (in Portuguese) Vitória on Globo Esporte
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