On 12 August 1904 two teenage classmates in Rio de Janeiro founded a football team called Electro Club. Soon afterwards it became Botafogo, and on 12 August 2027 it celebrates 123 years of football. This is the club of Garrincha, Nilton Santos and the "Lone Star".

Two 14-year-olds and a grandmother

The founders, Flávio Ramos and Emmanuel Sodré, were just 14 or 15 years old and studied together at the Colégio Alfredo Gomes. The first name, Electro Club, did not last long.

About a month later the team became Botafogo Football Club, at the suggestion of Flávio's grandmother, Dona Chiquitota. In the same part of Rio there had been a rowing club of the same name since 1894, the Club de Regatas Botafogo.

Black-and-white stripes from London

The official colours are black and white. The striped shirt was adopted in 1906, ordered from London and, according to the sources, inspired by Juventus.

The idea came from co-founder Itamar Tavares, who had studied in Italy. That same year the team won its first trophy and made its debut in the Carioca championship.

In 1912 the club was granted the land on General Severiano street, still its headquarters today. The old stadium built there was demolished in the 1970s and never rebuilt.

In 1910 Botafogo won the city championship with 66 goals in just 10 matches. That is where the nickname "O Glorioso", the Glorious One, comes from.

A star over the bay

In June 1942 the athlete Armando Albano collapsed and died during a basketball match, and the tragedy brought the two clubs of the same name together. On 8 December 1942 the football and rowing clubs merged into today's Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas.

The rowers contributed the club's most famous symbol, the Estrela Solitária, the Lone Star. It represents the morning star, the planet Venus, which the rowers often saw above Botafogo Bay, and after the merger it became the football team's emblem too.

Garrincha and the world champions

In the 1950s and 1960s Botafogo had some of the finest players on the planet. Garrincha, wearing number 7, starred at the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, sharing the top scorer award at the second.

Alongside him played Nilton Santos, who gave his name to today's stadium, and Didi, the best player of the 1958 World Cup. The number 7 later passed to Jairzinho, who scored in every one of Brazil's games at the 1970 World Cup.

The year of dreams

Brazilian titles came in 1968 and 1995, but 2024 went down in history. Under coach Artur Jorge, Botafogo beat Atlético Mineiro 3-1 in the Copa Libertadores final in Buenos Aires, despite playing with ten men from the first 30 seconds.

They then went on to win the league as well, completing a historic double. In 2025, at the Club World Cup, they beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0, a club that by coincidence also celebrates its birthday on 12 August.

Today Botafogo play in Brazil's Série A and have played at the Estádio Nilton Santos since 2007.

Celebrate with us

From two schoolboys with an idea to the top of South America, Botafogo's star is still shining. Happy birthday, Fogão, on your 123 years!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Estádio Nilton Santos in 2017 – Phill ad, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.