Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 03/27 22:30 1 [6] Boavista RJ v Botafogo [5] W 0-4
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 03/17 21:30 2 [5] Botafogo v Sampaio Correa RJ [8] W 2-1
Copa Libertadores - kvalifikácia 03/14 00:30 16 Bragantino v Botafogo D 1-1
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 03/10 19:00 2 [8] Sampaio Correa RJ v Botafogo [5] W 1-2
Copa Libertadores - kvalifikácia 03/07 00:30 16 Botafogo v Bragantino W 2-1
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 03/03 19:00 11 [2] Fluminense v Botafogo [5] W 2-4
Copa Libertadores - kvalifikácia 02/29 00:30 15 Botafogo v Club Aurora W 6-0
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 02/24 19:00 10 [12] Audax RJ v Botafogo [5] W 0-2
Copa Libertadores - kvalifikácia 02/22 00:30 15 Club Aurora v Botafogo D 1-1
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 02/18 19:00 9 [4] Botafogo v Vasco Da Gama [5] L 2-4
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 02/14 22:00 8 [9] Volta Redonda v Botafogo [5] W 0-3
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 02/08 00:30 7 [6] Flamengo v Botafogo [2] L 1-0
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 02/03 19:00 6 [2] Botafogo v Nova Iguacu [3] D 2-2
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 01/31 00:30 5 [2] Botafogo v Portuguesa RJ [5] D 1-1
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 01/27 19:00 4 [4] Botafogo v Sampaio Correa RJ [10] W 2-0
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 01/25 00:30 3 [8] Boavista RJ v Botafogo [2] L 1-0
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 01/20 19:00 2 [4] Botafogo v Bangu [9] W 2-0
Brazília - Campeonato Carioca 01/17 22:00 1 [2] Botafogo v Madureira [2] W 1-0
Brazília - Serie A 12/07 00:30 38 [9] Internacional v Botafogo [5] L 3-1
Brazília - Serie A 12/03 21:30 37 [3] Botafogo v Cruzeiro [14] D 0-0
Brazília - Serie A 11/30 00:30 36 [19] Coritiba v Botafogo [3] D 1-1
Brazília - Serie A 11/26 19:00 35 [2] Botafogo v Santos [15] D 1-1
Brazília - Serie A 11/23 22:00 29 [12] Fortaleza v Botafogo [2] D 2-2
Brazília - Serie A 11/12 19:00 34 [4] Bragantino v Botafogo [2] D 2-2
Brazília - Serie A 11/09 23:00 33 [1] Botafogo v Gremio [4] L 3-4
Brazília - Serie A 11/06 22:00 32 [18] Vasco Da Gama v Botafogo [1] L 1-0
Brazília - Serie A 11/02 00:30 31 [1] Botafogo v Palmeiras [2] L 3-4
Brazília - Serie A 10/29 23:00 30 [1] Botafogo v Cuiaba [12] L 0-1
Brazília - Serie A 10/24 22:00 29 Fortaleza v Botafogo - Postponed
Brazília - Serie A 10/22 18:00 28 [1] Botafogo v Athletico Paranaense [6] D 1-1

Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas (Portuguese pronunciation: [bɔtaˈfoɡu dʒi futʃiˈbɔw i ʁeˈɡatɐs]; Botafogo Football and Rowing), commonly known as Botafogo, is a Brazilian sports club based in the bairro (neighborhood) of Botafogo, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Botafogo is mostly known for its association football team. It plays in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, and in the state of Rio de Janeiro's premier state league. In 2000, Botafogo finished 12th in a vote by subscribers of FIFA Magazine for the FIFA Club of the Century. They have won the Brazilian championship two times, in 1968 and 1995.

In addition, the club has some of Brazilian football's most notable records, like most unbeaten matches: 52 games between 1977 and 1978; the most unbeaten matches in the Brazilian Championship: 42, also between 1977 and 1978; and the most players assigned to the Brazil national team for World Cup. The club holds the record for the greatest victory ever recorded in Brazilian football: 24–0 against Sport Club Mangueira in 1909.

History

Formation and merger

On July 1, 1894, Club de Regatas Botafogo was founded in Rio de Janeiro.

The 1906 football team.

On 12 August 1904, another club was founded in the neighborhood: the Electro Club, the name first given to the Botafogo Football Club. The idea came during an algebra lesson at Alfredo Gomes College, when Flávio Ramos wrote to his friend Emmanuel Sodré: "Itamar has a football club in Martins Ferreira Street. Let's establish another one, in Largo dos Leões, what do you think? We can speak to the Wernecks, to Arthur César, Vicente and Jacques".[] The Electro Club was founded, but its name did not last. After a suggestion from Dona Chiquitota, Flávio's grandmother, the club finally became the Botafogo Football Club, on September 18 of the same year. The colors were black and white like those of Juventus FC, the team of Itamar Tavares, one of the club's founders. Its badge was drawn by Basílio Vianna Jr., in Swiss style with the BFC monogram. The Botafogo Football Club would soon become one of the strongest football teams in Rio de Janeiro, winning the championships of 1907, 1910, 1912 and more.

With the same name, the same location, the same colours and most important the same supporters, it seemed inevitable that the clubs would merge. They did so on 8 December 1942, after a basketball match between both clubs, when Botafogo Football Club player Armando Albano died suddenly, that the idea of a merger began. On this tragic occasion, the president of Club de Regatas Botafogo, Augusto Frederico Schmidt (also a major Brazilian poet), spoke: "At this time, I declare to Albano that his last match ended with the victory of his team. We won't play the time left on the clock. We all want the young fighter to leave this great night as a winner. This is how we salute him." Eduardo Góis Trindade, Botafogo Football Club's president said: "Between the matches of our clubs, only one can be the winner: Botafogo!." And then Schmidt declared the fusion: "What else do we need for our clubs to become one?." Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas finally came into being. The Football Club's badge became black, and the monogram substituted by Clube de Regatas' lone star.

On the field

The team that won its first Campeonato Carioca in 1907
The team of 1910

The team won the Campeonato Carioca in 1907, 1910 and 1912. In 1909 the team beat Mangueira 24–0, which remains the highest score in Brazilian football. They won further state titles in 1930, 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1935.

In 1930 Botafogo won its 4th Carioca title.

In the 1940s, after the creation of Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, the team's best player was Heleno de Freitas. However, Heleno did not win a championship for Botafogo. He scored 204 goals in 233 matches, but went to the Boca Juniors in 1948, the year Botafogo won its 9th state championship.

They won the Campeonato Carioca in 1957, 1961 and 1962, and in 1968 they won Serie A, becoming the first carioca club to win the Brazilian league.

1989 ended a period of 21 years without a title when the club won the state championship, retaining the trophy in 1990.

In the 1990s, Botafogo won Copa Conmebol (the precursor of the current Copa Sudamericana). And in 1995 they won the Brazilian League for the second time in club's history, after drawing 1–1 the second leg of the Final against Santos FC at São Paulo.

Botafogo would be relegated to the Second Division after ranking last in the Brazilian League of 2002. In 2003, Botafogo ranked second in Brazil's Second division (after Palmeiras) and returned to the First Division.

In 2006, the club won the Rio de Janeiro State Championship for the 18th time, and again in 2010 and 2013 with the iconic players Loco Abreu and Seedorf, respectively.

In the 2020 edition of the Série A, Botafogo performed poorly and ended the championship in the last position, causing the club's relegation to the Série B for their third time in history.

Nowadays, Botafogo is the only club to have won titles in three different centuries, including the state championship for rowing in 1899.

The SAF Era

At the beginning of 2020, Botafogo underwent a series of internal audits to spin off its football division as a for-profit corporate entity, owned by the club, but which could be portioned and sold to investors. This was due to unprecedented legislation allowing for football clubs to be operated as corporations, and would be a solution to the severe financial crisis the club had faced for decades. Relegation to the Série B, however, delayed these plans.

The year 2021 saw Botafogo's debt reach one billion real. They placed 6th in the Rio de Janeiro State Championship, after a penalty decision lost to the also relegated Vasco da Gama. The club was off to a middling start to the Série B season, but bounced back after the hiring of manager Enderson Moreira, who was able to bring Botafogo back to the top tier of Brazilian football, as champions of the 2021 edition of Série B. It was Botafogo's second Série B title.

Meanwhile, the incoming administration had begun internal restructuring, hiring executive Jorge Braga for the brand-new post of CEO and downsizing its workforce considerably. Botafogo entered into a partnership with the investment firm XP Inc. to seek out potential buyers for its football division, which was in the process of becoming its own corporate entity. Congress had recently passed the Sociedade Anônima de Futebol (SAF) law, allowing foreigners to purchase shares in Brazilian football clubs for the first time in history.

Having averted complete financial disaster by returning to Série A, the country's top competitive tier, Botafogo finalized its transition into the SAF legal structure. The social club remained as an entity, owning 100% of Botafogo SAF's shares. In January 2022, it came to light that American investor John Textor, owner of a majority stake in Premier League club Crystal Palace F.C., was in talks to purchase a majority share of Botafogo. In February 2022, the club announced the acquisition of 90% of the shares of Botafogo's football division by Textor's holding company Eagle Holdings, and the start of a new era for the club.

Textor's first major move in charge of the club was the dismissal of Enderson Moreira in favor of Portuguese manager Luís Castro. Castro signed with Botafogo in March 2022, and the team had to hurry to build their squad for the 2022 Cameponato Brasileiro. Botafogo finished that year's league edition in 11th place, guaranteeing a spot in the 2023 Copa Sudamericana.

Since the third round of 2023 Campeonato Brasileiro, Botafogo has remained in first place in the table. In June 2023, coach Luís Castro accepted an offer from Al Nassr (Saudi Pro League), paving the way for the arrival of Portuguese manager Bruno Lage. However, due to poor results and controversies, Lage was dismissed after almost 3 months of work. For the remainder of the 2023 Campeonato Brasileiro, with the coaching position vacant, Botafogo's SAF leadership decided to promote two fan favorites to key positions in the team's management: former coach of Botafogo's U-23 team, Lúcio Flávio, was appointed interim coach, with former Argentine defender Joel Carli as his assistant.

As of June 2023, Botafogo leads the 2023 Campeonato Brasileiro after making a disappointing Campeonato Carioca earlier during the year, not being able to make it to the semi-finals with the other 3 big clubs in Rio de Janeiro. The total debt owned by the club has been reduced and now sits at around 730 million reais. They finished 5th in the Brasileirão Assai Série A in 2023 going to the Libertadores qualifying stages.

Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, známy aj ako Botafogo alebo Fogão, je brazílsky futbalový klub so sídlom v Rio de Janeiro. Klub bol založený 12. augusta 1904 a svoje domáce zápasy hráva na štadióne Estádio Nilton Santos s kapacitou 46 931 miest.

Botafogo je jedným z najúspešnejších klubov v histórii brazílskeho futbalu, keď získal 21 veľkých trofejí vrátane dvoch titulov Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, štyroch titulov Copa do Brasil a jedného titulu Copa Conmebol. Klub tiež dosiahol úspechy na medzinárodnej scéne, keď získal dva tituly Copa Libertadores da América a jeden titul Copa Mercosul.

Medzi najznámejších hráčov Botafoga v histórii patria Garrincha, Didí, Nilton Santos, Amarildo, Jairzinho, Túlio Maravilha a Bebeto. Klub je tiež známy svojou unikátnou čierno-bielou pruhovanou uniformou, ktorá mu dala prezývku Fogão (sporák).

Botafogo má veľkú a vášnivú fanúšikovskú základňu a je považovaný za jeden z najpopulárnejších futbalových klubov v Brazílii. Klub má tiež silné rivality s ostatnými veľkými klubmi v Rio de Janeiro, ako sú Flamengo, Fluminense a Vasco da Gama.