Rio Branco Esporte Clube

Football club infobox
clubname = Rio Branco

|
fullname = Rio Branco Esporte Clube
founded = 1913
ground = Décio Vitta
capacity = 16,000
league = -
season = 2007
position = Campeonato Paulista Série A-2,
eliminated in first stage
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_thinwhitestripes|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=000000|socks2=000000

Rio Branco Esporte Clube, usually known simply as Rio Branco, is a Brazilian football (soccer) club based in the city of Americana in the São Paulo state of Brazil.

History

On August 4, 1913, the club was founded as "Sport Club Arromba". Rio Branco's first board of directors was composed by João Truzzi, who was one of the club's founders, and by 26 other people. In 1917, the club was renamed to Rio Branco Football Club, after the Baron of Rio Branco.

In 1922 and in 1923, the club won the Campeonato Paulista do Interior. During the final years of the 1940s, the club's football section was closed.

In 1961, the club's name was translated to the Portuguese language, becoming Rio Branco Futebol Clube. In April, 1979, Rio Branco and another local team, called Americana Esporte Clube, fused, and the club's football section was reactivated.

In 1990, the club was the runner-up of the Campeonato Paulista Second Division, being promoted to the following year's first division. In 1993, Rio Branco finished in the sixth place of Campeonato Paulista, only behind the bigger teams. In 2001, the club finished in the sixth place of Campeonato Paulista again, and almost went to the semifinals. One year after, without the bigger teams of the state, the 'Tiger' obtained the 3rd place of Campeonato Paulista.

Achievements

* Campeonato do Interior Paulista:
** Winners (2): 1922, 1923

Noted players

*Anaílson
*Felipe Furacão
*Flávio Conceição
*Gabriel Lima
*Gustavo
*Igor
*Júlio César
*Luciano Emilio
*Macedo
*Marcelinho Paraíba
*Marcinho
*Marcos Assunção
*Marcos Senna
*Mineiro
*Rafael
*Sandro Hiroshi
*Souza
*Tiago
*Thiago Ribeiro

tadium

They currently play in their home stadium, the "Estádio Décio Vitta", which has a maximum capacity of 16,000 people.

Colors

The club's official colors are black and white. Rio Branco's home kit is composed of a white shirt, black shorts and black socks.

Anthem

The club's anthem was composed by Oséas Sass (both the song and the lyrics).

Mascot

Rio Branco's mascot is a tiger, who wears the club's home kit.

Relegation

Rio Branco Esporte Clube stayed for seventeen years in the first division of Campeonato Paulista. But in 2007, the team was relegated to the second division (Série A-2), after losing two out of the last three games, the club was defeated by São Bento and Rio Claro but beat São Caetano.

External links

* [http://www.riobranco.esp.br/ Official website]
* [http://www.arquivodeclubes.com/sp/riobranco.htm Arquivo de Clubes]