América Futebol Clube (also known as Coelho or simply América) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Belo Horizonte, capital city of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Founded in 1912, the club preserves its name and crest since its inception. The original home kit colours are white and green only; the black color was incorporated in the 1970s.[1]
The team also played with a red home kit between 1933 and 1942, as a protest to the introduction of professionalism.[2]
It hosts its matches at Independência stadium, being the only professional club in Belo Horizonte to have its own stadium.[3]
The club has the third largest fan base among the teams from Minas Gerais.[4][5]
América is one of the most traditional and successful teams from Minas Gerais. It has won the state championship 16 times, and finished as runners-up in another 16 occasions.
The first 10 victories were in a row, between 1916 and 1925, being the national record of successive accomplishments (together with ABC); the most recent was in 2016.
Other major accomplishments were the Brazilian Second Division in 1997 and 2017, South-Minas Cup in 2000, and Brazilian Third Division in 2009.
On 30 April 1912, a group of young men who played football purely for the love of the game decided to turn their team into a football club.[7] In the first meeting, the founders decided that the name of the club would be América Foot-Ball Club,[8] and the colors would be green and white.[7] The first matches were played on the mayor's field.[7] In 1913, América and Minas Gerais Futebol Clube fused, and the club changed its colors to green, white and black.[9] Between 1916 and 1925, the team won ten state championships in a row.[9]
In 1933, as a protest to the professionalization of Brazilian football, the club changed its colors to red and white.[7] In 1943, the club professionalized its football division, and returned to its previous colors.[7] In 1948, América won its first state championship as a professional club.[9]
In 1997, América won the Série B for the first time,[10] and in 2000, the club won the Copa Sul-Minas first edition, beating Cruzeiro in the final.[11] In 2004, after a poor performance in the Série B, América was relegated to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C,[12] and in 2007, the club finished in Campeonato Mineiro's last position, and was relegated to the following year's Campeonato Mineiro Módulo II.[13] América won the Série C in 2009, beating ASA in the final.[14] The following year, the team was fourth at Série B and returned to the top level of the Brazilian championship after ten years.[15] On 14 June 2013, América signed a cooperation contract with the Tahitian Football Federation to develop under-20 national players.[16]
Symbols
The club's official anthem was composed by Vicente Motta. There are also two other anthems: The unofficial anthem, which was composed by Fernando Brant and Tavinho Moura, and the supporters' anthem, whose lyrics were composed by Márcio Vianna Dias and sung by Fernando Ângelo.[17] América's mascot, was created by the cartoonist Fernando Pierucetti, and is a red-eyed white cartoon rabbit with clearly protruding teeth.[9]
Derbies
América's greatest rivals are Cruzeiro and Atlético Mineiro.[18] The derby between América and Atlético Mineiro is known as O Clássico das Multidões (The Derby of the Masses),[8] and was first played on November 15, 1913, in a friendly game that ended in a 1–1 draw.[19]
"Hinos do América" (in Portuguese). América Futebol Clube (MG) official website. Archived from the original on March 29, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
