Santo André is Another Club Moving to First Division

By: Bruno Romani | November 17th, 2008

The third club promoted to the first division in 2009 is Santo André. On the Friday, the club visited and beat Ceará 3-2 (interesting how Ceará was also the host when Corinthians was promoted and at the same time the club is fighting to escape the third division). On Saturdar, Corinthians beat 3-1 Vila Nova, the fifth club in the table. Combined, the two results put the club of ex-Corinthians and veteran midfielder Marcelinho Carioca (goal recommended: 1:54) in the first division after 25 years.

For those unfamiliar with the club, Santo André is the club that silenced the Maracanã in 2004 in the final of Copa do Brasil by beating Flamengo 2-0. Also, Santo André is the main rival of São Caetano, “the” Brazilian club of the early 00’s who is now just a mid table team in the second division.

Santo André adopted a new and more professional form of managing the club to turn 2008 in an antithesis of 07. Last year, the club was fighting to escape the third division. This year, besides the promotion in Campeonato Brasileiro, the club achieved the main division of the São Paulo state league. Santo André has been engaging local businesses and getting them to invest in the club. The club created 80 “shares” which people can buy for about $1 thousand. The return of the investment happens when the club negotiates players, by paying 1% of the transaction per share. Given that the city of Santo André is an industrial one (very close to São Paulo), there are many possibilities for money. The extra income, plus sponsors, turned the club in one of the powers of the second division. And now the club just hopes to make things difficult for the big clubs in 2009.

Also, it is worth making a note about the return of Marcelinho Carioca. The midfielder had retired and became a TV commentator. Faced with the difficulties of a media worker, the guy restarted his career and now takes Santo André to first division. It is never too late for a new start.

Ceara 2 – 3 Santo Andre: