Sport Club do Recife (), commonly known as Sport Recife or simply Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in Recife, Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of football in Brazil, and in the Campeonato Pernambucano, the state of Pernambuco's top state league division.
In football, the club has won six CBD/CBF titles, including three national and three regional. Its greatest achievement is winning the 2008 Copa do Brasil. The club also disputes the status of champion of the 1987 Campeonato Brasileiro with Flamengo, as Sport Recife won the official league sanctioned by CBF, while Flamengo won the separate Copa União with the top clubs of Brazil. In addition, it also won 1 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, 3 Copa do Nordeste and 45 Campeonato Pernambucano.
In addition to professional football, the club also participates in women's football and Olympic sports, such as rowing, swimming, hockey, basketball, futsal, volleyball, table tennis, taekwondo, judo and athletics.
Their historical rival is Náutico, and they both dispute the Clássico dos Clássicos. The derby against Santa Cruz is called the Clássico das Multidões, while the derby with América is called the Clássico dos Campeões.
History Foundation and early years Sport Club do Recife was founded on 13 May 1905 by Guilherme de Aquino Fonseca, a member of a wealthy family in Pernambuco who found a love for football while studying engineering at the University of Cambridge in England. The club were the first recorded football club in the state of Pernambuco. Sport played their first match on 22 June 1905, drawing 2–2 against a team called English Eleven, a team formed by employees working for English companies in Recife.
The Campeonato Pernambucano was established in 1916, and Sport won the competition's first two titles. From 1923 to 1925, Sport won the competition three consecutive times, and became tricampeão (three-time champion).
International tours and military government years
Sport Recife celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1955 by winning their 15th state title. In 1957, the club toured Europe. A total of 17 matches were played, with 6 wins, 3 draws, and 8 defeats. These matches include the 5–3 loss against Real Madrid, which was the first night game at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Sport Recife participated in the 1963 International Soccer League, finishing fourth in their group, with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 2 defeats.
As a result of a dispute with the Federação Pernambucana de Futebol (FPF), Sport did not participate in the 1978 Campeonato Pernambucano.
First National league title
The 1987 Campeonato Brasileiro/Copa União resulted in Sport's first national title, conquered in common justice. However, the club did not officially receive this title until 30 years later, in 2017. This was due to a dispute with Flamengo, who also claimed to have won the title, since the latter, champion of the 1987 championship, as well as Internacional, refused to compete in a quadrangular crossing with the finalist teams of Module B, in the case of Sport and Guarani. After topping group B in both the 1st and 2nd rounds Sport beat Bangu 5–4 on aggregate in the semi-final, and then Guarani 3–2 in the final. By winning the title, they qualified for the 1988 Copa Libertadores, but failed to qualify for the next stages of the competition, finishing third in their group, although with a notable 5–0 victory over Alianza Lima.
A terrible 1989 league campaign resulted in the club's relegation. However, they won the 1990 Série B, with a 1–1 draw on aggregate against Atlético Paranaense in the final, but were awarded the title due to their better record across the season. Led by Givanildo Oliveira, Sport won the 1st edition of the Copa do Nordeste in 1994, beating hosts CRB on penalties after a 0–0 draw in normal time.
21st century In 2000, Sport won the Copa do Nordeste for the 2nd time, this time under the command of coach Celso Roth after a 2–2 draw against Vitória, again winning the title due to a superior record. In the next Copa do Nordeste edition, Sport finished as runner up, losing 3–1 to Bahia.
In 2006 Sport were promoted to the 2007 Serie A by finishing second in the league table, after five years in Série B.
Sport became the first club from Northeastern Brazil to win the Copa do Brasil, beating Corinthians on away goals in the 2008 final. By winning the cup, Sport contested its second Copa Libertadores in 2009, and had a great start, finishing first of a group containing LDU, Colo-Colo and Palmeiras. They were drawn against Palmeiras in the next round, but were defeated on penalties, after drawing 1–1 on aggregate. In the second half of 2009, Sport disputed the Brasileirão, but could not repeat the excellent first half of the year, and finished in last place with a 4–0 defeat to São Paulo on the last matchday, being relegated to Série B with four managers throughout the season.
O Leão da Ilha returned to Série A for the 2012 season, going through three managers – Helio dos Anjos, Mazola Júnior, and Paulo Gusmão, as they were relegated again with a seventeenth-placed finish. Although they were in Serie B, Sport inherited a spot in the 2013 Copa Sudamericana by regulation of CBF towards the remnants of the Copa do Brasil. Leão were eliminated by Libertad of Paraguay with two losses in the 2nd phase, after eliminating rivals Náutico.
2014 was a great year for Sport: they returned to Serie A, won their third Copa do Nordeste, 40th Campeonato Pernambucano, and finished 11th in the league, which ensured them a place in the following edition of the Copa Sudamericana.
Although the club did not win any titles in 2015, Sport had a very good year, and kept coach Eduardo Baptista. The start of the year was poor, with Sport being eliminated from the state league by third division club Salgueiro. The club entered the Copa Sudamericana in the second stage, where they beat Bahia 4–2 on aggregate with an incredible comeback, as Bahia had won the first leg 1–0. In the next stage, they faced Argentine club Huracán, where they were eliminated after losing 4–1 on aggregate (1-1, 0–3). In the 2015 Série A, the club had its best campaign since 2000, finishing 6th in the table with 59 points; Sport went through 15 matches in the top 4 and was the league leader in five of them. However, after this great run, Sport went through a 10-match winless run, which saw the club drop to eleventh and caused the resignation of Baptista. After the arrival of Paulo Roberto Falcão, the club's performances improved, although the goal of qualifying for the Copa Libertadores was not met.
In 2016 Sport finished 14th in the Serie A and qualified to the 2017 Copa Sudamericana. In the Copa Sudamericana, the club were knocked out by Junior in the quarter-finals, losing 2–0 on aggregate (0-0, 2–0), after eliminating Danubio on penalties (3–0, 0–3), Arsenal de Sarandí (2–0, 1–2), and Ponte Preta (3–1, 0–1). André Felipe was the club's most important player in the Sudamericana campaign, scoring four goals, including two goals in the first leg and one in the second leg against Arsenal de Sarandí.
A pior campanha de um clube nordestino na Série A do Campeonato Brasileiro na era dos pontos corridos (desde 2003) pertence ao Sport (em 2025) e ao América-RN (em 2007), ambos com 17 pontos, mas o time pernambucano ficou com o critério pior por ter somado apenas 2 vitórias contra 4 da equipe potiguar.
Honours
Official tournaments
NationalCompetitionsTitlesSeasonsCopa União Modulo Amarelo11987Copa do Brasil12008Campeonato Brasileiro Série B21987, 1990RegionalCompetitionsTitlesSeasonsCopa do Nordeste31994, 2000, 2014Torneio Norte-Nordeste 11968StateCompetitionsTitlesSeasonsCampeonato Pernambucano 461916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1928, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1948, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026Copa Pernambuco31998, 2003, 2007
shared record
Others tournaments
International Leopoldo Casado International Tournament (1): 1980 Troféu Ariano Suassuna (4): 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
National Qualificatório da Taça Ouro (1): 1980 Troféu Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (Módulo Amarelo) (1): 1987
Regional and Inter-state Zona Norte-Nordeste da Taça Brasil (1): 1962 Torneio Paraíba-Pernambuco (1): 1965
State Torneio Início de Pernambuco (18): 1920, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1968, 1974, 1977
Runners-up Copa do Brasil (1): 1989 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (2): 2006, 2019 Copa dos Campeões (1): 2000 Copa do Nordeste (4): 2001, 2017, 2022, 2023 Torneio Norte-Nordeste (1): 1970 Campeonato Pernambucano (24): 1919, 1922, 1940, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1986, 1987, 1990, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2021 Copa Pernambuco (2): 2000, 2005
Women's Football Campeonato Pernambucano de Futebol Feminino (11): 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Current squad First team
Youth team
Other players under contract
Out on loan
Technical staff
Current technical staff Pepa – Head Coach Daniel Cerqueira – Assistant Coach César Lucena – Assistant Coach Ricardo Henriques – Fitness Coach Edvaldo Tacão – Fitness Coach Vitor Hugo – Fitness Coach Junior Matos – Goalkeeper Trainer
Top scorers
+Sport Recife Top Scorers1ºTraçaia2022ºDjalma Freitas1613ºLeonardo1334ºLuís Carlos1085ºNaninho1056ºDadá Maravilha947ºMarcílio de Aguiar938ºRaúl Bentancor919ºRoberto Coração de Leão8910ºBé80
Supporters In 2013, a study named Sport Recife as the 13th most supported club in Brazil, with around 2.4 million supporters countrywide. Supporters of the club are called Leonine and Sportistas.
The club has various organized supporter groups:
Brava IIha Gang da Ilha Comando Rasta Torcida Jovem Treme Terra Tropa de Elite Sport Chopp Turminha do Vigor Leões da Ilha
Rivalries
Santa Cruz The "Derby of Crowds" (Clássico das Multidões) is the football encounter between the two largest fanbases from Pernambuco. Sport has a considerable advantage over their rivals in head to head results, with 236 wins against 169 from Santa Cruz.
Náutico The Derby of Derbies (Clássico dos Clássicos) is the third oldest derby in the country, after the Clássico Vovô and the Grenal. It brings together the two oldest teams in Pernambuco, with Sport also having a large advantage overall, with 218 wins in the fixture, while Náutico won 187.
América-PE The Champions Derby (Clássico dos Campeões) is one of the most ancient and classical derbies of Pernambuco, and is named that way because until the late 1930s, Sport and its archrival America were together the two teams with the highest number of titles, and were also the two main clubs of Recife. The derby lost popularity after the decline of América-PE, since they haven't won any trophies since the 1940s. América are currently at the second division of the Campeonato Pernambucano.
Esporte Clube Bahia The rivalry between Sport and Bahia is one of the biggest regional rivalries of Brazil. Both are the most successful football clubs from the Northeast region, as they are the only two clubs in the region to have won major national titles, and the clubs with most supporters across the region. The 2010s marked the growth of their rivalry, as both clubs' supporters saw their state rivals declining in comparison to them. Another important aspect about the rivalry is that Pernambuco and Bahia have their own rivalry, ranging from which is the most important state in the northeast region to which state deploys the best carnival in the country. The rivalry between states are nurtured the most between inhabitants of the state capitals, Recife and Salvador, which also are the cities where Sport Recife and Bahia are based.