Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras

Founded by Italian immigrants and the descendants of Italians on the 26^th of August 1914, and inspired by the visit to Brazil of the Italian football teams Torino and Pro Vercelli and the legendary Vittorio Pozzo, the Società Sportiva Palestra Italia was founded with the aim of uniting and strengthening the large Italian community in São Paulo around a sports club that would represent it and spread its values, traditions and culture.

Bearing the colours of the Italian flag, red, white and green, the club soon became one of the most important and successful sports institutions in Brazil. It paved the way for the popularisation of football among Brazilians in the early 1920s, the introduction of professional football and the construction of the first concrete stadium in São Paulo, the Palestra Italia Stadium, in the 1930s.

During the Second World War, the club had to change colours, symbols and even its name, rebranding itself Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, the name by which it is still known today. It won the first inter-club world championship, conceived by the Italian secretary of FIFA at the time, Ottorino Barassi, in 1951, disputing the final against the Italian team Juventus in the International Tournament of Champions Clubs.

In the Golden Age of Brazilian football, between the 1960s and 1970s, it became known as the “Accademia del Calcio” due to its plasticity and technique, which envisaged high performance and efficiency on the pitch. In September 1965, it became the first club to wear the legendary yellow jersey of the Brazilian national team. Two-time South American champions, in 1999 and 2020, and holders of 15 national titles (championships and cups), Palmeiras continues to be a point of reference both on and off the pitch, with modern facilities such as the Allianz Parque, Latin America's foremost multi-purpose arena, the Football Academy (Academia de Futebol), a training centre for the pro team that comprises a modern technical and hotel complex, and the Athletes' Training Centre, where youngsters benefit from an exclusive space for training, accommodation, meals and medical, psychological, social and educational assistance.

Story compiled in collaboration with Fernando Galuppo, historian of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, and Gina Marques.