# Ceará Sporting Club

Ceará Sporting Club, or simply Ceará, (Portuguese:) is a Brazilian professional football club from the city of Fortaleza, capital city of the Brazilian state of Ceará.
Founded on June 2, 1914, Ceará is one of the most traditionally successful clubs in the Northeast region of Brazil alongside Bahia, Santa Cruz, Sport, Náutico, Vitória and their city rivals Fortaleza.
Ceará is the most popular team in the state, proven in several research and communication vehicles. It also has an advantage in direct confrontations, with 203 wins, 211 draws and just 184 victories over its rival. It is the pioneering and most traditional team in its state and one of the largest in its region.

## History

On June 2, 1914, the club was founded as Rio Branco Football Club by Luiz Esteves Junior and Pedro Freire. Later, seventeen members joined the club. As Rio Branco Football Club, the team colors were white and lilac. In 1915, on their first birthday, the club changed its name to Ceará Sporting Club, and later won their first title in 1922.
In 1941, Ceará won the Campeonato Cearense, the same year of the inauguration of Estadio Presidente Vargas. From 1961 to 1963, the club was three times consecutive state champion. In 1969, Ceará won the Northeast Cup. In 1964, Ceara finished third in Serie A, their best campaign in the top flight to date.
In 1970 the club ended a seven-year state championship title drought. In 1971, Ceará was the last placed team in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A first edition. From 1975 to 1978, the club was state champion four times in a row.
In 1985, Ceará finished seventh in the league, their second best ever position In 1994, the club finished as Brazilian Cup runners-up, beaten by Grêmio in the final. In 1995, Ceará participated in the Copa CONMEBOL, the club's first international championship, becoming the only club of Ceará State to play an international tournament. In 1996, the team administrator was Forró bands businessman Emanuel Gurgel. The team changed its home shirt color to all black. Because of this, the team was nicknamed "Urubu do Nordeste" (Northeast Vulture). From 1996 to 1999, the club was state champion four times in a row .
In 2005, Ceará reached the Copa do Brasil semifinals, where the club was defeated by Fluminense.
In 2010, after a 17-year absence, Ceará was promoted back to the Brazilian League, after finishing third in the 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. In their first campaign back, Ceara had a great start, unbeaten for eight matches and kicking off their campaign with a win against champions Fluminense. However, their form began to drop with a run of only one victory in twelve matches, including a heavy 5–0 loss to Avaí. Ceara eventually finished in 12th position, achieving a place in the Copa Sudamericana.
In the 2011 Copa Sudamericana, they were eliminated by Sao Paulo in the first round, despite having won the first leg. Later that year, Ceará reached the Copa do Brasil semi-finals. Vozao ended Ronaldinho's Flamengo's unbeaten streak in the quarter-finals with a victory in the Engenhao, then drew the home game, eliminating the Rio de Janeiro team in a notorious upset. Ceará, however, was defeated by Coritiba in the semi-finals. Also that year, they won their first Campeonato Cearense in five years, paving the way for four consecutive state titles from 2011 to 2014. However, the club was relegated from the Serie A. After having begun the season poorly, a run of four wins in seven matches seemed to steer the club to safety in the ninth position after a win against Athletico Paranaense, but then a spell with only one win in thirteen matches, including four successive defeats brought them into the relegation zone, and their relegation was confirmed with a loss to Bahia.
In February 2014, the Cidade Vozao – Luis Campos Training center was inaugurated. This is where the club houses its youth teams and where the first-team trains.
In 2015, Ceara won their first Copa do Nordeste, eliminating Vitoria on away goals before defeating Bahia over two legs. However, the team struggled in Série B, only finishing two points above the relegation zone. In 2018, they achieved promotion and finished 15th in the league that season. In 2020, the club won their second Copa do Nordeste, finished eleventh in Serie A, and gained qualification to the Copa Sudamericana, their first in a decade.
In 2021, they finished eleventh again, and qualified for the 2022 Copa Sudamericana, where they had a great campaign, winning all matches in the group stage which included powerhouse Independiente de Avellaneda, then beating The Strongest 5–1 on aggregate before losing to finalists São Paulo on penalties in the quarter-finals. However, the Copa Sudamericana campaign put stress on the squad and they were not able to keep up with the pace of the league, causing relegation after a seventeenth-placed finish.

## Honours
### Official tournaments

Regional :
| Competitions | Titles | Seasons |
| Copa do Nordeste | 3 | 2015, 2020, 2023 |
| Torneio Norte-Nordeste | 1$^s$ | 1969 |
| State |||
| Competitions | Titles | Seasons |
| Campeonato Cearense | 46$^s$ | 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1922, 1925, 1931, 1932, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1948, 1951, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2024 |
* record
* $^s$ shared record

### Others tournaments
#### Regional and Inter-state

* Zona Norte-Nordeste da Taça Brasil (1): 1964
* Taça Asa Branca (1): 2016

#### State

* Copa dos Campeões Cearenses (1): 2014
* Torneio Início do Ceará (12): 1922, 1923, 1926, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1943, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1967, 1978

### Runners-up

* Copa do Brasil (1): 1994
* Copa do Nordeste (2): 2014, 2021
* Campeonato Cearense (26): 1924, 1933, 1943, 1952, 1959, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023
* Copa dos Campeões Cearenses (2): 2018, 2019

### Youth team

* Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-23 (1): 2020

### Women's Football

* Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Série A2 (1): 2022
* Campeonato Cearense de Futebol Feminino (5): 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024

## Stadium

Ceará's home venue is Estádio Carlos de Alencar Pinto, capacity 3,000, but the team also plays at Estadio Castelão for big games and finals, which has a capacity of 60,326, and at Presidente Vargas Stadium, which has a 22,228 capacity.

## Rivals

Ceará's greatest rival is Fortaleza, and the match between the two clubs is known as Clássico Rei. It has been played 603 times, with Ceará winning 213 times, Fortaleza winning 187 times and 203 draws. Ceará's second biggest rival is Ferroviário, the third biggest club of Fortaleza city, and the match is known as Clássico da Paz. This derby has been played 302 times, with 140 wins for Ceará, 71 wins for Ferroviário and 91 draws.

## Mascot

The team's mascot, an old man known as "Vovô" ("Grandpa") was designed by cartoonist Mino, a native of Ceará, for the "Ceará: Paixão Total" Project ("Ceará: Full Passion" Project).
The "grandpa" figure appeared in late 1919, when Meton de Alencar Pinto, former president of Ceará SC, coached young players of América Football Club, a small club from the city, in the Porangabussu training center. Meton, who used to call these young players as his "grandsons", asked them to "go easy on grandpa". Afterwards, the nickname started to apply to the team of Ceará as well, helped by the seniority of the club; Ceará Sporting Club was the first football team founded in the state.

## Supporters

Ceara is the best supported club in the state, and third in the Northeast, behind Bahia and Sport, according to a recent study by GloboEsporte.com. Vozao has approximately 1.6 million supporters.

## Logo evolution

The first logo was the club's first as Ceará Sporting Club, and was used from 1915 to 1954.
The second logo was used from 1955 to 1969 and was inspired by the Santos logo.
The third logo was used from 1970 to 2003, which removed the ball found in the top left corner of the previous logo, and added a white outline.
The fourth logo is the current team logo, and was adopted in 2003. The logo is a restyled version of the previous logo created by Adman Orlando Mota. This logo introduced the white stars and the foundation date.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 18 February 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | BRA | Richard |
| 2 | DF | POR | Rafael Ramos |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Marllon |
| 7 | FW | BRA | Pedro Henrique (on loan from Corinthians) |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Matheus Araújo |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Pedro Raul (on loan from Corinthians) |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Lucas Mugni |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Aylon |
| 13 | DF | BRA | Luiz Otávio (captain) |
| 14 | DF | BRA | Eric |
| 15 | DF | BRA | Gabriel Lacerda |
| 16 | GK | BRA | Fernando Miguel |
| 17 | FW | BRA | João Victor |
| 18 | GK | BRA | Keiller (on loan from Internacional) |
| 19 | MF | BRA | Rômulo (on loan from Palmeiras) |
| 20 | DF | BRA | Dieguinho |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | FW | ARG | Alejandro Martínez (on loan from Talleres) |
| 23 | DF | BRA | Willian Machado |
| 26 | MF | BRA | Richardson |
| 27 | FW | PAR | Antonio Galeano (on loan from Nacional) |
| 28 | MF | PAR | Jorge Recalde |
| 29 | DF | BRA | Bruno Tubarão |
| 30 | DF | BRA | Nicolas (on loan from América Mineiro) |
| 33 | DF | BRA | Éder |
| 40 | DF | BRA | Ramon Menezes |
| 44 | DF | BRA | Marcos Victor (on loan from Bahia) |
| 70 | DF | BRA | Fabiano (on loan from Moreirense) |
| 77 | FW | BRA | Fernandinho |
| 79 | DF | BRA | Matheus Bahia (on loan from Bahia) |
| 88 | MF | BRA | Fernando Sobral (on loan from Cuiabá) |
| 94 | GK | BRA | Bruno Ferreira |
| 97 | MF | BRA | Lourenço |

### Youth team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | MF | GHA | Steve Nufour |
| 29 | DF | BRA | Jotavê |
| 45 | FW | BRA | Kaique Barbosa |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 80 | FW | BRA | Guilherme Luiz |
| 82 | MF | BRA | Zé Neto |
| 88 | MF | BRA | Caio |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | BRA | César Augusto (on loan at Nacional until 30 June 2025) |
| — | DF | GHA | Stanley Boateng (on loan at Red Bull Bragantino until 31 December 2025) |
| — | DF | BRA | Yago Lincoln (on loan at Londrina until 30 November 2025) |
| — | FW | BRA | Daniel Mazerochi (on loan at Treze until 30 September 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | BRA | Janderson (on loan at Remo until 30 November 2025) |
| — | FW | BRA | Lucas Rian (on loan at São Bernardo until 30 November 2025) |
| — | FW | BRA | Pablo (on loan at Treze until 30 September 2025) |

## Staff
### Current staff

    As of 5 January 2023.
| Position | Name |
| Coaching staff ||
| Head coach | Vagner Mancini |
| Assistant head coach | Marcos Valadares |
| Assistant head coach | Régis Angeli |
| Goalkeepers trainer | Everaldo Santana |
| Goalkeepers trainer | Handerson Santos de Souza |
| Performance analyst | Alcino Rodrigues |
| Performance analyst | Tadeu Alves |
| Medical staff ||
| Fitness coach | Valdir Nogueira de Oliveira Júnior |
| Fitness coach | Eduardo Ballalai |
| Fitness coach | Roberto Farias |
| Doctor | Joaquim Garcia |
| Doctor | Leandro Rêgo |
| Doctor | Daniel Gomes |
| Doctor | Pedro Guilme |
| Physiotherapist | Adolfo Bernardo |
| Physiotherapist | Lucas Freire |
| Physiotherapist | Perez Maciel |
| Physiotherapist | Matheus Carneiro |

## Managers

* Arnaldo Lira (1999)
* Lula Pereira (1999)
* Sérgio Ramirez d'Ávila (1999)
* Celso Teixeira (1999–00)
* Cláudio Duarte (2000)
* José Carlos Serrão (2000)
* Arnaldo Lira (2000–01)
* Júlio Espinosa (2001)
* Flávio Araújo (2001)
* Artur Neto (2002)
* Luis Carlos Cruz (2002–03)
* Dimas Filgueiras (2003)
* Celso Teixeira (2003)
* Ricardo Barreto (2004)
* Roberto Fernandes (2004)
* Lula Pereira (2004)
* Arnaldo Lira (2005)
* Lula Pereira (2004)
* Jair Pereira (2005)
* Valdir Espinosa (2005)
* Zé Teodoro (2006), (2009)
* Paulo César Gusmão (2009–10)
* René Simões (2010)
* Estevam Soares (2010)
* Mário Sérgio (2010)
* Vágner Mancini (2011)
* Estevam Soares (2011)
* Paulo César Gusmão (2012)
* Ricardinho (2013)
* Sérgio Guedes (2013)
* Sérgio Soares (2013–14)
* Paulo César Gusmão (2014)
* Dado Cavalcanti (2015)
* Silas Pereira (2015)
* Geninho (2015)
* Marcelo Cabo (2015)
* Lisca (2015–16)
* Sérgio Soares (2016)
* Gilmar Dal Pozzo (2017)
* Givanildo Oliveira (2017)
* Marcelo Chamusca (2017–18)
* Jorginho (2018)
* Lisca (2018–19)
* Enderson Moreira (2019)
* Adílson Batista (2019)
* Argel Fuchs (2019–20)
* Enderson Moreira (2020)
* Guto Ferreira (2020–21)
* Tiago Nunes (2021–22)
* Dorival Júnior (2022)
* Lucho González (2022)
* Gustavo Morínigo (2023)
* Eduardo Barroca (2023)
* Guto Ferreira (2023)
* Vagner Mancini (2023–2024)
* Léo Condé (2024–present)

## Ultras groups

* Cearamor
* Movimento Organizado Força Independente (Mofi)