page_title: Fluminense FC
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Fluminense FC / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Brazilian football team Fluminense that won its first Campeonato Carioca in 1906.
context_page_description: Fluminense Football Club, known simply as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, the state league of Rio de Janeiro. The club is based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
  The club was founded on 21 July 1902 and Oscar Cox was its first elected president. Fluminense have since been crowned national champions four times, most recently in the 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the team have also won the 2007 Copa do Brasil, the 1952 edition of Copa Rio, arguably the first FIFA organised club world cup in history and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C in 1999. Its best international performances are a second place at the 2008 Copa Libertadores and a second place at the 2009 Copa Sudamericana. In 1949, Fluminense became the first football club to receive the Olympic Cup, awarded annually by the International Olympic Committee to an institution or association with a record of merit and integrity in actively developing the Olympic Movement.
context_section_description: Fluminense Football Club was founded on 21 July 1902 in the neighbourhood of Flamengo in the city of Rio de Janeiro by a group of young football enthusiasts led by Oscar Cox, a Brazilian of English descent whom had come into contact with the sport whilst studying in Europe.
  The first official match was played against now defunct Rio Football Club, and Fluminense won 8–0. The club's first title came in 1906, when Fluminense won the Campeonato Carioca.
  
  In 1911, disagreement between Fluminense players led to the formation of Flamengo's football team. The so-called Fla-Flu derby is considered one of the biggest in the history of Brazilian football. Three years later, in Fluminense's stadium, the Brazilian national football team debuted, against touring English club Exeter City. It was also there that they won their first title, in 1919.
  By 1922, Fluminense had 4,000 members, a stadium for 25,000 people, and facilities that impressed clubs in Europe.
  The following years saw an expansion of the club's hegemony in Rio. Fluminense would remain unsurpassed in terms of state championships until 2009. International acclaim came in 1949 with the awarding of the Olympic Cup, and was further fostered in 1952 with Fluminense's World-wide honour, the Copa Rio. The club established itself regionally with victory in two Torneio Rio-São Paulo cups in 1957 and 1960. National honors followed in 1970, 1984, 2010 and 2012 with Taça de Prata and Série A cups, respectively, also taking the Cup in Brazil in 2007 and the Brasileirão Série C in 1999.
  From the 1950s, with the creation of the Rio-São Paulo Tournament, the forerunner of what eventually would become the national championship, Fluminense established itself regionally by winning the tournament title in the years of 1957 and 1960.
  From the 1960s, the first national championships began to be played in Brazil. Fluminense's first national title came in 1970; at that time, Brazil had the best players in world football, and all of them played in Brazilian clubs. Although its squad was not counted among the main contenders of the season in Brazil, Fluminense won the Brazilian championship and surpassed the great strengths of the time in Santos, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro.
  In the 1970s, Fluminense signed several famous players like Roberto Rivellino. This time, called "maquina tricolor", they won the state championship in the years of 1975 and 1976. In the national championship, Fluminense lost in the semifinal matches to Internacional in 1975 and Corinthians in 1976.
  Fluminense again became Brazilian champions in 1984. This time, they won the state Championship in the years of 1983, 1984 and 1985 with players like Romerito, Ricardo Gomes, Deley, and the "Casal Vinte": Assis and Washington.
  At the end of the 1980s, Copa do Brasil was created, inspired by the Cup tournaments played in European countries. Fluminense reached the final of the Copa do Brasil for the first time in 1992, but lost to Internacional de Porto Alegre.
  A disastrous campaign led to the club's relegation from Brasileirão Série A in 1996. A set of off-field political manoeuvres, however, not performed by Fluminense, allowed Fluminense to remain in Brazil's top domestic league, only to be relegated the next year. Completely out of control the club was relegated from Série B to Série C in 1998. In 1999, Fluminense won the Série C championship and were to be promoted to Série B when they were invited to take part in Copa João Havelange, a championship that replaced the traditional Série A in 2000. In 2001, it was decided that all clubs which took part in Copa João Havelange's so-called Blue Group should be kept in Série A.
  In 2002, 2005 and 2012, Fluminense won the Campeonato Carioca again. In 2005 Fluminense reached the final of the Copa do Brasil again, but lost to Paulista Futebol Clube.
  In 2007, Fluminense won the Copa do Brasil, after beating Figueirense in the final, and was admitted to the Copa Libertadores again after 23 years. The club's campaign saw them reach the final and included remarkable matches against Arsenal de Sar
caption: The team that won its first Campeonato Carioca, in 1906
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