Esporte Clube Bahia

Early years and the first national title

Bahia´s team, 1959. National Archives of Brazil.

The Esporte Clube Bahia was founded in 1931, when players from two clubs decided to merge. The Associação Atlética da Bahia and the Clube Bahiano de Tênis had decided to discontinue their football divisions. A few years later Bahia became the most popular team in the Northeast of Brazil.

In the club's first year, Bahia won the Torneio Inicio and Bahia State Championship. The first Bahia president was Waldemar Costa, a doctor. Bahia's crest is based on Corinthians'. Bahia's state flag, created by Raimundo Magalhães, was used in place of the São Paulo state flag.

The team was founded with the motto "Nasceu para Vencer" (Born to Win). Bahia won 44 State Championships, 18 more than the Vitória (their rival club), and was the first club to participate in Taça Libertadores da America in 1960.

Between 1959 and 1963, and in 1968, the club represented the state of Bahia in Taça Brasil (the precursor of the Brazilian Championship), winning the title in 1959 and finishing as runner-up in 1961 and 1963.

The 1980s and the second national title

The 1980s were the best in Bahia's history. Bahia won their second national title in 1988, finishing 5th in 1986 and 4th in 1990.

In 1989, Bahia won its second Brazilian Championship against the Internacional from Porto Alegre Bahia won the first leg in Salvador by 2–1. The second leg ended in an 0–0 tie in Porto Alegre at the Beira Rio Stadium. After these results Bahia won the Brasileirão, their second national title. The championship gave to Bahia the right to play Copa Libertadores for a third time. It was a shock for the southern press because Salvador is in the Northeast and the victory was over the Internacional, a team from southern Brazil, the region that has the highest Human Development Index in the country.

Dark years

In 1997, Bahia was relegated to the Série B for the first time in its history after a 0–0 draw against the Juventude at the Fonte Nova stadium. In 1999 Bahia was close to being promoted to the Série A again. Bahia had a very good season, but finished in 3rd place, which was not enough to see them promoted.

In 2000, due to bribery scandals involving clubs such as the São Paulo and the Internacional, the team returned to the Brazilian First Division, invited by the Clube dos 13, along with the Fluminense, which was made a scapegoat for the controversy and was nationally victimized by the media (see Copa João Havelange).

In 2002 the bank that had sponsored the team went bankrupt and the Bahia began a descent down the Brazilian football pyramid. After the title of the Northeast Cup in 2001 and 2002, Bahia performed poorly in 2003, and were relegated to the Série B for the second time in the club's history. In 2004, the team was close to getting promoted to the Série A again, finishing 4th. In order to be promoted, Bahia would have to win the final match against the Brasiliense, but the referee Paulo César de Oliveira was assigned to that match and many people say he was all but fair on that day. In 2005, the club again competed in the Série B, finishing in 18th place, and was relegated to the Série C for the first time in the club's history.

Fênix tricolor (tricolored phoenix)

Bahia finished 2007 among the first four teams of the Third Division, and were promoted to the Second Division for the 2008 season. The Bahia began strongly, but in the last game of the 3rd stage of the Série C against the already-eliminated Fast Club, Bahia needed a win to advance to the final. The victory came in the last minute of the game with a goal scored by Charles. In the final, the team finished the third division in 2nd place, only losing the title in the final round. This moment is called the "Fênix Tricolor" amongst Bahia fans. The phoenix represents Bahia rising from the ashes.

Despite playing in the Third Division of Brazilian football in 2007, Bahia had the largest average attendance in Brazil: 40,400 people per match. No club in the Third, the Second, or even the First Division was able to match it. However, this is not unusual for Bahia, having also achieved the biggest average attendance in Brazil in 2004 (Second Division), 1988 (First Division), 1986 (First Division), and 1985 (First Division).

Recent years

From 2010 to 2014 Bahia remained in the first division. In 2014 they were relegated to the second division again, but came back in 2016. In 2017 they are playing in the first division. After 22 years out of international competition, Bahia returned in 2012 when they qualified for the Copa Sul-americana. In addition, they have won the 2012, 2014 and 2015 Bahia State Championship and the Northeast Cup in 2017.

In February 2018 the intense rivalry between Bahia and Esporte Clube Vitória drew international attention when ten players (five from each team) were shown the red card in a State Championship match.^[2]

National

• Série A

Winners (2): 1959, 1988

Runners-up (2): 1961, 1963

• Série C

Runner-up (1): 2007

Regional

• Copa Nordeste:

Winners (3): 2001, 2002, 2017

Runners-up (3): 1997, 1999, 2015

• Taça Norte-Nordeste:

Winners (3): 1959, 1961, 1963

Runners-up (3): 1960, 1962, 1968

• Torneio dos Campeões do Nordeste:

Winners (1): 1948

State/Youth

• Campeonato Baiano

Winners (47): 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1938,^[3] 1940, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999,^[4] 2001, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018

Runners-up (19): 1941, 1955, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1969, 1972, 1985, 1989, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013

• Taça Estado da Bahia

Winners (3): 2000, 2002, 2007

Runners-up (2): 2004, 2006

• Torneio Início

Winners (9): 1931, 1932, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1951, 1964, 1967, 1979

• U-20

Winners (16): 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014

Friendly tournaments

• Copa International Renner

Winners (1): 1997

• Taça Maria Quitéria

Winners (1): 1998

• Taça Bernardo Martins Catharino

Winners (3): 1953, 1954, 1955

• Taça Bahia-Pernambuco

Winners (2): 1993, 1994

U-20

• International Football Tournament in Marseille (France)

Winners (2): 2001, 2002

• Trofeo "Angelo Dossena" – Torneo Internazionale di Calcio (Italy)

Winners (1): 2011

First team

As of 9 October 2018

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Douglas Friedrich 2 DF Nino Paraíba 3 DF Tiago 4 DF Jackson 5 MF Flávio 6 DF Léo (on loan from Fluminense) 7 FW Élber 8 MF Agustín Allione (on loan from Palmeiras) 9 FW Gilberto 10 MF Zé Rafael 11 FW Edigar Junio 12 FW Clayton (on loan from Atlético Mineiro) 13 DF Douglas Grolli 14 MF Luiz Henrique (on loan from Náutico) 15 MF Edson (on loan from Fluminense)

No. Position Player 16 DF Paulinho 17 MF Elton 18 MF Ramires 19 MF Nílton 22 DF Bruno (on loan from São Paulo) 23 FW Júnior Brumado 25 DF Everson 26 MF Gregore (on loan from São Carlos) 28 DF Lucas Fonseca 29 MF Vinícius 30 MF Marco Antonio 32 GK Fernando Castro 33 GK Anderson 36 MF Willean Lepo 37 FW Fernandinho

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player DF Rodrigo Becão (to CSKA Moscow until 30 June 2019) MF Juninho (to Ceará until 31 December 2018) MF Feijão (to CRB until 31 December 2018) MF Régis (to Al-Wehda until 30 June 2019)

No. Position Player MF Yuri (to CSA until 31 December 2018) FW Kaynan (to Caldense until 31 December 2018) FW Zé Roberto (to São Bento until 31 December 2018)