Football club
Esporte Clube Água Santa, commonly referred to as simply Água Santa, is a Brazilian association football club in Diadema,♣️ São Paulo, currently playing in the Paulistão, the top tier of the São Paulo state football league.
Founded as an amateur♣️ team by migrants in 1981, Água Santa became one of the strongest non-professional teams in the ABC region, winning 17♣️ titles during that time.
[1] On 8 December 2011, the team turned pro, joining the Campeonato Paulista Segunda Divisão in 2013.
Água♣️ Santa won three consecutive promotions in their first years of professionalism, and by 2016, they were already in the top♣️ tier of the Campeonato Paulista.
[2] They were relegated back to Campeonato Paulista Série A2 after just one season in the♣️ top flight.
They were promoted to the first division again for the 2020 season, were relegated again in the same year,♣️ and won promotion back to the top tier in the following season.
Since the beginning of the professional era, Água Santa♣️ has played at Estádio Distrital do Inamar.
The club's home colours are white and blue and the team mascot is Neptune,♣️ the Roman god of the sea.
Their main rivals are São Bernardo, São Caetano and Santo André.
Água Santa also had a♣️ troublesome off-field relationship with cross-town rivals Clube Atlético Diadema,[3] which resulted in the latter team leaving for Ribeirão Pires.[4]History [♣️ edit ]
Amateur era (1981–2011) [ edit ]
Água Santa was founded by migrants from Northern Brazil, Northeastern Brazil and Minas Gerais♣️ on 27 October 1981 as an amateur team in the Eldorado neighborhood of Diadema, on a street called Estrada Água♣️ Santa, which is where the club got its name from.
In the 2000s, the club grew into one of the powerhouses♣️ of the Diadema amateur football league.
The club won the local third division in 2000 and the second division the following♣️ year.
They finished second in the league in 2002 and 2003, and in 2004 they won the title for the first♣️ time.
Água Santa were runners-up again in 2005 and 2006.
In 2008, Água Santa played in the Copa Uniligas, an amateur cup♣️ contested by the best performing teams in the ABC region.
They made it all the way to the finals, but ended♣️ up losing 1–0 to Santo André side União Vila Sá.
[5] Água Santa won three consecutive Diadema amateur football league titles♣️ from 2009 to 2011, establishing the team as the strongest in the city.
Their amateur league games already attracted crowds of♣️ over 5,000 fans to Arena Inamar every sunday, and the team gained national attention after former Corinthians star Dinei, who♣️ had also played for Água Santa, wore the team's shirt during the fourth season of the A Fazenda reality show.
[6]♣️ As Diadema was one of the few larger cities in São Paulo that never had a professional football team, the♣️ club decided to turn pro, paying a R$600,000 fee to join the Federação Paulista de Futebol, quitting the amateur league♣️ in the process.
Former footballer Capitão was chosen to be Netuno's director of football,[7] and Paulo Sirqueira Korek Farias was the♣️ club's first (and so far only) president, with Revelino "Pretinho" Teixeira serving as the vice-president.
[6] The Roman god of the♣️ sea Neptune was chosen to be the team's mascot due to their name (Holy Water, in Portuguese) and the club's♣️ proximity to the Billings dam.
[8] Their home stadium is also next to a Sabesp water tank facility.[9]
Meteoric rise (2012–2016) [♣️ edit ]
The club chose to take part only in youth tournaments in 2012.
They played their first youth league games undear♣️ coach Lilló on 7 April 2014, against local rivals Santo André at Estádio Bruno José Daniel.
The U15 clash ended in♣️ a goalless draw, while the U17 team lost 0–1.
While the under-20 and under-17 sides were eliminated in the first stage♣️ of their respective leagues, the U15 Água Santa team performed better, reaching the third stage of the U-15 Campeonato Paulista♣️ in their first year.[10][11][12]
Márcio Ribeiro was hired to be Água Santa's manager in the 2013 Campeonato Paulista Segunda Divisão.
Their first♣️ ever professional match game was held on 28 April 2013 at Baetão, in São Bernardo do Campo.
[13] Over 1,500 fans♣️ attended the match against EC São Bernardo, who took the lead in the 61st minute.
Three minutes later, midfielder Lucas Limão♣️ scored Netuno's first ever professional goal, converting a penalty kick.
He scored again in the 73rd minute, giving Água Santa their♣️ first ever league win.
[14] Água Santa played their first home game against crosstown rivals and fellow debutant side CAD on♣️ 4 May, losing 2–3 in front of a sold-out crowd.
In spite of their local derby defeat, Água Santa's matches kept♣️ attracting large crowds and the club eventually won promotion to Série A3 on 13 October, following a 3–1 win against♣️ Cotia.
The club also made it to the league finals against Matonense.
[15] Although Água Santa comfortably won the first leg 5–2,♣️ they lost the away leg 4–0 and had to settle for second place in their first ever professional league season.[16]
The♣️ team saw continued success in the 2014 Campeonato Paulista Série A3, finishing sixth in the first stage and achieving promotion♣️ for the second straight year, after finishing the second stage in second place in their group, which also featured Sertãozinho,♣️ São José dos Campos and eventual league winners Novorizontino.
In the 2015 season, Água Santa finished fourth in Campeonato Paulista Série♣️ A2, achieving promotion once again, this time to the first tier of the São Paulo state league.
Due to the club's♣️ arrival in the top flight, the Estádio Distrital do Inamar had to go through reconstruction, which increased the stadium capacity♣️ to 10,000 people.[17]
Rule changes for the 2016 Campeonato Paulista saw six clubs being relegated instead of the usual four, as♣️ the Federação Paulista de Futebol intended to decrease the number of participant clubs from 20 to 16.
Água Santa had a♣️ decent start to the championship, winning three of the first five games, but soon after the team went into a♣️ six-game winless streak, putting Netuno in the relegation zone and resulting in the sacking of long-time manager Márcio Ribeiro after♣️ nearly four years in charge of the club.
[18] Márcio Bittencourt was appointed the new manager soon after.
His first match in♣️ charge was against Palmeiras on 27 March.
[19] The game ended in a resounding 4–1 win for the Diadema side,[20] which♣️ was called "a humiliation" by newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo.
[21] The result of that match is now often used as♣️ a provocation against Palmeiras' fans by rivals and even by Água Santa itself multiple times.
[22][23][24] Despite the media repercussion, that♣️ would end up being their only win until the end of the tournament.
On 2 April, Água Santa suffered their biggest♣️ defeat in history, a 7–2 thrashing by Ponte Preta at Moisés Lucarelli.
[25] A home loss to São Bernardo in the♣️ final matchday of the first stage, combined with a Botafogo win over Capivariano officially relegated Água Santa back to the♣️ second division for the 2017 season.[26]
Later years (2016–present) [ edit ]
Following their relegation, Água Santa took part in the Copa♣️ Paulista for the first time in 2016.
Bittencourt was replaced by Edinho, who signed a one-year deal to be the new♣️ head coach.
[27] He left the club by mutual consent after just nine games in charge,[28] and on 21 September, Fahel♣️ Júnior was appointed as the new manager.
[29] Under Fahel, Água Santa couldn't get past the second stage of the Copa♣️ Paulista.
For the 2017 Campeonato Paulista Série A2, Jorginho was chosen to lead the club back to the top tier of♣️ the Paulistão.
[30] He was joined by former club manager Márcio Ribeiro, who was hired for a director role.
[31] The season♣️ started well for Água Santa, as the club finished the first stage leading the competition.
[32] They played Bragantino in the♣️ semifinals, and narrowly missed promotion, being eliminated in a penalty shoot-out.
[33] Their Copa Paulista run was also short-fated, as Água♣️ Santa again lost in the second stage.
Jorginho remained at the helm for 2018, but unlike in the previous season, the♣️ club had a rough start in Série A2, which led to Jorginho's dismissal on 28 January.
[34] The same day, the♣️ club announced Toninho Cecílio as his replacement.
[35] Água Santa kept struggling under Cecílio, who was fired after failing to lead♣️ the club to a single win in six matches.
[36] With the club at the bottom of the table, Márcio Ribeiro♣️ returned to a coaching role for the remainder of the tournament, saving the club from relegation.
[37] Água Santa chose to♣️ field their U20 team in the 2018 Copa Paulista.
[38] Under Antônio Carlos Papel, the club did not perform well.
They were♣️ eliminated in the first stage, finishing last in their group.
With Ribeiro back in charge for the 2019 Campeonato Paulista Série♣️ A2, Água Santa returned to good form and finished the first stage at the top of the table.
[39] They beat♣️ Taubaté in both legs of the quarterfinals but lost to Santo André in the semifinals, which would cause them to♣️ miss promotion.
However, the acquisition of Bragantino by Red Bull in the top flight automatically relegated Red Bull Brasil, as the♣️ same company is not allowed to have two clubs in the same division.
This opened up a spot in the 2020♣️ Campeonato Paulista,[40] which went to Água Santa, who had finished third overall in the second tier.
[41] That would not be♣️ enough to keep Ribeiro in charge of the club for the Copa Paulista, as he was dismissed on 30 April♣️ 2019.
[42] Former Santo André head coach Fernando Marchiori was brought in to be in charge of the club in the♣️ cup.
[43] After finishing the first stage leading their group, Netuno's cup run ended in the second stage for the third♣️ time in four years.
Água Santa had a bad start to the 2020 season, losing their first three Paulistão games without♣️ scoring a single goal.
The poor run resulted in Fernando Marchiori's firing on 30 January 2020.
[44] Pintado was named his replacement♣️ for the remainder of the Campeonato Paulista.
[45] The new head coach led Água Santa to their first win of the♣️ year on February 8, against Ferroviária, and took the team out of the relegation zone.
[46] On 27 March, with the♣️ competition on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pintado left Água Santa for Brasileirão Série B side Juventude.
[47] On 30♣️ June, it was reported that Toninho Cecílio would return for a second stint in charge of the club for the♣️ remaining two games of the tournament.
[48] Água Santa failed to get a win under Cecílio, and were relegated back to♣️ Série A2 at the end of the competition.
[49]Stadium [ edit ]
Esporte Clube Água Santa play their home games at Estádio♣️ Distrital do Inamar.
The stadium has a maximum capacity of 10,000 people.
Current squad [ edit ]As of 21 March 2023
Note: Flags♣️ indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Honours [ edit ]
Runners-up (1):♣️ 2023
Runners-up (1): 2021
Runners-up (1): 2013
