Bahia

The football club Bahia is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of Salvador. Bahia play their home games at the Estádio do Cal Januário Pinheiro, which has a capacity of 43,000.

Bahia were founded on October 26, 1908, in the city of Salvador. The club played their first match in 1909 against a local team called Esporte Clube Bahia and were crowned champions of the province of Bahia in 1911. In 1912, Bahia joined the Brazilian League, where they would remain until 1939.

Bahia achieved their most success in the 1930s, when they reached the national championship final six times and won the tournament on three occasions. The club’s most famous player from this period is Pelé, who joined Bahia in 1955 and went on to win five consecutive league titles, as well as the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Bahia struggled to keep up with the more modern and successful clubs in Brazil, but they did manage to win the Copa do Brasil in 1984. Since the 1990s, Bahia’s fortunes have changed and they now compete in the lower tiers of Brazilian football. In 2007, the club celebrated its centenary and set a new record for the longest unbeaten run in Brazilian football, going 197 matches without losing.