History of Palmeiras: understand the origin of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras

Alviverde was one of the most imposing teams of the 60's and the first to play in a Libertadores final.

The history of Palmeiras began in 1914 when Italian immigrants decided to found a team in São Paulo in order to represent the Italian community. It follows from this that the first name of the team was Palestra Italia.

But, during the 2nd World War, the name was abolished, since Brazil entered the war against the axis countries – Italy, Germany and Japan. Thus, the management of Palestra Itália was forced to change the name of the team. The name came to be Palestra de São Paulo for a while until it reached Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, as we know it today.

The name in question was thought of as a way to preserve the 'P' of Palestra, but also to honor a hitherto extinct club, Associação Atlética das Palmeiras.

But, Verdão, Alviverde, Porco, Academia, use whatever nickname you prefer, it is much more than a name, it is also its titles and its great players. Let's see more below!

The transformations of shields and stadiums

It is worth mentioning that in the year of creation of Palestra Itália, the colors of the shield were the same as the Italian flag – green, white and red. 

In addition, when Palestra Itália, the team's crest was formed by cross of Savoy, with the letters 'P' and 'I' inserted in yellow. On top of the shield, 'Palestra' was kept in a bottle and, below the shield, 'Itália' stamped the red circumference.

But, with the name change, the color of the shield also changed and the red was phased out. The 1942 coat of arms that still exists today is made up of white and green colors.

In the smallest circumference we still find the archaic 'P' and the cross of Savoy with 26 horizontal lines, which allude to the day the club was founded. In the larger circumference, we find 'Palmeiras' written in white and 8 stars in allusion to the month of its creation.

As for the stadium, in 2014, Allianz Parque, current Palmeiras stadium, was created, being sponsored by the company Allianz. The modern arena with a capacity of up to 55 fans came to replace the Antarctica Park ou Palestra Italia Stadium, a park that had been under the domain of the team since 1920.

Important players in the history of Palmeiras

Although he has more than a century of life, Palmeiras' top scorer is a player from the time of Palestra Itália. We're talking about Heitor Marcelino Domingues, the ace who wore the team's jersey from 1916 to 1931, scoring 315 times.

By the way, Heitor was present in the biggest rout of Porco in the year 1920. At that time, the until then Palestra Itália won its first Paulistão title and was responsible for an epic rout: 11X0 at Internacional de São Paulo.

In addition to the great Heitor, midfielder Ademir da Guia collected a noteworthy number of matches as a Verdão player. After all, they were 902 matches and 5 achievements in the Brasileirão. With so many games, Guia became the 3rd highest scorer in the club's history with 155 goals.

And speaking of important players, we could not fail to highlight goalkeeper Marcos. The athlete made his entire career at Palmeiras, accumulating 20 seasons in his football history. Marcos was the official goalkeeper of the Brazilian team in the Penta Cup and his saves were fundamental to our victory.

Titles and great merits of Verdão

In 1961, Verdão was the first Brazilian team to play in a Libertadores final, although the victory went to Peñarol. Still, a great achievement for the team. Still with regard to Libertadores, the team is the one with the most goals in the championship, reaching the milestone of 404 goals. In addition, he has more victories in the tournament with the feat of 119 victories.

According to the CBF, the Palmeiras is the biggest winner of the Brasileirão. Since when the Campeonato Brasileiro was still called Taça Brasil, Porco has been accumulating titles and more titles. In all, the team has 11 victories in the Brasileirão, being Hendecampeão.

In fact, in 1967, Palmeiras was champion twice, winning the Roberto Gomes Pedrosa cup and the Brazil Cup. In the Copa do Brasil, Porco lifted the cup 4 times, second only to Grêmio and Cruzeiro. And speaking of the Copa do Brasil, in 2012, Palmeiras won the championship undefeated. That is, without losing even a single match.

Did you like to know more about the history of Palmeiras? So we don't even need to say it, already share it with all the people from Palmeiras that you know and keep discovering about the universe of football here on the site.