Corinthians

In 1910, several professional football clubs were formed among the higher echelons of São Paulo society. Among them were Club Athletico Paulistano, São Paulo Athletic Club, & Associação Atlética das Palmeiras. The lower classes, excluded from these clubs due to socioeconomic division, founded their own clubs and only played "floodplain" football.

Bucking the trend, a group of five workers of the São Paulo Railway, them being, Joaquim Ambrose and Anthony Pereira (wall painters), Rafael Perrone (shoemaker), Anselmo Correia (driver) and Carlos Silva (general laborer), residents of the neighborhood of Bom Retiro. It was 31 August 1910 when these workers were watching a match featuring a London-based club touring Brazil, Corinthian F.C. After the match, while the group returned home, the men talked about partnerships, business ideas, and general dreams of grandeur. They each surfaced one idea: the foundation of a club, after several exchanges in a lively argument, a common ground led those athletes the same dream. The arguments led to the conclusion that they would meet the next day to make their dream into reality.

On 1 September 1910, the group agreed to meet after sundown in public sight. That night at 20:30 BRT (23:30 GMT), on Rua José Paulino ("Rua dos Imigrantes"; Immigrants Street), the five workers reunited alongside their guest and neighbors from Bom Retiro. That night the club was founded, alongside its board of directors, who elected Miguel Battaglia as the first Club President.

Corinthians played their first match on 10 September 1910, away against União da Lapa, a respected amateur club in São Paulo, and they were defeated by 1–0.

On 14 September, Luis Fabi scored Corinthians' first goal against Estrela Polar, another amateur club in the city, and Corinthians won their first game (2–0).

With good results and an increasing number of supporters, Corinthians joined the Liga Paulista, after winning two qualifying games, and played in the São Paulo State Championship for the first time, in 1913. Just one year after joining the league, Corinthians was crowned champion for the first time (in 1914), and were again two years later. There were many fly-by-night teams popping up in São Paulo at the time, and during the first practice held by Corinthians a banner was placed by the side of the field stating "This One Will Last".

1922, the Centennial of Brazilian Independence, marks the start of Corinthians hegemony in the São Paulo State Championship. As football was almost exclusively played at Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo by that time, the two state champions were considered to be the two top clubs in Brazil. After defeating the Rio de Janeiro State Championship champion of that year, América, Corinthians joined the company of the great teams in Brazil.

The same year also marked the first of three State Championships in a row, something that happened again in 1928–30, 1937–39 and 2017-19.

Corinthians seemed destined to win State Championships in threes; after six years without being champion, they won three more from 1937 to 1939, with prolific scorer Teleco leading the line.

The 1940s were a more difficult time; and the club would win a championship in 1941 and would only win their next in 1951.

At the beginning of the 1950s Corinthians made history in the São Paulo Championship. In 1951, the team composed of Carbone, Cláudio, Luisinho, Baltasar and Mário scored 103 goals in thirty matches of the São Paulo Championship, registering an average of 3.43 per game. Carbone was the top goal-scorer of the competition with 30 goals. The club would also win the São Paulo Championships of 1952 and 1954. In this same decade, Corinthians were champions three times of the Rio-São Paulo Championship (1950, 1953 and 1954), the tournament that was becoming most important in the country with the increased participation of the greatest clubs from the two most important footballing states in the country.

In 1953, in a championship in Venezuela, Corinthians won the Small Cup of the World, a championship that many consider as a precursor of the Worldwide Championship of Clubs. On the occasion, Corinthians, substituting for Vasco da Gama, went to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital and recorded six consecutive victories against Roma (1–0 and 3–1), Barcelona (3–2 and 1–0) and Selection of Caracas (2–1 and 2–0). The club would also win the Cup of the Centenary of São Paulo, in the same year (1954).

After the triumphs in the São Paulo Championship and the Rio-São Paulo of 1954, Corinthians had a lengthy title drought. During this time a key player was Rivellino who was part of Brazil's World Cup winning team of 1970.

The breakthrough finally came when they won the São Paulo state championship in 1977, breaking a string of 23 years without a major title.

In that era, Vicente Matheus was his famous Corinthians presidente.