Torcida Jovem

The organized supporters of Santos FC, founded in 1969.

Torcida Jovem (English: Young Supporters) is a torcida organizada (supporters' group) for Santos FC, a Brazilian professional football club based in Santos, Brazil. Founded in 1969 by a group of fans from São Paulo, it is one of the largest supporting groups in Brazil with over 70,000 members. The current president is André Vinícius "Deko". Additionally, Grêmio Recreativo Cultural Social Escola de Samba Torcida Jovem, popularly known simply as Torcida Jovem, is a samba school from São Paulo, Brazil.

Quick Facts

Character: Organized Supporter Group (Torcida Organizada)
Affiliation: Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
Founding era: 1942

Lore & Background

During the late 1960s, when Santos FC's fan base did not extend beyond the city of Santos, a group of men made a point to attend every game the team played in São Paulo. After a few matches, they began arranging trips to any state venue to popularize supporting the club and negate provocations from rival fans. The habit of attending matches en masse became so common that in 1969 they decided to form a uniformed, official supporters' group. Thirteen individuals were the driving force, with Cosmo Damião, German, Toboggan, Menezes, Celso Jatene, Mestre Pedrão, China, Chacrinha, Magrão, Zuca, Almir, and Zé Miguel as principal de facto leaders.

On September 26, 1969, when the club returned from a successful tour unbeaten in seven matches in Europe, the group gathered in an old house in the Brás neighborhood of São Paulo. They named the group Torcida Jovem because the founders were no older than 21. Cosmo's house became the first official seat. The group witnessed Pelé scoring his 1,000th goal on November 19, 1969, in a match against Vasco da Gama at the Maracanã. The following year, Torcida Jovem was present during Brazil's victorious campaign in the 1970 FIFA World Cup.