Santa Cruz Football Club

Traditional club from Potiguar football, with roots dating back to 1934. It is one of the historic teams of the Potiguar Championship and has regularly competed in the first division of the state tournament since 2017.

History

Santa Cruz was born in 1934, in the city of São Gonçalo do Amarante, under the name of Santa Cruz Sports and Culture, later moving to Natal. Already in the 1940s, the club lived its most prominent phase, winning the 1943 Potiguar Championship and competing in other state finals in 1941, 1947, 1950 and 1952. In the early 1960s the club ended its activities, but was refounded on December 25, 1965 under its current name, Santa Cruz Football Club, maintaining the red, black and white colors that refer to the nickname of 'Tricolor de Natal'. After decades away from the elite of Rio Grande do Norte football, Santa Cruz returned to the first division of the state championship in 2017 and surprised by finishing in third place in the 2018 Potiguar Championship, once again becoming a protagonist in the local scenario. In 2024 the club reached another state final, reinforcing its centennial tradition as one of the historic representatives of the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, alongside rivals such as ABC and América-RN. Currently the club plays its matches at Arena das Dunas, a multipurpose stadium built for the 2014 World Cup and with a capacity of over 31 thousand supporters.