The history of São Paulo FC began to take shape in 1900, when the Club Athletico Paulistano was founded. Paulistano quickly stood out, becoming a major powerhouse in Paulista football and Brazilian football at the beginning of the 20th century. Paulistano refused to embrace the emerging professionalism in football, and some dissidents joined the Associação Atlética das Palmeiras, which had the best stadium at the time but was heavily in debt, to found São Paulo.
The club is one of the most successful in Brazilian football, with the highest number of titles in some of the main football tournaments contested by Brazilian clubs, including the Brazilian Championship (six titles), the Copa Libertadores (three titles), and the Club World Championship (three titles).
The Tricolor Paulista — 1930 to 1934
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On January 27, 1930, at 2:00 p.m., the minutes of the foundation of São Paulo FC were signed at Praça da República, born from the merger between Associação Atlética das Palmeiras and Club Athletico Paulistano, with the club's official founding date established as January 25, 1930, a day and month chosen by its founders as it coincided with the founding date of the city of São Paulo.
However, the actual founding date is uncertain, as it is reported differently in various media. For the club, it took place on January 25, 1930. Some media outlets claim the foundation occurred on January 26, due to delays in drafting the bylaws, which caused the founding assembly to take place only on that day. However, that day was a Sunday. It can thus be concluded that the minutes were registered on January 27, as corroborated by the newspaper A Gazeta Esportiva and the International Federation of Association Football.
Sixty members of Club Athletico Paulistano contributed their 1929 Paulista championship players to create the new club, while Associação Atlética das Palmeiras provided its stadium, Chácara da Floresta. Preserving the traditions of the past, the new club's uniform featured red and black stripes in homage to both founding clubs. Its crest and shirt were designed by the German stylist Walter Ostrich, with the collaboration of Firmiano de Morais Pinto Filho, one of those present at the foundation. The name chosen to reflect the desire to establish a club that would represent the city in various spheres was none other than São Paulo Futebol Clube, which became known as São Paulo da Floresta only recently due to the location of its stadium. The first board of directors was composed of: Edgard de Souza Aranha (president), Alberto Caldas (first vice-president), Gastão Tachou (second vice-president), Benedito Montenegro (third vice-president), Luís de Oliveira Barros (first secretary), José Martins Costa (second secretary), João B. da Cunha Bueno (first treasurer), and Caio Luís Pereira de Souza (second treasurer).
The early years of the club coincided with events that marked an era in Brazilian football. The year 1930 was the year of the first World Cup, and it was only from that year onward that a match began to be played in two halves of 45 minutes. It was only in 1933 that the first professional match in the country was played, with the São Paulo team being one of the protagonists alongside Santos.
Regarding this first professional match, it was during this game that the nickname of Santos, "peixe" (fish), was first mentioned. It was a provocation, before the start of the game, by the tricolor fans toward the Santos players, calling them "peixeiros" (fishmongers) in a derogatory manner. The Santos fans retorted by saying, "We are fishmongers, and with great honor!" From then on, the nickname was adopted by the Santos club, and the mascot, the Whale, was created.
Since its inception, the club demonstrated a democratic stance, as it accepted players of any ethnicity, social class, or origin without restriction. It was also the only club in the city of São Paulo to have a former player—Roberto Gomes Pedrosa—as president. In terms of achievements, the Tricolor Paulista won the 1931 Paulista Championship in its second year of existence and finished as runner-up in 1930, 1932, 1933, and 1934. It was also runner-up in the 1933 Rio-São Paulo Tournament. Thus, the newly founded Tricolor Paulista was at the forefront of local football.
The club then purchased a new, luxurious headquarters located on Conselheiro Crispiniano Street (in the city center), a small palace known as "Trocadero," at a cost of 190 contos de réis. This debt was significant for the time, but the club, with a stadium like Chácara da Floresta and a valuable roster of players, was not deterred. However, some club directors, dissatisfied with the direction of football in the country, decided to merge with Clube de Regatas Tietê and dissolve the football department. Another group, in favor of the club's continuity and led by Paulo Sampaio, took the matter to court and, on April 23, 1935, challenged the board's right to merge the club with Tietê without consulting the members.
The players themselves were against what was happening. So much so that they banded together to form the short-lived Independente Esporte Clube. However, the remaining São Paulo players were lured by other clubs, and Independente was eventually dissolved.
During this period, the team won the 1931 Paulista Championship and the 1932 Torneio Início.
The members won their case even after the club's board presented its defense. The board had no choice but to call a general assembly. However, Article 2 of the club's bylaws at the time stated that only the "founding members," considered "owners" of the club and numbering two hundred, could participate in the assembly. As the majority were aligned with the board, the merger was approved on May 14, 1935. On that day, the football department was officially dissolved and disaffiliated from the APEA. With the merger, the administrative side was integrated into Tietê, which absorbed all physical assets and, in return, would settle the club's debts and was prohibited from using São Paulo's colors, uniforms, and symbols. Thus, Tietê-São Paulo was born.
However, some members, outraged by the merger with Clube de Regatas Tietê, decided to create the Grêmio Tricolor, an association that would refound the club on December 16, 1935, preserving the glories and traditions of the past.
1935 to 1939 After the merger with Tietê, former members of the Tricolor Paulista, unwilling to accept what had happened, decided to keep their convictions about the club alive by founding the Grêmio Tricolor. Their efforts paid off, as on June 4, 1935, 235 former members established the Clube Atlético São Paulo. Even so, the dream was difficult to pursue without funds. But through daily meetings at the Mecca family's office and a café in the Pirapitingui gallery, São Paulo FC was reborn on December 16, 1935, in a meeting at the law office of Sílvio Freire, located in one of the rooms of building number 9-A on XI de Agosto Street—where Praça da Sé stands today. The first board of directors was composed of Manoel do Carmo Mecca (president), Alcides Borges (first vice-president), Francisco Pereira Carneiro (second vice-president), Éolo Campos (first secretary), Luís Felipe de Paula Lima (second secretary), Manoel de Arruda Nascimento (first treasurer), Isidoro Novaes (second treasurer), and Porfírio da Paz (general sports director).
It fell to Porfírio da Paz to form a new squad for the now-impoverished club, which faced skepticism from those who doubted it could return to its former greatness. After compiling a list of players, he went to every radio station to raise funds for signings. Porfírio even spent his personal fortune and sold a significant portion of his assets to support the club. Still, the results were not encouraging, the funds raised were modest, and most of the initial players were from the outskirts and of very humble origins. While Porfírio worked to secure funds and players in the capital, president Manoel do Carmo Mecca and coach Del Debbio traveled to Curitiba, the Paraná capital, to sign the already well-known goalkeeper King, who would become the first black goalkeeper to play for a Paulista club. The club's first training session was a match against Clube Atlético Paulista at the Rua da Mooca field, with the tricolor winning 7–3. The new headquarters was inaugurated at Carlos Gomes Square, number 38, on January 24, 1936.
The club had intended to debut in 1935, but due to the merger and disaffiliation from APEA, this was not possible. Thus, the new club's debut was scheduled for January 25, 1936, against Portuguesa Santista, at the Estádio Antônio Alonso. On the same day, a celebration for the city's anniversary was taking place on Paulista Avenue, and a decree from the Education Secretariat prohibited events that could rival the parade. With little time before the match, Porfírio went to Paulista Avenue to persuade Dr. Cantídio Campos, then municipal education secretary, to authorize the game. Porfírio took the stage and argued in favor of the team bearing the city's name and colors. Cantídio accepted the arguments and authorized the opening of the gates and the match. However, at the time of heading to the stadium, no trams were running in the city. Once again, Porfírio rented cars with his own money to transport players and fans to the match.
In its early years of this new phase, the club was known by other teams and their fans as a team of "paupers." Furthermore, the press generally referred to the club as "poor," calling it "Júnior," "Club No. 2," and "São-Paulinho." In the view of much of the São Paulo population, the new entity could not achieve the glories of its predecessor or reach the same level as Corinthians and Palestra Itália. However, after so many obstacles and resurgences, it earned the nickname "Club of Faith" in 1937, coined by journalist Tomás Mazzoni, a moniker that endures to this day.
At that time, the club had no members, revenue sources, or even assets. It trained and played wherever it was allowed. There was no place for team lodging, which had to be improvised, with half the squad staying at the home of president Frederico Menzen and the other half in bunk beds in the tower of the Consolação Church, the parish of Monsignor Bastos, a notable São Paulo supporter. Training sessions were sometimes held in the church's courtyard alongside the area where the Sodality of Our Lady played basketball. When available, the team trained at the Várzea do Glicério field, but with the condition of vacating the premises as soon as the field's owning teams arrived.