Campeonato Brasileiro Série C

Campeonato Brasileiro Série C

Founded	1981
Country	Brazil
Confederation	CONMEBOL
Number of teams	20
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Série B
Relegation to	Série D
Current champions	Macaé (2014)
Most championships	Atlético Goianiense (2 titles)
TV partners	Esporte Interativo TV Brasil
Website	http://www.cbf.com.br/seriec
Current: 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C

The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C is the third tier of the Brazilian football league system.

Unlike the first and second divisions, the Série C is not played in a double round robin system, arguably because many participating teams lack the financial conditions to travel long distances. Thus, the tournament is organized in regional groups and the table prevents teams from distant states to play each other in the initial rounds.

Until 2008, any professional team could apply, but only 64 teams would take part in the tournament. The teams that had been relegated from Série B in the previous year were joined by teams qualified for each federation state. Qualification rules varied, some federations used the state tournaments as qualification tournaments, others organized exclusive qualification tournaments to the Série C.

Beginning in 2009, Série C was reduced from 64 teams to 20 and a new Campeonato Brasileiro Série D is the qualifier for Brazilian league football. In its current format the 20 teams are dived into 2 groups and each team plays all opponents from its own group on home and away matches. The top four teams of each group qualify to a knock out stage and the four semifinalists are promoted to Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. The bottom two teams of each group are relegated to Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.

History and past champions

Official champions

The Campeonato Brasileiro has existed ever since 1971. However, there have been many years when no third division tournament took place. In most cases it was because the two elite divisions had too many clubs (in 1989, for instance, 96 teams contested the second division). The following table shows the winners and runners-up of the Série C tournaments played as from 1981, according to the Brazilian Football Confederation:

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Comments
1981 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	4 − 0 0 − 1	Template:Brazil fc 2(1)
1982–1987	Not held
1988 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	1 − 1 2 − 2	Template:Brazil fc 2	União São João declared champions due to more points scored during the championship.
1989	Not held
1990 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	0 − 0 0 − 0	Template:Brazil fc 2	Atlético Goianiense won 3-2 on penalties.
1991	Not held
1992 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	0 − 2 3 − 1	Template:Brazil fc 2	Tuna Luso declared champions due to more points scored during the championship.
1993	Not held
1994 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	1 − 0 5 − 0	Template:Brazil fc 2
1995 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	2 − 0 1 − 0	Template:Brazil fc 2
1996 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	2 − 1 1 − 0	Template:Brazil fc 2
1997 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2	From 1997 to 1999, the championship had no final match. The four best teams of the Fourth Round played against each other, and the team with most points were declared champions.
1998 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2
1999 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2
2000	Not held
2001 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2(2)		Template:Brazil fc 2	From 2001 to 2005, the championship had no final match. The four best teams of the Fourth Round played against each other, and the team with most points were declared champions.Only two teams were promoted.
2002 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2
2003 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2
2004 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2
2005 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2
2006 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2	From 2006 to 2008, the championship had no final match. The eight best teams of the Fourth Round played against each other, and the team with most points were declared champions. Top 4 teams ascend to Série B
2007 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2
2008 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2		Template:Brazil fc 2
2009 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	3 − 1 1 − 0	Template:Brazil fc 2	From 2009 on, the championship is divided in four groups of five clubs each, playing against each other twice within their groups. The two best-placed teams of each group qualify to the knockout stage, played in two legs. The final is played in two legs. The quarterfinal winners ascend to Série B.
2010 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	1 − 0 0 − 0	Template:Brazil fc 2(3)
2011 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	3 − 1 4 − 0	Template:Brazil fc 2
2012 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	0 − 0 2 − 0	Template:Brazil fc 2
2013 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	0 − 0 2 − 1	Template:Brazil fc 2
2014 Details	Template:Brazil fc 2	1 − 1 3 − 3	Template:Brazil fc 2

¹ Associação Atlética Santo Amaro is named presently named Manchete.

² Etti Jundiaí was later renamed Paulista./div>

³ Ituiutaba was later renamed Boa Esporte Clube./div>

Unofficial champions

The following season is not officially recognized by the CBF:

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Comments
2000 Details	Malutrom	1 − 1 3 − 2	Uberlândia	It was the Green and White modules of the Copa João Havelange.

Titles by team

Club	State	Titles
Atlético Goianiense	Goiás	2 titles
ABC	Rio Grande do Norte	1 title
América-MG	Minas Gerais	1 title
Avaí	Santa Catarina	1 title
Bragantino	São Paulo	1 title
Brasiliense	Distrito Federal	1 title
Criciúma	Santa Catarina	1 title
Etti Jundiaí (Paulista)	São Paulo	1 title
Fluminense	Rio de Janeiro	1 title
Ituano	São Paulo	1 title
Joinville	Santa Catarina	1 title
Macaé	Rio de Janeiro	1 title
Novorizontino	São Paulo	1 title
Oeste	São Paulo	1 title
Olaria	Rio de Janeiro	1 title
Remo	Pará	1 title
Sampaio Corrêa	Maranhão	1 title
Santa Cruz	Pernambuco	1 title
Tuna Luso	Pará	1 title
União Barbarense	São Paulo	1 title
União São João	São Paulo	1 title
Vila Nova	Goiás	1 title
XV de Piracicaba	São Paulo	1 title

Titles by state

State	Titles
São Paulo	8 titles
Goiás	3 titles
Rio de Janeiro	3 titles
Santa Catarina	3 titles
Pará	2 titles
Distrito Federal	1 title
Maranhão	1 title
Minas Gerais	1 title
Pernambuco	1 title
Rio Grande do Norte	1 title

References

External links

• CBF Confederação Brasileira de Futebol - Brazilian Football Confederation
• RSSSF Brazil links