Barra
Futebol Clube (Brazil)
Barra Futebol
Club, also known as Barra de Teresopolis, or Barra for short was a football
club that competed in the Brazilian football league and was based in Rio de
Janeiro state. The club was founded on June 8th, 1939 and wore the
colours red, black and white. They played their home games at the Pitucao in
Teresopolis which had a capacity of 4,000. The club itself played at amateur
level until 1993 when they professionalised the football department, competing
in the Campeonato Carioca Third Level, the football third level of the First
Division annual competition among clubs in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The
highest the club ever achieved was when they competed in Serie C in the 1995
season. Serie C was the third level of the Brazilian football pyramid and 108
clubs competed in it, hoping to gain promotion to Serie B. However, only two
clubs would be able to gain promotion out of the 108 clubs, and Barra were one
of those clubs attempting the feat. It would be a long journey, one that
started in August 27th, 1995.
The 108 clubs
were split into 32 groups, some of which had four clubs competing whie some
only had three. Most groups were drawn to suit the geographical challenges that
faced the clubs competing as Brazil is one of the largest countries in land
mass. Barra competed in Group 6, alongside three other clubs, Rio Branco-ES,
Estrela de Norte and Campo Grande. Both Rio Branco-ES and Estrela de Norte were
from the Espirto Santo state, while Campo Grande were from the Rio de Janeiro
state like Barra. The first matches in the group saw Barra travel to Campo
Grande, at the Estadio Italo del Cima on August 27th, 1995. Campo
ran out 1-0 winners, while Estrela beat Rio Branco 3-1 in the other fixture on
the same date. Barra’s second game was another away match, this time to Rio
Branco at the Estadio Kleber Andrade on August 31st, 1995. Barra
picked up their first win of the group, winning 2-0, while Estrela and Campo
Grande drew 1-1 at the Estadio Sumarie. Playing there first three games all
away from home, Barra travelled to the Estadio Sumarie to play Estrela on
September 3rd, 1995. The game ended 1-1, leaving Barra on four
points halfway through the group. Rio Branco picked up their first points by
beating Campo Grande 3-1 at home. With their next three games all at home,
Barra were in poll position to qualify from the group.
September 10th,
1995 the fourth games of the group took place, with Barra playing their first
home game at the Pitucao. Their opponents were Campo Grande. They won the game
2-0, putting them top of the group. Estrela beat Rio Branco in the other game.
The next game versus Rio Branco took place on the 14th of September
1995. Many expected the home team to run out easy winners, but that wasn’t the
case as Rio Branco pulled off a surprise 1-0 win. It meant it went down to the
last games of the group, and Barra would have to get at least a draw against
Estrela. But they went one better and on the 17th of September they
beat Estrela 1-0 to not only qualify for the next stage, but they topped the
group as well. Rio Branoc also qualified for the next round, finishing second
after beating Campo Grande 1-0 in their final group game. Barra had finished
the group with a record of three wins, one draw and two losses. It set up a
second phase match with Vitoria Futebol Club. The first leg was played at the Pitucao and
ended up in an uneventful 0-0 draw. The second leg, played away at the Estadio
Salvador Venancio da Costa, also ended in a draw, however it was a 2-2 draw
meaning Barra progressed to the third-round courtesy of the away goal rule.
There, in the next round, they would face Esporte Clube XV de Novembro a club
from the Sao Paulo region. However, they proved to be too strong for Barra.
Despite a close first leg played at the Pitucao, ending 1-0 to Esporte, the
second leg proved to be somewhat of a mismatch. At the Estadio Barao de Serra
Negra, Barra were well beaten, 4-0 on the night and 5-0 on aggregate, to end
their quest for promotion to Serie B. The club from Rio de Janeiro had done its
state proud that year, being number one ranked team from there, ahead of other
clubs like America Football Club, Bayer Esporte Clube and of course Campo
Grande Campo. It would be the only time Barra Futebol Clube would attempt to
climb the Brazilian football pyramid and they ended back playing in their
regional league of Rio de Janeiro, up until 1996, when the club closed its
professional football department after a dispute over why they were not
promoted Serie C. It announced it had been dissolved and that was the end of
Barra Futebol Clube.
While this has
not been the most detailed club I have written about in this book, there was
something about Barra Futebol Clube that made me want to include them. Indeed,
there is another football club in Brazil who were founded in 2013, named Barra
Futebol Clube, however, neither of them is linked to each other. The one thing
that Barra really highlighted for me about Brazilian football was the number of
clubs involved in its football system, and how incredibly hard it is to gain
promotion from the lower leagues. As mentioned, they were denied promotion in
1996, due to another team being favoured over them and simply being awarded
promotion instead. That was the final straw for Barra, but even when they did
compete in Serie C, the chances of gaining promotion to Serie B seemed slim.
108 clubs fighting over two promotion places hardly seems fair, and the amount
of work that the clubs put in just didn’t seem worth it for the prize that was
on offer. I could have chosen many other clubs to cover from Brazil, and indeed
I do visit Brazil again in the book, but for now, Barra Futebol Clube, while
they didn’t exactly set the world alight, they shall not be forgotten and will
always have a place in football history, even that place is just being the
highest ranked club from Rio de Janeiro to compete in Serie C in 1995. Every
win is a win no matter what.