Associação Atlética Ponte Preta is a Brazilian football club from Campinas, in the state of São Paulo. The archival rival of the club is city fellow Guarani FC. The club is founded after SC Rio Grande, the oldest still existing club of the country, Vitória was founded in 1899, but did not get a football department until 1901.
History Paulista championship Selection between 1908 and 1914AA Ponte Preta was founded on August 11, 1900 by a number of students from the Colégio Culto à Ciência in Campinas. The name comes from a nearby black railway bridge (Ponte Preta is Portuguese for 'black bridge'). It was one of the first clubs to accept black players. In 1910 there were already eight football clubs in Campinas, but at Ponte Preta after these clubs all disappeared. In 1912 six clubs founded the Liga Operária de Foot-Ball Campineira. In 1928, the club first played in the highest class of the Campeonato Paulista. The league was split this year and Ponte Preta played in the league of the LAF bond, where some of the big clubs played (Internacional and Paulistano), but not the current big powers. In the first season, the club became third with Hespanha. In 1929 the club even became a champion behind Paulistano. The next season, the two leagues merged and Ponte Preta did not put more, even for city rival Guarani, who played in the league until 1931. In the following years the competition was almost accessible only to clubs from São Paulo and Santos. In 1951 the club returned to the highest class after expanding from 12 to 15 teams. The club usually ended in the middle and became three times sixth. In 1960 the club ended and declined. It took ten years before Ponte Preta made the race after becoming champion in second in 1969. The return was immediately a success and, together with Palmeiras, the club finished second behind São Paulo FC champion. The club was in the position of Portuguesa tradition club to Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, the competition in which the country champion continued that year. The club ended only in a farthest place in his group.
In 1977, the club finished fifth in the regular league and placed itself for the final stage, in which they became group winners with great lead at Botafogo FC, Santos and Palmeiras. As a result, the club played the final against Corinthians. After losing the league with 0-1 they won the 2-1 match, thanks to a goal of, among others, Dicá. There was a third, decisive match, which Corinthians won after a goal in the 81st minute of Basílio.
The next season, the club reached the semi-finals of the first tournament and in the second tournament the club even won the final against arch rivals Guarani. In total, Ponte Preta ended up first, just before Guarani. In the final phase, the club grew just next to a half-final ticket due to a worse goal balance than Santos. Rival Guarani won the country title that year. Two years later, Ponte Preta again played the final against Corinthians, who was lost now. In 1980, the club played the final of the second tournament against São Paulo. Both clubs won a match, but the rule was that the club won that better end in the league and that was São Paulo. In 1981, the club again participated in the title after winning Guarani's first tournament. In the final to the title against São Paulo, the first match was right, but São Paulo won the 2-0 match and became such a champion. The following seasons ended the club in the middle and in 1987 the club degraded from the Série A1. After two seasons, the club returned. After two bad seasons, the club was fourth in 1992. After that the weather went downhill and in 1995 the club declined again. Although the club in the national series was able to promote the Série A in 1997, it continued in the state competition until 1999 before they could return. In honor
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