In 1910 the football in Brazil was an elitist sport. The top clubs were formed by people who were part of the upper classes. Among them were Club Athletico Paulistano, São Paulo Athletic Club, & Associação Atlética das Palmeiras. Lower-class society excluded from larger clubs founded their own minnow clubs and only played "floodplain" football.
Bucking the trend, a group of five workers of the São Paulo Railway, more precisely Joaquim Ambrose and Anthony Pereira (wall painters), Rafael Perrone (shoemaker), Anselmo Correia (driver) and Carlos Silva (general laborer), residents of the neighborhood of Bom Retiro. It was August 31, 1910 when these workers were watching a match featuring an London-based club touring Brazil, Corinthians FC. After the match, while the group returned home, The men spoke of partnerships, business idea's, & general dreams of grandeur. In the mind of each one surfaced a great idea: the foundation of a club, after several exchanges in a lively argument, a common ground led those athletes the same dream. The arguments led to the conclusion that they would meet the next day to make a dream into reality.
September 1, 1910. In anticipation of heavy rains, the group agreed to meet after sundown in public sight. That night at 8:30pm, on Rua José Paulino ("Rua dos Imigrantes" (Immigrants Street)), underneath the glow of an oil lamp the five workers reunited alongside their guest and neighbors from Bom Retiro. That night the club was founded, alongside its board of directors, who elected Miguel Battaglia as the first Club President.
Corinthians played their first match on September 10, 1910, away against União da Lapa, a respected amateur club in São Paulo; and despite being defeated by 1–0, this match would mark the beginning of a successful era as an amateur club.
On September 14, Luis Fabi scored Corinthians' first goal against Estrela Polar, another amateur club in the city, and Corinthians won their first game 2–0.
With good results and an increasing number of supporters, Corinthians joined the Liga Paulista, after winning two qualifying games, and played in the São Paulo State Championship for the first time, in 1913. Just one year after joining the league, Corinthians was crowned champion for the first time (in 1914), and were again two years later. There were many fly-by-night teams popping up in São Paulo at the time, and during the first practice held by Corinthians a banner was placed by the side of the field stating "This One Will Last".
The year of 1922, the Centennial of Brazilian Independence, marks the start of Corinthians hegemony in the São Paulo State Championship. As football was almost exclusively played at Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo by that time, the two state champions were considered to be the two top clubs in Brazil. After defeating the Rio de Janeiro State Championship champion of that year, América, Corinthians joined the company of the great teams in Brazil.
The same year also marked the first of three State Championships in a row, something that happened again in 1928–1930 and 1937–1939.
Corinthians seemed destined to win State Championships in threes; after six years without being a champions, they came won three more from 1937 the 1939. The 1940s were a more difficult time; and the club would win a championship in 1941 and would only win their next in 1951.
At the beginning of the 1950s Corinthians made history in the São Paulo Championship. In 1951, the team composed of Carbone, Cláudio, Luisinho, Baltasar and Mário scored 103 goals in thirty matches of the São Paulo Championship, registering an average of 3.43 per game. Carbone was the top goalscorer of the competition with 30 goals. The club would also win the São Paulo Championships of 1952 and 1954. In this same decade, Corinthians were champions three times of the Rio-São Paulo Championship (1950, 1953 and 1954), the tournament that was becoming most important in the country with the increased participation of the greatest clubs from the two most important footballing states in the country.
In 1953, in a championship in Venezuela, Corinthians won the Small Cup of the World, a championship that many consider as a precursor of the Worldwide Championship of Clubs. On the occasion, Corinthians, substituting for Vasco da Gama, went to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital and recorded six consecutive victories against Roma (1–0 and 3–1), Barcelona (3–2 and 1–0) and Selection of Caracas (2–1 and 2–0). The club would also win the Cup of the Centenary of São Paulo, in the same year (1954).
After the triumphs in the São Paulo Championship and the Rio-São Paulo of 1954, Corinthians had a lengthy title drought. The breakthrough finally came when they won the São Paulo state championship in 1977, breaking a string of 23 years without a major title.
Under the leadership of Sócrates, Wladimir and Casagrande, Corinthians were the first Brazilian club in which players decided about concentração, a common Brazilian practice where the football players were locked up in a hotel days before a game, and discussed politics. (In the early 1980s, military dictatorship, after two decades, ended in Brazil). In 1982, before the election of government of São Paulo State, the team wore a kit with the words: DIA 15 VOTE (Vote on 15th), trying to motivate the biggest number of fans to vote.
In 1990, Corinthians won their first Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, beating their rivals, São Paulo in the final at the opponents' own stadium, Estádio do Morumbi. In the following year, Corinthians beat Flamengo and won the Supercopa do Brasil. In the 1995, the club won the Copa do Brasil for the first time, beating Grêmio in the final at the Estádio Olímpico Monumental in Porto Alegre. In the same decade, the club won the state championship in 1995, 1997 and 1999, and won the national championship again in 1998 and in 1999.
In 2000, Corinthians won the first edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, beating Vasco in the final played at the Estádio do Maracanã. To reach the final, Corinthians finished ahead of Real Madrid of Spain, Al-Nasr of Saudi Arabia and Raja Casablanca of Morocco. In the same decade, the club won the state championship in 2001 and in 2003 and the Copa do Brasil in 2002, beating Brasiliense in the final.
Between 1990 and 2005, the club also won the Ramón de Carranza Trophy in 1996, the Rio-São Paulo Tournament in 2002, the São Paulo Youth Cup in 1995, 1999, 2004, and 2005, and the Dallas Cup in 1999 and 2000.
The club's situation in early 2004 was among the most difficult in their history. Bad administration, lack of money and terrible campaigns both in the 2003 Brazilian Championship and in the 2004 São Paulo State Championship caused their millions of supporters to worry. Fortunately, some young players and a new manager Tite helped the team to improve from their terrible start. At the end of the championship, Corinthians finished in 5th place and gained entry to the Copa Sudamericana (a minor continental championship).
This situation was one of the factors which enabled Corinthians' president, Alberto Dualib, to convince the club's advisors to sign a controversial deal with an international fund of investors called Media Sports Investment. The deal granted the company a large degree of control over the club for 10 years in exchange for large financial investments in return. This has brought many quality players to the team, such as Carlos Tevez, Roger, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Alberto.
Despite the MSI investments, Corinthians experienced a slow start in the 2005 state championship, but managed to improve as it progressed, eventually managing to finish second. Their start to the Brazilian championship during 2005 was difficult, too, but after Daniel Passarella's dismissal (due to an unexpected 5–1 loss to Corinthians' rivals, São Paulo), the club finished the championship round well, and were eventually crowned Brazilian Champions for the fourth time, after a controversial annulment of eleven games due to a betting scandal.
The relationship between Corinthians' managers and the MSI president, Kia Joorabchian was not good, and after being eliminated in the Copa Libertadores, the club experienced a crisis which was responsible for the bad performances for the rest of 2006. Eventually, the partnership came to an end.
On December 2, 2007, following a 1–1 draw away to Grêmio, Corinthians were relegated to the second division.
Corinthians, who won promotion to the top division of Brazilian football for 2009 by winning the Serie B tournament, signed with three-time FIFA Player of the Year Ronaldo. In 2009, lead by Ronaldo, Corinthians won their 26th Campeonato Paulista and their third Copa do Brasil. Confirming the club's good moment, Corinthians finished the Campeonato Brasileiro 2010 in 3rd place, granting their place on the subsequent Copa Libertadores. After being eliminated from the South American tournament by the relatively less traditional Deportes Tolima, though, Corinthians saw Ronaldo retire from football. To replace him, the club signed with other 2006 national squad veteran Adriano.
In 2011, Corinthians won their fifth national title. On July 4, after reaching the final of the 2012 Copa Libertadores undefeated, Corinthians won its first title after a two-match final against 6-time champions Boca Juniors by drawing 1-1 in Argentina and accomplishing an inaugural victory at the Estádio do Pacaembu in São Paulo winning 2-0, becoming the ninth Brazilian side to win the Copa Libertadores. After this historical title, Corinthians is considered the most valuable club in Brazil. The club won the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup for the second time after defeating English club Chelsea 1–0 on December 16, 2012
