Britafogo - The Background

A brush with the Brazilian second division has been the unlikely catalyst for a group of Brits to tie their colours to the mast of to one of Brazilian and world football's proudest clubs. The alliance has resulted in the establishment of a supporters' group with ambitious aims.

Botafogo Futebol e Regatas, which celebrates its centenary in August 2004 spent 2003 fighting for promotion back to Brazil's senior division, but there to witness the trials and tribulations of Levir Culpi's squad was a steady stream of Britons. Both expatriate workers based in Rio and tourists visiting the Cidade Maravilhosa clicked through the Caio Martins turnstiles to watch a club, voted by FIFA as one of the 12 greatest in the world in the 20th Century, rediscover the origins as the Glorioso.

Out of this came the desire to establish a supporters' group based around this affection for the club, but with broader and less sectarian aims than simply pushing Fogo onwards and ever upwards. The group styled as BRITAFOGO was launched at the club base General Severiano on December 16 prior to the screening of a film made about Fogo's year in the second.

As Britafogo chairman, Brian Maughan explains the origins of the club: "The club was formed when expats who live, work or are just passing through, with a love of football, found out that they all had an affinity with Fogo. Many of these expats have seen the likes of Flamengo, Fluminense or Vasco but have realised that there was something special about Fogo and it supporters." Maughan, a passionate Middlesbrough fan has been so taken with Botafogo that he has even taken to wearing the black-and-white stripes of the Rio team which would presumably make him "persona non grata" in his hometown, took special pride in presenting a first official Britafogo T-shirt to football legend Nilton Santos.

Known as the "Encyclopaedia", Nilton Santos is one of the venerable figures of Brazilian football, playing for Botafogo throughout his 16 year career. He also has two World Cup winners' medals and was part of the Botafogo side that exploded on to the international scene in the 1950s. A team-mate and great friend of legendary winger Garrincha, Nilton also faced some of British football's great names like Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Billy Wright. In the 1958 World Cup Finals he played against both England and Wales on the way to helping his country to its first World Cup success. In 1998 he was selected in a FIFA-sponsored poll as one of the world team of the 20th Century.

Maughan explains the choice: "Nilton as honorary president will turn out to be the best thing Britafogo will possibly ever do. He is very amenable and will be a good ambassador for our club and consequently Botafogo." Botafogo's hall of fame is an extensive one, having produced more players for Brazil's national team - the seleção - than any other. Among the other luminaries who have graced the black-and-white stripes are Didi, Garrincha, Amarildo, Zagallo, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto Torres. More recently Josimar and Mirandinha, who played for Newcastle in the 1980s also featured. Recent times have brought a decline of fortunes, although Botafogo won the national championship in 1995.

At Britafogo's launch night Nilton Santos donned one of the club shirts with a Britafogo logo and the legend adapted from the popular expression that says to support Botafogo is always about "sofrimento"(suffering). The Britafogo T-shirt reads: "Ser Britafoguense é sempre deixar a alegria superar o sofrimento".( to be a supporter of Britafogo means to always allow happiness to get the better of suffering) Instrument engineer Brian Bennett is a founder member who acknowledges his attraction came from his affinity with the black-and-white stripes shared by his beloved Newcastle United "and not to follow the trend of others who almost always follow Flamengo." Bennett who works in the city's oil industry has taken wife Leslie and children Jodie and Jake regularly to the Caio Martins stadium in Niterói, where he says "the atmosphere was excellent during the important play-off games."

Another fellow Fogo fan is Chris Taylor, a charter electrical engineer from Manchester. A United fan over many years, Taylor says his affection for the club comes from it being a local club close to where he worked in Niterói. Identifying Garrincha as one of his football heroes Taylor likens the atmosphere of Caio Martins to grounds in the UK and says "that the atmosphere that built up in the camarote over the season was fantastic." Some of the Britafogo fans watched proceedings from a box or camarote in Caio Martins - a stadium that looks very different to the one in which Botafogo were relegated in November 2002. But it is not just Brits based in Rio who have signed up with Britafogo. The club has adherents as far afield as the UK and Australia. Chris Sanderson was hooked after just watching two games at Caio Martins during a recent holiday in Rio. The West Midlands civil servant explains that he was drawn to the club by "the cool kit, cool history and cool supporters." A St Andrews devotee in the UK, Sanderson sees parallels with his hometown club as underachievers in recent years, but accepts that Birmingham City have never had idols to compare with two of his favourite Brazilian players who have turned out for the "alvinegros" (black-and-whites), Nilton Santos and Jairzinho.

But the appeal of Britafogo has extended beyond the partisan faithful to supporters who admit competing claims on their affections. UK-based advertising copywriter James Brennan is a signed -up Britafogo member but admits that the Zico years have given him a leaning to Gávea. Brennan, who expects to get to some Fogo games in a coming holiday, extols Brazil as one of the truly passionate footballing nations of the world with an exotic twist. No other nation plays the game with the intention of making it look as beautiful as possible." Despite Brennan's fondness for Flamengo, Andy Kreppel, a britafoguense now based in Australia says for him that there was no contest in deciding between Flamengo and Botafogo. The 27 year-old project manager who took in several games in Brazil during a recent holiday to south America sums up the choice in this way: "it was either a poor version of Manchester United or a team with heart, pluck and a rich history."

The goals of Britafogo include supporting Botafogo FR and participating in, and developing, social projects in Rio and Brazil more generally with the assistance of some of the great names of Brazilian football like Nilton Santos. In the coming weeks Britafogo hopes to launch its own website and will issue their first newsletter to members in January. Regular meetings and social events are intended to be inclusive, welcoming fans of other clubs for the broader aims of the group. As members come and go to other parts of the world the plan is to keep members in touch with Britafogo activities and developments through an international network that links fans across the world.

Britafogo is open to all nationalities - the name simply recalls the origins of the supporters group - although it expects many of its initial members will come mainly from British and other international membership. It is also taking steps to ensure that families and younger britafoguenses are catered for. Maughan summarises the aspirations of the nascent Britafogo group in the following way: "Our aims are to promote the name of Botafogo throughout the world and ensure as many 'non believers' are converted to the Britafogo cause. We also want to leave a lasting impression in Rio and the community by becoming actively involved with local charities. Also we need to remember that going to a football game and supporting a team should be fun as well as being painful."

For further details on the work of Britafogo and how to join please contact:

Brian Maughan - 91849312 - brian@felssetal.com.br or brian_maughan@hotmail.com Or

Robert Shaw - robshaw58@hotmail.com on 9874 8962