Araioses

Araioses is a small municipality in the east of Maranhão, and its football club took the name of the town and, for the crest, the town's own coat of arms with the club's name added. The nickname, Caçulinha, "the youngest" or "the little one", fits a side that has spent much of its life among the younger clubs of the state league.

The club dates from 1982, but its professional story runs through 2013. That year Araioses finished runner-up in the Segunda Divisão, which brought a first promotion to the top flight of the Campeonato Maranhense. Its first professional win came on 11 August, 2–0 away at Itapecuruense. A week later Sabiá lost 1–0 in the first home victory. The following year the club won the inaugural Copa São Luís.

Life in the top division was harder. Araioses spent much of it in the lower reaches of the table, and by 2016 it had only six wins from its first three seasons there. The state title has never come.

The change came in 2026 in the second-tier Série B. Araioses beat Lago Verde 2–1 in the final and earned promotion back to the Série A for 2027. That result gives the club a second chance in the division where it once struggled to win.

Home games are played at the Estádio Municipal, known locally as the "Cardosão" after Mariano Cardoso. It holds about 3,000 people, a good share of a town of this size.