Ipatinga

Itair Machado did not want another amateur side stagnating in the shadow of Belo Horizonte’s giants. Projeto Ipatinga Futebol Clube was his answer. The project launched on May 21, 1998.

The ambition bore fruit quickly. By 2005 the squad had ground out the win in the Campeonato Mineiro final against Cruzeiro. They took the Taça Minas Gerais twice, but the 2005 title remains the benchmark.

That concept has faced severe tests. Financial drift nearly sank the ship twice. More recently, a R$40 million liability led to acquisition by Kraken Holding in April 2022 and a transformation into a SAF. The structure changed, but the pressure to deliver has not.

Home matches take place at the Estádio Municipal João Lamego Netto.

Ney Franco guided them to the 2005 zenith and moved on to manage Flamengo and São Paulo, but the club struggles to keep pace with the talent it produced.