Valeriodoce

The Estádio Israel Pinheiro sits in the Campestre neighbourhood of Itabira, and nobody agrees on how many people it holds. The figure most often quoted is 4,500. Older accounts say 8,000 or even 12,000, and the current licensed capacity is 1,950.

Valeriodoce came out of the mining company Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. Its employees started the club on 22 November 1942, and red and white were the colours from the outset. Someone later tried to change them to burgundy, a move that caused a row and did not stick. Itabira has no other professional side, so Valério has no local derby. The rivalry that carries weight is with Democrata of Sete Lagoas, a fixture simply called "o clássico".

The club's best years came in the late 1960s and the 1970s. It won the Campeonato Mineiro do Interior in 1969, 1971 and 1978. In 1978 it reached the final quadrangular of the main Campeonato Mineiro and lost 1-0 to Cruzeiro. That match launched the career of a player known as Casaca. A decade later Valério played in the national Série B in 1988 and 1989, and it returned to Série C in 1994 and 1995.

The recent record is more modest. It finished runners-up in the Terceira Divisão in 2023, and goalkeeper Elzo was central to that campaign.

The best-known name in the club's orbit is Romário. In 2001 he was linked with ownership of Valeriodoce, and in 2024 he pulled on the shirt himself.