Estádio Municipal José Flávio de Carvalho

The name on the gate belongs to José Flávio de Carvalho now, but the terraces went up under a different one: Estádio "Manoel Gonçalves de Carvalho" was the label for the first construction stage, before the ground took its present dedication. It opened on 28 October 1964, and Itaúna marked the occasion by inviting Cruzeiro down from Belo Horizonte for a friendly — a side that already carried two future 1970 World Cup winners, Tostão and Piazza, in its line-up. The home side won it, 2-1.

That kick-off remains the ground's one line in the wider record of Brazilian football; nothing since has matched it for name recognition. Everything else about the place is local in scale: a municipal pitch on Avenida Jove Soares, holding under two thousand, natural turf, run by the city rather than a club.

The tenancy is where the story turns. Esporte Clube Itaúna played here for decades, but in July 2021 the club pulled up its own roots — changed its name and relocated to Juiz de Fora, re-emerging as Manchester Futebol Clube. The move left the Estádio Municipal José Flávio de Carvalho as a ground with a fixed address and no resident side, its history now longer than its current use.