Estádio Roberto Siqueira Costa

The Estádio Roberto Siqueira Costa sits low against the horizon in the Caçaroca district of Serra. Beyond the perimeter fence, the landscape rises into the hills of Espírito Santo, keeping the ground separate from the residential streets where houses sit close to the boundary wall.

Built in 1931, the venue predates the modern era of Brazilian football, yet it retains a quiet, local character. The pitch is natural grass. The stands were expanded in 2011 to hold 2,000 people, though the number remains a point of debate among those who track the capacity, with some sources insisting on 3,000. The ground is best remembered for the matches played during Serra Futebol Clube’s rise in the late nineties and early two thousands.

It remains a place for the state championship, where the old head of the squad settles the nerves of the younger players. The nicknames for the ground, such as Robertão, stick in the mouths of locals who have watched the same corners change over decades. The concrete walls do not echo like the larger arenas in Rio or São Paulo; they absorb the sound of the game. The ground is defined by its location between the town and the mountains, a place where the wind can sweep straight across the pitch from the hills. It is not a temple of football, but it is the only ground in the town that matters to those who live there. The name of the stadium honours a player from the eighties, a reminder of the club’s history written on the concrete facade.