This and a win drought that lasted over a year brought nationwide attention to the club, which at the time was regarded as the worst performing team in Brazil.

In the period of 1922-1928, football in São Bernardo do Campo was reduced to small “lowland” clubs, which disputed a soccer festival every Labor Day (1 May).

While watching these festivals, Dante Setti proposed the idea of creating a new club, which could bring together all the sportsmen and fans in the city around a single association.

The idea was well received by three young men, all former players of AA São Bernardo and Internacional FC: Nerino Colli, Vicente Ragghianti and Itagiba de Almeida.

In 1939, São Bernardo was the champion of its zone, which generally included the ABC, the coastside and Mogi das Cruzes regions.

Originally, the field located where the Estádio Ítalo Setti was built was used by other teams in the city, such as Internacional Futebol Clube and Associação Atlética São Bernardo.