The team competes in the Campeonato Paulista Segunda Divisão, the fourth tier of the São Paulo state football league.

A traditional rivalry existed with Juventus, in the nearby Mooca district of São Paulo, with their matches known as the Juvenal.

One of the SPR employees at play there was Charles Miller, regarded alongside the German Hans Nobiling and in Rio Oscar Cox one of the great pioneers of the game in Brazil.

In 1939 the club achieved its best result, ending up fourth, only behind champions Corinthians, Palestra Itália, today's Palmeiras, and Portuguesa.

In 1943 Nacional won the Torneio Início, a traditional pre-season tournament of short matches between the first division teams held over a day or two.

As a result, the club was renamed to Nacional, though it retained the colours red, white and blue as homage to its British heritage.

In 2000, Nacional won the Campeonato Paulista Série A-3 and also competed in the preliminary stages of the official national championship, in that year held as Copa João Havelange.

The club owns since 1938 the Nicolau Alayon stadium, often named after the street where it is located Estádio Comendador Sousa, which has a maximum capacity of 9,650 people.