His dream came true on July 29, 1999 when Poti Júnior, after receiving an invitation, from the President of FNF, Nilson Gomes, to participate in the state championship of the 1st division, managed to gather a group of sixty-nine friends to found São Gonçalo Futebol Clube.

São Gonçalo do Amarante has always been considered as one of the superstars of developing homegrown footballers, especially, among others, Odilon, Gonzaga, Ribeiro, Odissé, Ze Ireno, Tito, Assisi and Paulinho, mainly because it was the only city to win the traditional Interior Football Championship, known as Matutão, five times.

In 2001, the second year of its history, São Gonçalo RN attempted to win Série C. To accomplish this feat, they had to set up a high-level team to unseat the duo ABC and América.

In the playoffs of the third national division, the first stage went well, however in the second they collapsed and finished last in Group 2, which was led by Atlético Goianiense.

[2] Motivated after coming 2nd place in the 2003 Série C, the management directors assembled a team that would be considered title contenders.

The Bull, as dubbed by fans and the press, participated in the Primeira divisão do Campeonato Potiguar (the Rio Grande First Division Championship) until 2008.