The "team of boys" as Santa Cruz was called at the time beat Rio Negro (Black River) by 7–0.

A subsequent victory over the Western Telegraph Company team, very famous at the time, made the popularity of Santa Cruz increase even more.

[citation needed] At Aflitos stadium, Santa Cruz was trailing América (Pernambuco), 5–1, but in the bottom 15 minutes of the match the score changed, 6–5.

On 31 January, the Jornal Pequeno (Small Newspaper) printed in the headlines: "Botafogo Futebol Clube is beaten by the home boys by 3–2."

On 13 December 1931, Santa Cruz with Tará and Sherlock as the most important contributors successfully pursued its first Campeonato Pernambucano against Torre, 2–0.

A ship delay on return to Rio de Janeiro enabled Santa Cruz to equalize the initial loss, 3–2.

In 1943, faced with financial hardship, the club arranged for 5 friendly matches against local-club Transviário Esporte Clube in Belém, Pará to promote Santa Cruz's image and a payday of five million Brazilian réis.

Their travel to Belém was marked by fears of attacks by German U-boats, as the tour began during World War II.

After the matches in Amazonas, the delegation aimed for an international stint in Peru and Guyana, but was blocked by the Brazilian Sports Federation at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for clubs to not leave the country during World War II.

During this return, two of the players, Goalkeeper King and Striker Papeira, were diagnosed with typhoid fever, resulting in hospitalization and, eventually, their deaths.

In total, at least 26[a] matches were played over the course of a 4 month tour, which left two players dead and the club broke again, after paying travel costs and funeral expenses.

Santa Cruz's impressive performances in the National championship, expanded awareness of the club's talent beyond the state of Pernambuco.

Santa Cruz in Série A increased awareness about its abilities outside of the state when the club out performed Flamengo in 1965 at Maracanã Stadium, 3–1.

Santa Cruz went without a match loss in 1977 and 1978 during their successful pursuit of the Brazilian Championship for 35 consecutive seasons, the second greatest title run in the national competition.

In the second and third stages, Santa Cruz topped both of their groups, and qualified for the quarterfinals, where they lost to Sport Club Internacional.

That latest decline also included eliminations in the first rounds of the Copa do Brasil (2007 and 2009) by weaker teams like Nacional Fast Clube and Americano, that were then playing regional competitions.

Continuing the decline was the downfall into Hexagonal da Morte, the bottom six, in the 2008 Campeonato Pernambucano, narrowly escaping relegation in the seventh match.

That year, Santa Cruz had the highest attendance average in all Brazilian football, beating teams like Flamengo and Corinthians.

[1] In 2013, Santa Cruz won the Campeonato Pernambucano, and became tricampeao (three-time consecutive champion), beating rivals Sport Recife as they had done in 2011 and 2012 as well.

Santa Cruz lost the first leg in Colombia 2–0, but won 3–1 in Recife with a hat-trick from Grafite, although it was not enough and the club was eliminated on away goals.

However, a march named O Mais Querido (The Dearest One) by Lourenço da Fonseca Barbosa (Capiba) is very popular and is the de facto anthem.

[citation needed] The team's stadium, Estádio José do Rego Maciel, is located in Arruda, a borough of Recife.

The Blue Ribbon is a prestigious award given by the Confederation of Brazilian Football (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol – CBF).

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.