Estádio São Januário

Estádio Vasco da Gama, also known as Estádio São Januário, owing to its location on a street of the same name, is the home ground of Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama. Its facade is listed by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage.

It is located in the Vasco da Gama neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a hill near the National Observatory of Brazil. Because of its position it is often referred to as Estádio da Colina (Hill's Stadium) which in turn has given Vasco the nickname of Gigante da Colina (Hill's Giant). It is one of the few Association Football specific stadiums in the world which has both team benches and coaching areas behind the goal line at the same end of the field.

The stadium had a capacity of 24,584 and it was inaugurated on April 21, 1927, with the presence of Washington Luís, Brazilian president in that time. The first event held in the stadium was a match between Vasco and Santos, which Santos won. The stadium stands as the biggest private venue in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

This stadium has also historic importance, because Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas used it many times to do deliver speeches to the Brazilian people. Vargas announced the first Brazilian work laws on the tribune of São Januário.

Vasco da Gama, owner of São Januário, is the only major football club in Rio de Janeiro to have its private stadium. Other major clubs (Flamengo, Fluminense, and Botafogo) rent their stadiums (Flamengo and Fluminense play at Maracanã which is owned by the state of Rio de Janeiro, while Botafogo plays at Estádio Nilton Santos which is owned by the city of Rio de Janeiro).

Largest official attendances

	Attendance	Home	Result	Away	Date	Tournament	Observation
1	40,209	Vasco da Gama	0–2	Londrina	February 19, 1978	Campeonato Brasileiro
2	36,910	Vasco da Gama	2–2	Vitória	November 21, 1999	Campeonato Brasileiro
3	36,273	Vasco da Gama	2–0	Barcelona de Guayaquil	August 12, 1998	Copa Libertadores	Final's first leg
4	35,308	Vasco da Gama	2–0	Internacional	September 26, 1999	Campeonato Brasileiro
5	34,147	Vasco da Gama	2–1	Ponte Preta	August 20, 2000	Campeonato Brasileiro
6	33,814	Vasco da Gama	1–1	Paraná	September 19, 1999	Campeonato Brasileiro
7	33,516	Vasco da Gama	2–1	Atlético Paranaense	October 31, 1999	Campeonato Brasileiro
8	33.428	Vasco da Gama	2–1	Palmeiras	October 16, 1999	Campeonato Brasileiro
9	33,378	Vasco da Gama	2–0	Fluminense	October 30, 1949	Campeonato Carioca
10	33,330	Vasco da Gama	0–0	Cruzeiro	May 23, 1998	Copa do Brasil
11	32,672	Vasco da Gama	2–1	Flamengo	September 14, 1947	Campeonato Carioca
12	30,254	Vasco da Gama	6–0	Joinville	March 25, 1984	Campeonato Brasileiro

Source:

Derbies

Until the construction of Maracanã, Vasco used to play the city derbies at São Januário. After Maracanã was opened, in 1950, the derbies moved to there. Since then, though, a few of those derbies have been played at São Januário, mostly when Maracanã was undergoing refurbishing. On February 14, 2016, Vasco return to play a derby in São Januário since 2005, the match was against Flamengo for the Campeonato Carioca, with Vasco winning, 1–0.

Here is Vasco's home record against its major rivals:

Opponent	G	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Fluminense	46	22	13	11	81	56	25
Botafogo	45	18	12	15	68	52	16
Flamengo	35	16	10	9	67	51	16
''G – games played; W - wins; L - losses; D - draws; GF – goals for; GA – goals against; GD – goal differential