1997 Campeonato Carioca

Campeonato Carioca
Season	1997
Champions	Botafogo
Relegated	Barreira
Copa do Brasil	Flamengo; Fluminense; Botafogo; Vasco da Gama
Série C	América
Matches played	112
Goals scored	291 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	Romário (Flamengo) - 18 goals
Biggest home win	Flamengo 7-0 Madureira (March 6, 1997)
Biggest away win	Bangu 0-5 Botafogo (March 5, 1997); Barreira 0-5 Flamengo (March 2, 1997)
Highest scoring	Botafogo 6-2 Barreira (February 19, 1997); Madureira 3-5 Americano (April 6, 1997)
	← 1996 1998 →

The 1997 edition of the Campeonato Carioca kicked off on January 12, 1997 and ended on July 8, 1997. It is the official tournament organized by FFERJ (Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, or Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. Only clubs based in the Rio de Janeiro State are allowed to play. Twelve teams contested this edition. Botafogo won the title for the 17th time. Barreira was relegated.^[1]^[2]

System

The tournament was divided in three stages:^[2]^[1]

Taça Guanabara: The twelve teams all played in single round-robin format against each other. The eight best teams qualified to the Taça Rio, the best two among them playing a final match against each other to define the champions. The bottom team was relegated.
Taça Rio: The 8 remaining clubs all played in single round-robin format against each other. The six best teams qualified to the Third phase.
Third phase: The six remaining clubs all played in single round-robin format against each other.
Finals: Their format would depend on the quantity of teams that won the previous stages. In case that one team won two and other one, which was the case that wound up happening, the winner of the most phases would gain four bonus points, and the Finals would be disputed in a best-of-six points series.

Championship

Taça Guanabara

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Botafogo	11	11	0	0	29	8	+21	33	Qualified to Taça Guanabara Finals
2	Vasco da Gama	11	8	1	2	21	11	+10	25	Qualified to Taça Guanabara Finals
3	Flamengo	11	7	3	1	31	8	+23	24	Qualified to Taça Rio
4	Madureira	11	6	0	5	14	16	−2	18
5	Bangu	11	4	4	3	19	19	0	16
6	Fluminense	11	4	3	4	13	13	0	15
7	Americano	11	4	1	6	10	13	−3	13
8	Volta Redonda	11	3	3	5	13	16	−3	12
9	América	11	1	6	4	9	13	−4	9	Eliminated
10	Itaperuna	11	2	1	8	9	21	−12	7
11	Olaria	11	1	4	6	12	21	−9	7
12	Barreira	11	1	2	8	8	29	−21	5	Relegated

Updated to match(es) played on March 26, 1997. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Botafogo	1–0	Vasco da Gama

Taça Rio

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Botafogo	7	4	3	0	8	4	+4	15	Qualified
2	Flamengo	7	4	2	1	16	9	+7	14
3	Fluminense	7	4	2	1	10	5	+5	14
4	Vasco da Gama	7	3	1	3	6	6	0	10
5	Americano	7	2	2	3	8	11	−3	8
6	Bangu	7	1	3	3	6	8	−2	6
7	Volta Redonda	7	1	1	5	7	14	−7	4	Eliminated
8	Madureira	7	0	4	3	7	11	−4	4	Eliminated

Updated to match(es) played on May 3, 1997. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Third phase

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Vasco da Gama	5	3	2	0	10	3	+7	11	Qualified to Finals
2	Fluminense	5	3	2	0	9	5	+4	11
3	Americano	5	2	2	1	5	4	+1	8
4	Botafogo	5	1	2	2	3	5	−2	5
5	Flamengo	5	1	1	3	2	5	−3	4
6	Bangu	5	0	1	4	2	9	−7	1

Updated to match(es) played on July 3, 1997. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.