Joinville was founded on 29 January 1976, after
América-SC football department and
Caxias football department fused. The club's Golden Age was in the 1980s, when the club won eight state championships in a row. Joinville's largest win was on 31 October 1976, when the club beat Ipiranga of
Tangará 11–1 at Estádio Municipal de Tangará. The club won the
Copa Santa Catarina in 2009, and then the
Recopa Sul-Brasileira in
the same year, after beating
Serrano Centro-Sul 3–2 in the final. They won the Copa Santa Catarina again in 2011. Joinville also won the
Série C in
2011, after beating
CRB 3–1 and 4–0 in the final. The club won the Copa Santa Catarina for the third time in 2012. In 2014, the club won the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, returning to the Série A after 29 years of absence. Joinville were relegated to the Serie B in 2015 after coming in last place in the Serie A, and then relegated once again to
Serie C in 2016. After 3 years without national division, Joinville secured their place in 2025
Serie D. In 2026, the year of its fiftieth anniversary, Joinville went through a major crisis in the championship, with intense fan protests against the board and the squad. The club was fined in R$ 20,000 reais and lost three field orders by the Sports Court of Justice of Santa Catarina state (Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva do Estado de Santa Catarina, TJD-SC) after the fans threw bombs and flares onto the pitch in the first round of the relegation quadrangular, in the 4-2 defeat to Marcelo Dias on
Arena Joinville. Joinville was relegated to
Campeonato Catarinense Série B in the fourth round, after losing to
Carlos Renaux 2-1 away from home and
Marcelo Dias winning against
Figueirense 1-0 on
Estádio Orlando Scarpelli. Meanwhile, an impeachment request by a group of ten advisors was filed against the club's president Darthanhan Oliveira, alleging administrative and financial mismanagement. The request was accepted by the club's Deliberative Council, which established a disciplinary committee to judge the case according to the statutory rules. ==Honours==