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Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries, From Sporting Lisbon to Athletic Bilbao — why do we get foreign clubs' names wrong? , Michael Cox, The Athletic, 16 March 2023 is a Portuguese sports club based in Lisbon. Having various sports departments and sporting disciplines, it is best known for its men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.
Founded on 1 July 1906, Sporting is one of the "Big Three" clubs in Portugal that have never been relegated from Primeira Liga, along with Lisbon derby and Porto. Sporting are nicknamed Leões (Lions), for the symbol used in the middle of the club's crest, and Verde e Brancos (Green and Whites), for the shirt colour that are in (horizontal) stripes. The club's anthem is called "A Marcha do Sporting" ("Sporting's March"), its motto is Esforço, Dedicação, Devoção e Glória (Effort, Dedication, Devotion and Glory), its supporters are called sportinguistas and the club's mascot is called Jubas. Sporting is the second largest sports club by membership in Portugal, with about 150,000 members, which makes it one of the world's largest. It is also among the top three Portuguese sports clubs in number of non-affiliated fans. Their home ground has been the Estádio José Alvalade, built in 2003, which replaced the previous one, built-in 1956. The club's indoor arena is the Pavilhão João Rocha multi-sports pavilion. Its youth academy has helped produce footballers such as Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sporting is the third most decorated Portuguese football team, with 56 major trophies. Domestically, they have won 21 League titles, 18 Taças de Portugal, a joint-record of 4 Campeonato de Portugal, 4 Taças da Liga and 9 Supertaças Cândido de Oliveira. In Europe, they won the 1963–64 European Cup Winners' Cup and were runners-up at the UEFA Cup in 2005 and at the Latin Cup in 1949. Sporting played in the first European Champions Cup match on 4 September 1955, by invitation, and has participated in the most editions of UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League (36), a tournament in which they have the most matches played and the second most matches won, and where they are ranked first in the all-time club ranking.
The club also organized parties and picnics. Eventually, during one picnic, on 12 April 1906, discussions erupted, as some members defended that the club should only be focused on organizing picnics and social events, with another group defending that the club should be focused on the practising of sports instead. ageSome time later, José Gavazzo, José Alvalade and 17 other members left the club, with José Alvalade saying: "I'll go to my grandad and he'll give me money to make another club." As such, a new club, without a name, was founded on 8 May 1906, and on 26 May, it was named "Campo Grande Sporting Clube". The Viscount of Alvalade, whose money and land helped found the club, was the first president of Sporting. José Alvalade, as one of the main founders and first club member ( sócio), uttered on behalf of himself and his fellow co-founders: "We want this club to be a great club, as great as the greatest in Europe." Beyond José Holtreman Roquette (José Alvalade) and his grandfather Alfredo das Neves Holtreman (Viscount of Alvalade), among the founders were also the brothers António, José and Francisco Stromp, the Gavazzo brothers, José Maria do Couto Valente da Ponte and José Ferreira Roquette. Two months later, on 1 July 1906, António Félix da Costa Júnior suggested the name Sporting Clube de Portugal, and since 1920 that is the club's foundation date.
The club also released their first report card on 31 March 1922, titled "Boletim do Sporting" (Sporting's Report), lending the foundation for the later called "Jornal do Sporting", the official newspaper of the club, that still exists today.
Sporting played their first Primeira Liga game (the 1st Division of Portuguese football) ever on 20 January 1935, winning 0–6 against Académica de Coimbra. A year later, in 1936, the club had their heaviest ever defeat against FC Porto, losing 10–1. Sporting, however, got their revenge a year later, when they humbled the same team with a 9–1 result. In 1941, under the guidance of Hungarian manager József Szabó, the club celebrated the first league title of their history.
Sporting and the Yugoslavian team FK Partizan both made history on 4 September 1955, as they played the first-ever UEFA Champion Clubs' Cup match. Sporting player João Martins scored the first-ever goal of the competition, on the 14th minute. The match ended in a 3–3 draw. Sporting also inaugurated their new venue, José Alvalade Stadium, on 10 June 1956, which would be their home ground until 2003.
In the 1960s, Sporting achieved continental success, winning the 1963–64 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, defeating MTK Budapest of Hungary in the final. It was the only time a Portuguese team side won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup title. The team entered the competition defeating Atalanta in the qualifying round, then past Cypriot club APOEL FC in what was the biggest win in a single UEFA competitions game to date: 16–1, a record that still stands today. On the next round, they lost 4–1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford in the first hand, but made a remarkable comeback at home, winning 5–0. In the semi-finals, Sporting eliminated Lyon, and in the end MTK Budapest, in a two-round final to win their first European title. The winning goal was scored by João Morais from a direct corner kick.
Under the leadership of president João Rocha, the first project of club-company in Portugal was approved by Sporting CP's affiliated partners ( sócios) in November 1973, and denominated "Society of Constructions and Planning" ( SCP, Sociedade de Construções e Planeamento). The Portuguese government authorised the establishment of the company and the issue of 2.5 million shares, with a nominal value of 100 escudos each. The club-company project with issuance of stock was hampered shortly after due to the events of the Carnation Revolution of 1974 and the subsequent Processo Revolucionário em Curso of 1975 (the creation of Sociedades Anónimas Desportivas ("Public limited sports companies") would be later available in Portugal through a new legal status only introduced in the 1990s).
The club reached the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1974, but lost to eventual winners 1. FC Magdeburg of East Germany.
Highlights of this period of time also include a 7–1 victory over arch-rivals Benfica at the old José Alvalade Stadium on 14 December 1986. Sporting also reached the UEFA Cup semi-final in 1991, losing against Inter Milan. Also, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid were both tied and defeated in Lisbon when playing against Sporting in the old UEFA Cup, in the 1986–87 and 1994–95 seasons, respectively.
In 1998, Sporting had created the Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD, a public limited sports company for its football department, which went public on the Euronext Lisbon in that year at a price of 1,000 (the equivalent of about five at the time) per share.
On 14 August 2002, Cristiano Ronaldo, then 17, played his first official match for a Sporting CP's senior team, in a UEFA Champions League qualifying round at home against Inter Milan. On 1 September 2002, in the Azores, Cristiano Ronaldo debuted as a senior player in official domestic competitions playing for Sporting CP B in a 2–1 away loss against Sport Clube Lusitânia and on 29 September he made his debut in the Primeira Liga, playing for Sporting CP's main team in a way match against SC Braga.
Domestically, Sporting had back-to-back wins in the Portuguese Cup in 2007 and 2008 (led by coach Paulo Bento). Sporting also reached, for the first time, the knockout phase of UEFA Champions League, in the 2008–09 season, but were roundly defeated by Bayern Munich, with an aggregate loss of 12–1. This is widely regarded as one of the lowest points in the history of the club. The club almost reached another European final in 2012, but were dropped out of the competition by Athletic Bilbao, in the semi-finals of the 2011–12 Europa League.
On 5 June 2015, it was released an audit that analyzed the management of Sporting in the past 20 years: it concluded that in 1994 the club had €55 million worth of real estate assets and an almost nonexistent debt; by 2013, real estate assets were almost nonexistent, and the club had amassed a €331 million debt. Their new stadium (completed in 2003) cost 74% more than what was expected when its construction started (€184 million against the planned €106 million), while their training facility cost 24% more, and the costs of Alvalade XXI neighbourhood, a real estate complex located around the stadium, overshot its estimate by 60%; such complex was almost entirely sold in the following years, many estates of which were sold below market prices.
From 1995 to 2013, the club invested €261 million in the football team, however, with few sports and financial results. The audit criticized many football transfers in the 2000s, in which the club paid commissions well above market prices to player agents, and discovered that Sporting even had paid commissions without evidence of written contracts. The audit also concluded that the administrations from 1995 to 2013 intended to convert Sporting, a multi-sports club, exclusively into a football club – although they did not openly admitted so – which was being done gradually through the closure of other sport modalities. Moreover, the audit also pointed out evidence of mismanagement and conflicts of interest by several administrators. Considering the audit's results, club members approved the expulsion of Godinho Lopes as an associate of the club in June 2015.
In the 2014–15 season, Sporting won their 16th Portuguese Cup in dramatic fashion. The Lisbon side, led by Marco Silva, played the final against Braga, and after a disastrous start, found themselves losing 0–2 at half-time and playing with ten men after the sending-off of Cédric Soares. With the final seemingly lost, Islam Slimani gave some hope to the fans as he scored the 1–2 on the 83-minute. In stoppage time, Fredy Montero managed to equalize, forcing extra-time. Sporting ultimately won the match 3–1 on penalties. Celebrations ended in a pacific pitch invasion of Estádio José Alvalade by the fans, as the club touched silverware for the first time in seven years.
In June 2015, Jorge Jesus joined Sporting after Benfica opted not to renew his contract as coach of the club, signing a three-year contract. Presented as the new manager of the club on 1 July, the managerial change took the rivalry of both Lisbon clubs to new heights. Under Jesus' tenure, Sporting won the Portuguese Super Cup for the eighth time, against back-to-back champions Benfica. Despite a positive start, Sporting did not win any other trophy, finishing second in the Primeira Liga with 86 points, two points behind Benfica, despite breaking their own points record in the league.
Following a trophyless season, Sporting won their first Taça da Liga on a penalty shoot-out against Vitória de Setúbal. However, on 15 May 2018, days after finishing third in the league, several players and coaches were attacked by around 50 Ultras supporters of Sporting at the club's training ground (9 of them would be sentenced to at least a specified term of actual imprisonment after trial). Five days later, Sporting lost the Portuguese Cup final to Aves. About a month later, Bruno de Carvalho was dismissed by club members after a general assembly on 23 June. This followed the rescissions of nine players: Bruno Fernandes, Daniel Podence, Rui Patricio, Rodrigo Battaglia, Rafael Leão, Rúben Ribeiro, Bas Dost, Gelson Martins and William Carvalho. Sporting would be later eligible for court-awarded compensation when the rescissions were declared illegal for those players who did not return to the club or were not sold by Sporting.
In the period before scheduled elections, a management committee, headed by former President Sousa Cintra as acting president of the sports club, succeeded in returning some of the players who had left the club following the incident, namely Bruno Fernandes, Bas Dost and Rodrigo Battaglia. Frederico Varandas was elected president on 8 September 2018. Having replaced Jorge Jesus at the beginning of the 2018–19 season, José Peseiro was sacked after a poor performance on the Primeira Liga.
In March 2019, Sporting CP announced a loan negotiated with Apollo Global Management, based on the securitization of NOS' television rights revenues.
In March 2020, Ruben Amorim was appointed manager of Sporting CP for a managerial transfer worth €10 million (£8.65 million), becoming the third-most expensive manager ever.
In the 2024-25 season, after an initial winning streak lasting for 11 rounds, to give Sporting a 5-point lead, coach Ruben Amorim announced his departure to sign with Manchester United. Not before leading Sporting to a 4-1 home win against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City for the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League League Phase on the 4th round - Sporting would go on to lose with Borussia Dortmund on the knockout phase play-offs. His last Primeira Liga game saw Sporting make a comeback to win 2-4 at SC Braga for the 11th round. After a failed 8-match tenure for João Pereira, former Portugal capped and Sporting right-back, between November and late December, Rui Borges took over, starting off with a 1-0 home win against SL Benfica and led the club to win the Primeira Liga for Sporting's 21st Primeira Liga title - and first back-to-back win in over 71 years, since the 1953/54 season. This marked Sporting's third League title win in the last 5 seasons of Portuguese football, marking a new era of increasing domestic dominance and hegemony. Swedish stiker Viktor Gyökeres again topped the goalscoring chart, with 39 goals in 33 League games (having scored an impressive 53 times in 51 season overall matches), making him a top contender for the 2024-25 European Golden Shoe.
For the 2022–2026 quadrennium, Frederico Varandas' administration started works of building renovation and modernization of the club's facilities. In December 2023, Sporting and its SAD had gone ahead with a financial restructuring started in 2019 on the grounds of earlier agreements with jump-started by Bruno de Carvalho which included the renegotiation of bank debt, "extinguishing the debt originally belonging to Novo Banco (with outstanding capital of 35,403,508.62 euros), with the exception of finance leases", the company announced in a statement sent to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM). A debt belonging to Millennium BCP was also settled. In addition, Sporting announced it would own 88 per cent of Sporting SAD from 15 February 2024 onwards, instead of the 83.90% it owned at the time. With the completion of the restructuring, the club said it intended to start a new strategic and secure the entry of a minority investor in its Futebol, SAD.
Sporting CP radically changed its emblem in 2001 to convey a message of modernity, more geared towards the new technologies at the time. The current emblem presents an image with simplified framing while maintaining the green color in the shield and adding three horizontal white stripes that symbolize the club's shirt. Complemented with the words 'Sporting' and 'Portugal', now written in full, they emphasize the national dimension of the club and clarify its name internationally. A stylized rampant lion appears in golden color and the acronym "SCP", which stands for the club's name (Sporting Clube de Portugal), is shown like a crown on top of the shield.
The club's anthem is the "Sporting's March" (original official name: " A Marcha do Sporting"). It was written in 1955 by songwriters Eduardo Damas and Manuel Paião and originally sung by Portuguese singer Maria José Valério. Sporting CP created and uses its own 'You'll Never Walk Alone'-style song, through a Portuguese version of the classic song popularised by Frank Sinatra 'My Way' called " O Mundo Sabe Que" that is performed by a massed chorus of supporters on match day. Other popular songs include " Só Eu Sei" and " Curva Belíssima" popularized by organized Sporting CP's supporter's group Juventude Leonina, and " Dia de Jogo", " Força Brutal" and " Voto Solene" sung by Sporting CP's-themed rock band Supporting .
Throughout its history the club and its supporters established centres, branches and delegations ( núcleos, filiais e delegações) of Sporting CP across Portugal and abroad. Among them, branches such as Sporting Clube de Tomar (branch number 1), Farense (branch number 2), Olhanense (branch number 4), Covilhã (branch number 8) and Campomaiorense (branch number 27), and delegations such as Lusitânia (delegation number 14), became noted autonomous sports clubs that reached the top level of Portuguese league systems in sports like football, rink hockey or basketball. Founded in 1920, CD Maxaquene (branch number 6 until 1975 and later renamed as CD Maxaquene) was also a branch of Sporting CP in Mozambique, East Africa, and under this original name, Portuguese footballer Eusébio graduated as a footballer and played for the Mozambican club at both youth level and the main squad between the ages of 15 and 18. The centres were created and institutionalised in Sporting's 10th Club Statutes of 1984 and are characterised as being a group of sportinguistas who get together and organise themselves to promote, support, celebrate and publicise Sporting CP. Many of them are also involved in important recreational, social and sporting activities. The branches, more than 100 were founded around the world, are sports clubs that have associated themselves with Sporting CP's core values, are managed as autonomous sports clubs and contribute to the expansion of Sporting CP. The delegations are sporting, recreational and cultural institutions that represent the interests of Sporting CP in the places where they are based and mobilise the ideals of the club in those same regions.
Before the start of the 1993–94 season, Sousa Cintra, then president of Sporting, took advantage of Benfica's financial crisis by signing Paulo Sousa and Pacheco, who had terminated their contracts with the latter club. This event became known as "Verão Quente" (Hot Summer). Later, on 14 May 1994, a memorable derby was played at the old José Alvalade Stadium, crowded to the top, as winning the derby could be a decisive step for Sporting in trying to regain the title, which by that time they had not won for 12 years. Sporting were considered the favourites, with a squad composed by Luís Figo, Paulo Sousa, Krasimir Balakov, Ivaylo Yordanov, Emílio Peixe, Stan Valckx and others; therefore, Benfica were seen as the underdogs. However, Benfica defied the odds and won the match 6–3 and went on securing the league title weeks later, leaving Sporting empty-handed in one of the most dramatic seasons in their history. Two years later, the rivalry continued intense with a dramatic incident in the 1996 Portuguese Cup final, which Benfica won 3–1. After the latter scored the first goal, a supporter of the club lit a flare which eventually struck a Sporting fan in the chest, killing him instantly.
Eight years later, on 3 May 2004, Geovanni's winning goal for Benfica in the 87th minute at Alvalade caused a pitch invasion by Sporting fans. In November 2011, after a 1–0 loss to Benfica at the Estádio da Luz, Sporting supporters set fire to one of the stands of the stadium. Four years later, on 7 February 2015, during a futsal derby, members of No Name Boys, one of Benfica's unofficial supporters' groups, showed a banner saying "Very Light 96", in reference to the 1996 incident. The next day, during a football derby at Estádio José Alvalade, an official supporters' group of Sporting, Juve Leo, showed a banner with the inscription " Sigam o King" ("Follow the King"), in reference to Eusébio's death a month before.
Sporting and Porto have decided a competition 13 times. The first final won by Sporting took place only in 1978, at the Estádio Nacional, for the Taça de Portugal. The dispute was decided in two matches, a 1–1 draw and a 2–1 victory in the tie-breaker. There would be three more finals in the same location. In 1994, Porto also won the tiebreaker 2–1. In 2000, Porto won the tiebreaker again 2–0. And, in the 2007–08 Taça de Portugal Sporting won in extra time 2–0. In the 2019, after eleven years, Sporting won once again, with a 2–2 draw after extra time, with Sporting winning the penalty shootout 4–3.
Another four decisions between Porto and Sporting were for the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. In 1996, in a tie-breaker valid for the 1994–95 edition; in 2001, valid for the 1999–2000 edition; and in 2007 and 2008. In the first two finals, the matches were held over two legs in the fields of rivals, with tiebreakers in Paris (1996) and Coimbra (2001). In 2007 and 2008, under the format in force since 2001, the decisions took place in a single match held in Leiria and in the Algarve.
Another decision between the two clubs took place in 2019, counting for the 2018–19 Taça da Liga. The match took place in Braga, ending with a 3–1 victory on penalties, after a 1–1 draw in regular time.
Despite the rivalry, both clubs formed an alliance against Benfica in 2017, when Bruno de Carvalho was the president of Sporting.
A new stadium, Estádio José Alvalade, was built for the UEFA Euro 2004, hosted by Portugal. Designed by Tomás Taveira, it was inaugurated on 6 August 2003 and the wider complex called Alvalade XXI included a shopping mall, cinemas, health center, office space, residential areas, club's museum, official club store and other infrastructure. The opening match was a 3–1 victory over Manchester United in a friendly game that marked the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting CP. The stadium was awarded a 'five-star' certificate at 2005 UEFA Cup Final by then UEFA president Lennart Johansson. The stadium has a capacity of 50,095 spectators. The Multidesportivo Sporting, is a multi-sports arena located in a five-floor semi-detached building next to the stadium proper.
The stadium hosted quarter-finals and semi-finals matches during the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, and recently has hosted the 2024–25 UEFA Women's Champions League final, an event the marked the last match played on the stadium before it underwent a remodling stage that will modernize the facilities, add more than 2000 seats to the overall capacity and eliminate a much long contested and conterversial "pit" that existed between the seated stands and the pitch.
Sporting's youth academy system helped develop Ballon d'Or recipients Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the victorious campaign of Portuguese National Team in the Euro 2016 10 out of the 14 players who played the final against France were players "made in Sporting". Moreover, at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Sporting CP had 14 players that came through their youth system, making it the most represented youth academy system in the tournament, followed by FC Barcelona with eleven.
| Domestic ! scope="col" | Primeira Liga | 21 | 1940–41,1943–44, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2020–21, 2023–24, 2024–25 |
| Regional ! scope="col" | Campeonato de Lisboa | 19 | 1915, 1919, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1928, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1948 |
| Continental ! scope="col" | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 1 | 1963–64 |
| { class="wikitable" ! Year ! Winner ! G | |
| 1934–35 | 14 |
| 1936–37 | 24 |
| 1937–38 | 34 |
| 1939–40 | 29 |
| 1940–41 | 29 |
| 1945–46 | 37 |
| 1946–47 | 43 |
| 1948–49 | 40 |
| 1950–51 | 29 |
| 1953–54 | 31 |
| 1965–66 | 25 |
| 1973–74 | 46 |
| 1974–75 | 30 |
| 1979–80 | 31 |
| 1985–86 | 30 |
| 1987–88 | 23 |
| 1992–93 | 18 |
| 2001–02 | 42 |
| 2004–05 | 25 |
| 2006–07 | 15 |
| 2016–17 | 34 |
| 2020–21 | 23 |
| 2023–24 | 29 |
| 2024–25 | 39 |
| { class="wikitable sortable" |
| Krasimir Balakov |
| Stan Valckx |
| Luís Figo |
| Oceano |
| Ricardo Sá Pinto |
| Marco Aurélio |
| Ivaylo Yordanov |
| Delfim Teixeira |
| Alberto Acosta |
| Beto |
| João Pinto |
| Pedro Barbosa |
| Rui Jorge |
| João Moutinho |
| Ricardo |
| Liédson |
| Tonel |
| Liédson |
| Daniel Carriço |
| Rui Patrício |
| 2012 |
| Adrien Silva |
| William Carvalho |
| Nani |
| João Mário |
| Bas Dost |
| Bruno Fernandes |
| 2019 |
| Sebastián Coates |
| João Palhinha Pedro Gonçalves |
| Antonio Adán |
| Gonçalo Inácio |
| Viktor Gyökeres |
African Footballer of the Year
Bulgarian Footballer of the Year
UEFA European Under-21 Championship Golden Player
Golden Ball
UEFA European Under-17 Championship Golden Player Award
Portuguese Footballer of the Year
Primeira Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year:
LPFP Primeira Liga Player of the Year:
LPFP Primeira Liga Goalkeeper of the Year:
LPFP Primeira Liga Best Goal:
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team
The 100 Greatest Players of the 20th Century
Head coaches who won the Primeira Liga while at the helm for Sporting CP:
The history of the museum dates back to the trophy room of the old headquarters on Rua do Passadiço, where in 1956, 1850 trophies were already stored. In 1994, President Sousa Cintra inaugurated a new trophy room, where less than half of the club's collections were exhibited. The following year the remodeling and organization of the museum is promoted, and a conservative viewpoint is incorporated. During the construction of the new Estádio José Alvalade a new museum is inaugurated, culminating in four years of investigation. Throughout the years, through donations with several origins, in addition to the trophies the patrimony of the club never stopped growing. In July 2016, there was a new inauguration after a total renovation.
Outside of Lisbon, there is also an official Sporting Museum in the city of Leiria, in the Central Region of Portugal.
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