Ground Capacity 12,500 Website Club home page League LigaPro Founded 12 May 1927 | 2015–16 16th Manager Claudio Braga Location Ponta Delgada | |
 | ||
Full name Clube Desportivo Santa Clara Nickname(s) Os Açoreanos (The Azoreans) President Mário Jorge Freitas Batista Grounds Estádio de São Miguel, Portugal Profiles | ||
Hino do cd santa clara de portugal
Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel that is eligible for UEFA Champions League and Europa League games. They are the most successful football team from the Azores islands and the only team from the archipelago to compete in one UEFA competition: the Intertoto Cup.
Contents
To date, Santa Clara is the only club from the Azores islands to have competed in the top division of the Portuguese Liga, being thus the westernmost top-flight club in Europe. They compete in the Segunda Liga, the Portuguese second level football league. Santa Clara's current kit manufacturer is Adidas and their main sponsors are Banif and Açoreana Seguros. Main rivals are CD Operário from Lagoa. Other major rivals are C.S. Marítimo and C.D. Nacional, from the island of Madeira.
Overview
Santa Clara plays in the Estádio de São Miguel in Ponta Delgada, the largest city in the Azores. It is the only team from the Azores islands to ever participate in the Portuguese Liga, where they play for three non-consecutive seasons (1999–00, 2001–02 and 2002–03). The club also qualified once for UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2002. Manuel Fernandes, a former Portuguese international, who took Santa Clara to the First Division the first time, is a highly acclaimed figure in Azores. While it now plays in the Segunda Liga, Santa Clara is always a favorite to get promoted.
The club is known for its close connection to S.L. Benfica, having shared until recently the very same crest. The club played in the old Estádio da Luz, as Benfica's last official opponent before a new stadium was built in Lisbon for the UEFA Euro 2004, which Portugal hosted. The attendance of that game was close to 50,000.
Among the club's most famous players are Paulo Figueiredo, Clayton, Idrissa Keita, Lito Vidigal, and Jorge Ribeiro while Portugal's former all-time leading scorer Pauleta, a native of the Azores, also played for the club.
The Santa Clara Sporting Club is the end result, something distant in time but very close in essence, a social phenomenon that sports beginning in late 1917 had its heyday during the years 1919 and 1920, the peak of lively dispute of "Leagues of Santa Clara," competition in which participating teams representing some of the various "shops of Santa Clara", presenting himself as heir apparent of the other two "Santa Claras"; the "Santa Clara Foot-ball Club" and "Sport Club Santa Clara", both before him also affiliated to the "Foot-ball Association Sam Miguel" today; Football Association of Ponta Delgada.
The first direction Clube Desportivo Santa Clara was elected by acclamation to May 12, 1927, with its founding statutes were approved shortly after the June 21, 1927, a General Assembly for that purpose had been called and then was chaired by Lieutenant John Joaquim Vicente Jr. The process of formation of the club culminates July 29, 1927 with the grant by the Civil Government of Ponta Delgada the respective permit.
The Clube Desportivo Santa Clara requested its inclusion on the Football Association to August 6, 1927, that opportunity was granted only about three months later. Their first official match took place on November 20, 1927.
Honours
Current squad
As of 21 January, 2017. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.