Sporting Clube da Praia

History

The club was founded on 2 December 1923 and is the oldest club in both the city and the island, it is the third oldest on the nation. The name is identical to the Sporting Clube de Portugal and is the 20th affiliate.

The 2005 national season saw being one of the highest total numbers of goals in history scored with 24 and 11 for the playoffs for a total of 35. The score 13 (who defeated Desportivo Estância Baixo) in a single match was one of the highest in national league history and is the highest in the club.

Sporting's success after the breakup of the Santiago Championships into two zones

Sporting has a total of eight titles for the South Zone, their first was in 2005 and won four consecutive in 2008. Also in 2005, Sporting had their best season to date with 16 wins, not a single loss and most of all 49 points. Of any of the island leagues, Sporting held the record for the most points for eleven years when Santiago North Premier Division's Varandinha took it with 63 points in 2016, second would be Scorpion Vermelho with 61 which Sporting would be third. The team would win three titles in a row between 2012 and 2014 totalling eight. The first super cup victory was in 2013 and the cup victory in 2014. Sporting also has three opening tournament titles won in 2001, 2003 and in 2005.

Beto was coach from 2008 to 2012 as first term and led the club to its greatest success that Sporting had ever seen but not as they did in 2005 in 2009 and 2011, they were runner up of Santiago South, though the club entered the national championships on two occasions, the other as automatic holders of the national title . Janito became coach in 2012 and kept its remaining regional successes going. Sporting underwent a 28 match unbeaten streak which started from February 18, 2012 to November 16, 2013.

Two seasons with nearly successes

Later Beto took the position for about two years up to 2015 and the season was not as successful as earlier. Paulo Veiga was chairman between 2013 and 2016, and ruined a bit of Sporting Praia's successess of the earliest part of the centuryIn the 2014-15 season, in the regional super cup in late November, Sporting Praia was to face Tchadense, a second place cup winner as Sporting won both the championship and a cup title, the match was postponed and then cancelled. Later in the regional championships on February 22 in a match with CD Travadores, Sporting fielded an ineligible player, he scored a goal. Fans didn't like it and Travadores was awarded three goals and Sporting lost the match, the club lost three points by the secretary, the recent in the regional competition.

Janito Carvalho was again coach of the club for the season and no top successes the club would achieve as they did last time. Sporting's newly extended 2015/16 season results started at the lowest position in the first two weeks then climbed to second and did not got the number one spot until late in week 17, then third in week 20, then second and lastly returned to third and finished in that position with 46 points, 13 wins and 7 draws. Sporting had the championship's highest number goals scored with 49, less than half more than the previous season and was also the club's highest. Sporting's final match of the station numbering 7 was the championship's highest shared with Boavista and Desportivo. In the following season, Veiga's three year presidential career went to an end. Carvalho moved to Académica da Praia in late 2016.

Carlos Daniel Caetano became president of the club in October or November 2016. Recently as of the 18th round, Sporting regained full success as the club has 14 wins and 4 draws and scored 21 goals, the goal total is second and is shared with Boavista's. Mbutidem Sunday, the Nigerian scored the most goals in the region numbering eleven alongside Travadores' Anilton. With a goal total of 46, it matches the previous season's totals but not 2012 total of 47, there is a possibility it will be shared with the 2005 point total and may become the greatest season ever led by the enlargement of the matches to 22.

A new turn towards another success

Started from February 7, 2016 with a win over Vitória, Sporting went on a 31 match unbeaten streak as of the 14th round of the current 2016-17 season, of any island leagues, it is behind CS Mindelense with 34 matches which occurred between 2014-2016. Also Sporting has a 21 match unbeaten streak away at the regionals and surpassed that of São Vicente's, Mindelense's 18 match unbeaten streak at home and five more away which lasted from 2014 to April 2016. Overall, it is behind Académica Porto Novo's record of 30 which was from 2012 to April 2016.

In the national competition

Sporting Praia's first appearance in the then colonial competition was in 1953 where they lost to Académica. Sporting Clube de Praia won their first championship in 1961 after defeating GD Amarantes, their second was in 1969 after defeating CS Mindelense and their third in 1974 where they defeated Castilho from Mindelo 2–1 and claimed the final colonial title.

Sporting Praia succeeded up to the finals in 1977 and their first after Cape Verde became independent, Sporting scored two goals in one of the two final matches, the club lost the penalty shootouts 4–3. Sporting would win their first title after independence in 1985 after defeating Morabeza from the small island of Brava 2–0, Sporting headed to their final competition appearance in 1988 which was unsuccessful, they lost to CS Mindelense 2–0 and 0–1 in the 1988 finals their second national title was won in 1991 after defeating Desportivo Ribeira Brava from up north 1–0 in the second leg, the only scored match which gave Sporting the first Cape Verdean club to enter the African Championship competition a year later, Sporting faced Mindelense yet again in the 1997 edition and two matches ended in tites, one scoreless and one with a goal apiece, Sporting scored penalty shootouts to win their third title.

Their appearance in the 2002 season was not a playoff one, it was decided on a total of points and goals and Sporting claimed it in 2002 with 19 points, 6 wins and 22 goals scored ahead of Batuque FC by four goals and without a point or a win ahead. The point total of 19 is the highest in national championship history, as the first phase would have a maximum of four or five games the following year, no other club surpassed the point total in the present day.

After the playoff system was restored, in the 2004–05 season, Sporting versus FC Derby was tied in the first leg, the team lost 4–3 to Derby along with the national title. In the 2006 season, the club beat the team known as Académico do Aeroporto from Espargos on Sal Island, during the semi-finals they won the most points, six before entering the finals and lost in the first leg and won in the second leg where Dário scored a goal at the 43rd minute and claimed the title for the 2005–06 season, a year later, the team claimed their second title in a row in the 2006–07 season and also were the championships of the island's south zone, at the second leg of the finals, Dário scored during stoppage time and equaled the score and won the match under the away goals rule. In the 2008 season, there were protests by fans over Académica's loss on 23 June over a referee that received a penalty to one of Sporting's players. This cause a delay in the playoffs and was finally resolved on 8 July, matches resumed two days later on 10 July. The results for the first leg was 1–0 and won 3–0 against Derby in the second, Zé di Tchetcha scored the first two in the first half while Platini scored it in the middle of the second half, yet again received their third title in 2008 season, again Sporting competed in their recent African competition in 2009. Sporting competed in the 2009 edition where they faced CS Mindelense, the first leg was scoreless, Sporting won the second leg 3–0, the first goal was a penalty scored by Dário and advanced to the finals, Sporting faced Académica da Praia in their first ever rivalry of Southern Santiago and the city inside the national competition, all Sporting's three goals were scored by Nuna in the first (2–0) and second (1–1) legs and became the only club to win four consecutive titles. Sporting did not compete in African competition in 2010, not even in 2013 likely due to financial problems. The 2010 and 2011 season were unsuccessful for Sporting, they've lost the title to they city's other rival FC Boavista and CS Mindelense of Mindelo by a total of a single goal. Their recent national title win was in 2012 where they defeated SC Atlético 1–1 in the first match up north in the island of São Nicolau, no goals scored in the second match.

The club's recent appearance in the national level was in the 2014 season, their highest appearance was up to the semis, after finishing 1st in Group A with 13 points, they challenged with Académica from the island of Fogo in their next playoff appearance, the first match was scoreless and lost to Académica 2–3 in the second match. Ró was the only scorer in the semis scored twice in the second match. Sporting Praia became the only club to have the most consecutive appearances in the national champions numbering ten between 2005 and 2014.

Also Sporting Praia competed in the first Cape Verdean Super Cup who was qualified as a champion in 2013 and faced the 2012 cup winner Onze Unidos, Sporting defeated that club in Vàrzea and claimed their only super cup title.

Continental appearances

Their first appearance in the African competition was in 1992 with the cup competition in the first round and defeated Port Autonome from Dakar, Senegal, they failed to appear in the second round when they would lose to Tunisia's Club Africain, this would be their only appearance under the former name. Sporting Praia was the first Cape Verdean club to compete in the continental championships. Their second appearance, the first in the CAF Champions League was in 2000 and challenged AS Tempête Mocaf from the Central African Republic in the preliminary round and lost. Their second appearance was against Fello Star from Guinea in 2007 and scored 1–0, they withdrew from the second match due to the civil war and strife in Guinea and Fello Star was awarded 3–0, Sporting Praia did not advance. The following year challenged two clubs, Morocco's FAR Rabat and Inter Luanda in the first round and in 2009 again played against FAR Rabat and lost the first match 6–0 and did not advance after scoring only a single point after the second match and that was their recent appearance. Sporting made the most appearance of a Cape Verdean football club in the continental championship competition totalling five. The next appearance of a Cape Verdean club of any sport into the African competition would be Bairro Craveiro Lopes in basketball in the 2015 season Their only CAF Cup Winners' Cup appearance was in 2001 in the preliminaries with Gazelle FC from Chad and score 5–2, no second match was played as one of the clubs withdrew. Their qualification into the 2000 continental championship and later the cup did not finished the criteria as there was no common two tier national divisions whereas the club remains in the following season and the last place club relegates while the first place of a second tier qualifies, the reason was unknown or that Sporting Praia was second or third in the regional championships, the 1999 winner GD Amarantes was not a professional club and later in 2000, the second place Académica Operária is not a professional club and had no financial capability to compete.

So far, Sporting scored a total of 16 goals, the most of any Cape Verde Team at the continental level, in the championships, Sporting scored a total of eleven goals which was the most of any Cape Verdean club, Sporting scored five in the CAF Cup Winners; Cup. Also Sporting played a total of 14 matches, 13 at the championships and one at the CAF Cup Winner's Cup.

Other competitions

Sporting Praia participated in the third edition of the Boavista Praia's Champion's Cup in the final days of October 2016, a friendly competition, Sporting Praia lost the final match on October 30.

Stadium

Estádio da Várzea is a multi-use stadium in Praia, Cape Verde. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 8,000. Its address is Caixa Postal 234. The stadium has seat rows in the left and right sides and a small hill and a plateau lies to the west. The stadium is home to the three best football clubs in Cape Verde and the island's six best, Sporting. CD Travadores, Boavista FC, Académica, Desportivo and Vitória, all in the Santiago South Championships.

The club also practices at the stadium and at Complexo Desportivo Adega in Achada Grande Tras.

Logo

Its logo has a shield and is colored green and features a lion with a football on the left, the abbreviated name is bubbled on the top and the unabbreviated form is at the bottom. The logo is identical to Sporting Clube de Portugal's old logo. Sporting Clube de Portugal are the fathering club of Sporting Clube da Praia.

Uniform

Its uniform features a striped green-white shirt with green sleeves and green socks. The uniform is identical to its fathering club, Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Its home uniform is a white t-shirt with four thick green stripes, black shorts and white socks with three green stripes, the same to Sporting Lisbon's uniform color used for home matches. Its away uniform is black clothing with a t-shirt with three thick grey stripes.

Its former uniform was a green (coloured like tourmaline)-white T-shirt with green socks striped at the top and a black shorts for home games and a pastel green short, green shirt and green socks which were colored black for away games. Its later uniform would be a yellow shirt with green sleeve and collar edges, green shorts and socks for home games, a white T-shirt with black shorts and green socks for away games and a half white half black T-shirt with white shorts and green socks for alternate uniform when another team has a uniform colored white. From September 2014 to February 2017, its away uniform was a white t-shirt with green sleeves.

Supporters

The fans are known as Torcida Verde Santiago. A Torcida Verde is a cheerleader supporter of Sporting Clube da Praia. The name is identical to its fathering club, Sporting Clube de Portugal. Their mottos are: O Nosso Amor, Não Conhece Distâncias (Our Love, Do Not Know Distances). Torcida Verde Santiago's mascot is a lion.

Rivalries

Their biggest rivals are fans of CS Mindelense called Laranja Exército (see Sporting Praia–Mindelense rivalry) and Académica (Mindelo) fans called Mancha Negra (see Sporting–Académica Mindelo rivalry). The last challenge between Sporting and Académica Mindelo was the 2007 finals. Académica Mindelo was relegated to São Vicente's second division in 2013 and played up to 2014. Sporting's rivalry with Académica Mindelo may have disappeared today, a tiny part was the national championship restructuring for the upcoming 2017 season done in November 2015.

Their biggest rivalry at the regional level are with Boavista, Travadores, Vitória and Académica Praia. All forming the Praia derbies, one of them is titled Praia derby. They are the biggest rivalries in Cape Verde at the regional level along with the Mindelense-Derby rivalry of São Vicente.

National

Championship of Cape Verde: 12

(Before independence) 3: 1961, 1969, 1974.

(Since independence) 9: 1985, 1991, 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012.

Cape Verdean Super Cup: 1

Regional

Regional totals: 18

Santiago Regional Championships: 10

Santiago South Premier Division: 9

Praia Cup: 1

Praia Super Cup: 1

Torneio Inicio da Praia (Opening Tournament): 3

Performance in African competitions

¹ Sporting Praia withdrew² Sporting Praia withdrew due to the Guinean Civil War

Island/Regional Championship

¹As Sporting Praia was also national champion in the previous season, the club was already promoted

Statistics

Best advance in the African competition: First Round (CAF Champions League)

Best position at cup competitions: 1st (regional)

Best position at an opening tournament: 1st

Appearances at a super cup competition: 2 (national)

Total number of goals scored at the continental level: 16

CAF Champions League: 11

CAF Cup Winner's Cup: 5

Total matches played at the continental level: 14

CAF Champions League: 13

CAF Cup WInner's Cup: Once

Highest number of goals scored in a season:

National: 24 (regular season), 11 (playoffs), total: 35, in 2005

Regional: 64, in 2005

Highest number of points:

National: 19, in 2002 (National record, shared with Batuque)

Regional: 49, in 2005 - Regional record

Highest scoring match in the National Championships: Sporting Praia 13-0 Estância Baixo, June 11, 2005

Highest number of goals conceded in a season: 14 (national), 2016

Current squad

As of February 23, 2017

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Goalkeeping coaches

João Moreira (in 2009)

Tchabana (up to 2013/14)

Berra (until August/September 2016)

Staff

As of 23 October 2015

Other clubs

The club also has youth teams, the U-11 whose coach is António Carvalho, the U-13 team whose coach is Helton Delgado and the U-15 team whose coach is Dário Furtado, the club's former player

Named after

Two streets are named after the club in the neighborhood of Achada de Santo Antònio and named as Sporting, one a street (rua), the other a court (largo), one of its offices are located there