Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Faro in the district of the same name and the region of

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

. Founded in 1910, the club has played in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

since the 2023–24 season after promotion from the

Liga Portugal 2 The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Pr ...

History

Founded on 1 April 1910, it became the branch number 2 of

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

(Sporting CP). Its main kit was inspired by the classic Sporting CP Stromp kit which was the main kit of the Lisbon-based team until 1928. In its entire history, the club has won nine major trophies: the AF Algarve Championship five times, the

Segunda Divisão : : The Segunda Divisão Portuguesa ( English: ''Portuguese Second Division'') was a football league situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division had previously been the second level of the Portuguese pyrami ...

twice, and the

Terceira Divisão : The Terceira Divisão Portuguesa (in English: ''Portuguese Third Division'') was a football league in Portugal, situated at the fourth level of the Portuguese football league system. The Third Division was initially the third level of the Por ...

and AF Algarve First and Second Divisions once each. Aside from its major trophies, the club as of 2013, has played 23 seasons in the

of which their highest league table classification came in the 1994–95 season where they managed a fifth-place finish. On the back of that best-ever finish, Farense qualified for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

for the first time, losing in the first round to

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

by a single goal in each game. The club also reached the final of the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

in 1990 where they lost to

Estrela da Amadora Club Football Estrela Amadora SAD (), sometimes just Estrela da Amadora, is a Portuguese professional sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon. The team is currently competing in the Primeira Liga, after winnin ...

. Among the mainstays of their 1990s teams were the Moroccan attacking duo of

Hajry Redouane Hajry RedouaneThe Arabic name, given name followed by family name, is Redouane Hajry. () (born 5 March 1964) is a Moroccan retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and a manager. His 15-year professional playing career was mainl ...

and

Hassan Nader Hassan Nader (; born 8 July 1965) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his 21-year senior career in Portugal – amassing Primeira Liga totals of 219 matches and 94 goals – mainly with Farens ...

. The 2001–02 season saw the club relegated to the second tier of Portuguese football. In 2006, the club was in the sixth tier, the second district league of the

Algarve Football Association The Associação de Futebol do Algarve () is one of the 22 Portuguese District Football Associations, district football associations that are affiliated to the Portuguese Football Federation. The AF Algarve administers lower tier football (socce ...

, but won two consecutive promotions as champions. In 2012–13 they were promoted to the Segunda Liga. In 2019–20, after the season was curtailed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the club were promoted back to the top flight after 18 years, under manager Sérgio Vieira. One year later, they were relegated on the final matchday after a 4–0 loss at C.D. Santa Clara. On 3 February 2023, Farense sacked manager

Vasco Faísca Vasco Manuel Vilhena Faísca Teixeira (born 27 August 1980), known as Faísca, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. He spent the vast majority of his professional career in Italy ...

before a match against

, who had cut their advantage in second place to one point. His replacement José Mota led the club back to the Primeira Liga. He was fired after a poor start to the

and replaced by Tozé on September 25th, 2024.

Stadium

The ''Leões de Faro'' played at the

Estádio de São Luís The Estádio de São Luís, also known as Santo Stadium, is a multi-use stadium located in Faro, Algarve, Portugal. It serves as the home stadium for Sporting Clube Farense, a football club based in Faro. The stadium was opened in 1923 and has a ...

for 94 years from 1910. The club moved stadium in 2004 to the newly constructed

Estádio Algarve The Estádio Algarve (') is an association football stadium located between Faro and Loulé municipalities, in the Algarve region of Portugal. The stadium has a total capacity of 30,305 spectators and was purposely built for the UEFA Euro 2004 ...

which was built for the purpose of hosting matches at

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

. The Faro side moved back to the Estádio de São Luís in 2013 after it gained promotion to the Segunda Liga. As a result of their promotion, the Estádio de São Luís underwent major renovations to improve its facilities.

Rivalries

The club has rivalries with fellow

clubs

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

and

Portimonense S.C. Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese footbal ...

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable former players

Players that have played more than 50 league matches: *

Bruno Alves Bruno Eduardo Regufe Alves (; born 27 November 1981) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a central defender, currently sporting director of Super League Greece club AEK Athens. He began and spent most of his professional career a ...

* Carlos Fernandes *

Hélder Baptista Hélder Manuel Elias Domingos Baptista (born 18 February 1972) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 166 matches and six goals over seven seasons, mainly with Bo ...

Hélder Rosário Hélder Miguel do Rosário (born 9 March 1980; ) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Born in Lisbon of Cape Verdean descent, Rosário started playing professionally with Sporting CP's far ...

Jacques Pereira Jacques Pereira (3 February 1955 – 3 November 2020), known simply as Jacques, was a Portuguese professional footballer who played as a striker. Football career Born in Casablanca, Morocco to Portuguese parents, Jacques arrived in the Primeira ...

* João Fajardo *

João Oliveira Pinto João Manuel de Oliveira Pinto (3 August 1971 – 8 February 2024) was a Portuguese footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Pinto was born in Lisbon. Having been brought up at Sporting CP, he achieved Primeira Liga totals ...

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. Most recently he was the manager of Saudi Professional League, Saudi P ...

* Jorge Martins *

Manuel Cajuda Manuel Ventura Cajuda de Sousa (born 27 June 1951) is a Portuguese football manager and retired footballer. In a career which spanned three decades, he managed nearly 20 teams in his own country, and also worked in Egypt, the United Arab Emi ...

Manuel José Manuel José de Jesus Silva ComM (born 9 April 1946), simply known as Manuel José (), is a Portuguese football manager. Some of the teams he has coached include Vitória de Guimarães, Sporting CP, Sporting de Braga, Boavista, Benfica, Al ...

* Quim *

Ricardo Vaz Tê Ricardo Jorge Vaz Tê (born 1 October 1986) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a forward. During his career, Vaz Tê played for English clubs Bolton Wanderers, Hull City, Barnsley and West Ham United, Greek club Panion ...

Rui Esteves Rui Manuel Guerreiro Nobre Esteves (born 30 January 1967) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 93 matches and five goals during five seasons, in representation ...

* Skoda * Tozé *

Tulipa Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different coloured ...

Zé Tó José Ántónio Ramos Ribeiro (born 11 September 1977), known as Zé Tó, is a Portugal, Portuguese retired Association football, footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder. Club career Born in Lubango, Angola, Zé Tó began his pr ...

Nail Beširović Nail Beširović (born 22 July 1967) is a Bosnian retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Portugal, representing six clubs. Club career Born in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzeg ...

Zé Carlos Zé Carlos is a nickname for people with the given name José Carlos (disambiguation), José Carlos; it can refer to: *Zé Carlos (footballer, born 1936), Zé Carlos (footballer, 1936–2017), full name José Carlos Coelho, Brazilian football forw ...

* Marco Aurélio *

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

* Laurence Batty * Peter Barnes * Peter Eastoe *

Ted Kelton Agasson Kelton Ted Gaëtan Agasson (born 31 August 1973) is a French former professional football player. Career Agasson was born in Le Lamentin. He played on the professional level in Ligue 1 for Lille OSC, Ligue 2 for Red Star Saint-Ouen, Lille OSC ...

Dimitrios Konstantopoulos Dimitrios Konstantopoulos (; born 29 November 1978) is a Greeks, Greek Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former international Association football, football player who played as a Goalkeeper (association ...

* Ferenc Mészáros *

Carlos Fumo Carlos Fumo Gonçalves (born 22 September 1979 in Maputo) is a Mozambican retired footballer who played as a left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. M ...

Henry Makinwa Henry Olufosoye Makinwa (born 6 November 1977) is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a forward. A journeyman, he represented 17 clubs in 11 countries during his professional career. Club career Early years / Portugal After playing fo ...

Peter Rufai Peter Rufai (born 24 August 1963) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He competed professionally in Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, in a senior career that lasted 20 years. Rufai represented ...

Uche Okafor Uchenna Kizito Okafor , often shortened to Uche Okafor (8 August 1967 – 6 January 2011) was a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a defender. He made 34 international appearances for the Nigeria national team. Club career Okafor ...

Lucian Marinescu Lucian Cristian Marinescu (born 24 June 1972) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a midfielder, who works as football agent. Club career Marinescu was born on 24 June 1972 in Bucharest, Romania. He started to play senior ...

Ilshat Faizulin Ilshat Galimzyanovich Fayzulin (; ; born 5 March 1973) is a Russian football coach and a former player of Tatar ethnic origin. A forward, his career was majorly spent in equal periods of time in Russia and Spain. Club career Born in Osinniki, ...

Ryan Gauld Ryan Stewart Gauld (born 16 December 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps, whom he captains, and the Scotland national team. Gauld began his professio ...

Dragan Punišić Dragan Punišić (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Пунишић; born 1 March 1966 in Belgrade) is a Serbian retired footballer. Punišić began his career in the Yugoslav First League with Red Star Belgrade. In 1991, he moved from Rijeka to C ...

Goran Stevanović Goran Stevanović (, ; born 27 November 1966) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Playing career He started his career in Partizan, a club where he passed all categories, from the pioneer youth side to the senior side. He played a ...

Milonja Đukić Milonja Đukić ( sr-Cyrl, Милоња Ђукић; born 12 December 1965) is a Montenegrin-born Serbian retired footballer. Club career He spent part of his career at FK Partizan playing in the Yugoslav First League. He also played for NK ...

Tueba Menayane Gery Tueba Menayame (born 13 March 1963), known simply as Tueba, is a Congolese retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his professional career in Portugal, appearing for six different clubs and amassing Primeira Liga tot ...

* Perry Mutapa *

Zach Muscat Zach Muscat (born 22 August 1993) is a Maltese professional footballer who plays as a right back for Turkish club Şanlıurfaspor and the Malta national team. Club career Muscat has played club football for Pietà Hotspurs, Birkirkara and Akrag ...

Statistics

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Managerial history

* José Augusto (1987–1989) *

Malcolm Allison Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora a ...

(1989) *

Paco Fortes Francisco "Paco" Fortes Calvo (born 4 January 1955) is a Spanish former football forward and manager. Even though he also played for Barcelona, his career was mainly associated with Farense in Portugal, either as a player or manager. Playing ...

(1989–1998) * João Alves (1998–2000) * Nicolau Vaqueiro (2000) * Manuel Balela (Jun 14, 2000 – May 27, 2001) * Alberto Pazos (Jun 7, 2001 – Nov 27, 2001) *

(Nov 28, 2001 – Dec 4, 2001) * Jorge Castelo (Dec 4, 2001 – Mar 18, 2002) *

(Mar 18, 2002 – Dec 3, 2002) * Manuel Balela (Dec 4, 2002 – Mar 8, 2003) *

(Mar 8, 2003 – Jun 1, 2003) * Manuel Balela (2003 –2004) * Joaquim Sequeira (2004 – Jan 3, 2005) * Manuel Balela (Jan 3, 2005 – May 5, 2005) *

(May 5, 2005 – 2006) * Carlos Costa (Sep 30, 2006 – Feb 4, 2008) * Jorge Portela (Feb 6, 2008 – Aug 31, 2008) * Ivo Soares (Sep 2, 2008 – Nov 18, 2008) * António Barão (Nov 18, 2008 – Jun 7, 2009) * Edinho (Jul 16, 2009 – Dec 22, 2009) *

(Dec 22, 2009 – Mar 16, 2010) * Joaquim Mendes (Mar 16, 2010 – Nov 29, 2010) * Joaquim Sequeira (Nov 29, 2010 – Dec 29, 2010) * João de Deus (Jan 2, 2011 – Apr 30, 2011) * Manuel Balela (2011 – May 30, 2012) *

Bruno Ribeiro Bruno Miguel Fernandes Ribeiro (born 22 October 1975) is a Portuguese former football manager and player. A midfielder with a powerful left-foot strike, he began his playing career with hometown club Vitória Setúbal from 1994 to 1997, befo ...

(June 2, 2012 – Jan 15, 2013) * Mauro de Brito (Jan 2013 – Sept 9, 2013) *

Jorge Paixão Jorge Manuel da Silva Paixão Santos (born 19 December 1965), known as Paixão, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a forward, currently manager of Saudi First Division League club Al-Ain. Playing career Born in Almada, ...

(Sept 13, 2013 – Feb 25, 2014) * Antero Afonso (Feb 25, 2014 – Jun 2, 2014) * Pedro Correia (Jun 2, 2014 – Nov 24, 2014) *

Abel Xavier Abel Luís da Silva Costa Xavier (; born 30 November 1972) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Xavier played for clubs in Portugal, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, England, Turkey and G ...

(Dec 2, 2014 – May 28, 2015) *

(Jun 6, 2015 – Dec 14, 2015) * Horácio Gonçalves (Dec 14, 2015 – Apr 7, 2016) * Antero Afonso (Apr 7, 2016 – Jul 22, 2016) *

Lázaro Oliveira Lázaro Fonseca Costa Oliveira (born 27 August 1967), known simply as Lázaro in his playing days, is an Angolan retired Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder, and the previous head c ...

(Jul 22, 2016 – Apr 3, 2017) * Rui Duarte (Apr 3, 2017 – Feb 5, 2019) *

Álvaro Magalhães Álvaro Monteiro Magalhães (born 3 January 1961), known simply as Álvaro as a player, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a left-back, currently a manager. In 11 seasons in the Primeira Liga, he appeared in 224 matches and score ...

(Fev 5, 2019 – May 22, 2019) * Sérgio Vieira (May 22, 2019 – Feb 1, 2021) *

Jorge Costa Jorge Paulo Costa Almeida (born 14 October 1971) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Nicknamed ''Bicho'' (animal) and ''Tanque'' (tank) by his colleagues and fans for his aggressive and phys ...

(Feb 4, 2021 – Aug 30, 2021) *

Fanã Fernando Marques de Sousa Pires (born 27 October 1960), known as Fanã, is a Portuguese football manager and former player. He is the current manager of S.C. Farense, Farense's under-19 team. Having been assistant to Paco Fortes at S.C. Farense, F ...

(Aug 31, 2021 – Dec 19, 2021) *

(Dec 19, 2021 – Feb 6, 2023) * José Mota (Feb 6, 2023 – Sep 24, 2024) * Tozé (Sep 25, 2024;– )

Honours

: 1939–40, 1982–83 *

: 2011–12 * AF Algarve Championship: 1914–15, 1917–18, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1937–38 * AF Algarve First Division: 2007–08 * AF Algarve Second Division: 2006–07

Youth honours

* AF Algarve U23 Championship: 2020–21 * AF Algarve Juniores B First Division (U17): 2018–19, 2019–20 * AF Algarve Juniores C First Division (U15): 2012–2013

European cup history

*Q = Qualifying *PO = Play-off ;

League and cup history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farense Association football clubs established in 1910 Football clubs in Portugal 1910 establishments in Portugal Primeira Liga clubs Sport in Faro, Portugal