Sporting Clube de Goa, simply known as Sporting Goa (also known by its abbreviation SCG), is an Indian professional football club based in

Panaji Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuar ...

, in the Indian state of

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...

, that competes in

Goa Professional League The Goa Professional League (abbreviated as GPL, also known as the Selvel Goa Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the premier state-level football league in Goa, India. It is organised by the Goa Football Association. History The officia ...

. The club has also competed in the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the win ...

, then top flight of

Indian football league system The Indian football league system is the league structure of football club competitions in India. The highest level of men's club football competition in India is the Indian Super League. Indian Women's League, founded in 2016, is the highest ...

. It is built on the lines of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

and adopting a similar club crest. Its

Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...

section competes in the

Futsal Club Championship The Futsal Club Championship, also referred as Hero MotoCorp, Hero Futsal Club Championship for sponsorship ties, is the Indian football league system, highest level futsal club competition in India, organised by the All India Football Federati ...

, top tier futsal club competition of the country. The club Cidade de Goa (''City of Goa'') was purchased by Sporting's owner late Mr Peter Vaz and wife current President Mrs Natalina Vaz and renamed Sporting Clube de Goa in 1999. Sporting Clube de Goa won its first

in 2006. Since then it has clinched the title in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2016,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. Sporting Goa is the only club to have won the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the ' curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the pre ...

, without winning the league or

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: *Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

. Sporting Clube de Goa pulled out of

2016–17 I-League The 2016–17 I-League was the 10th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 7 January 2017 and concluded on 30 April 2017. Aizawl won their ...

, citing AIFF bias against some clubs.

History

1999–2010

Sporting Clube de Goa, as a professional football club, came into existence in 1999, when the public of

Panjim Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

decided to launch football club, after Cidade de Goa disbanded its football team. Thus, after Vasco Sports Club, Sporting became the second club of public shareholding in

. The club, built on the lines of Portuguese club

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foo ...

, has made rapid strides in the national circuit. Sporting shot to prominence by an impressive performance in the 2001–02 Federation Cup, the team made it to the last four after victories over stronger teams like

East Bengal FC East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top ...

and

Indian Bank Recreational Club Indian Bank Recreational Club, also known as FC Indian Bank, is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club formerly participated in the National Football League, and the I-League Second Division, alongside the ...

. After winning the 2002–03 National Football League II, Sporting made its debut in the 2003–04 season of National Football League. In 2004–05 NFL season, they were on the verge of winning their first league championship but lost out on the last day when Dempo pipped them to the title. Their season was marred by a horrific bus accident that ruled out 4 key players for the whole season, while several others were injured. However, led by Nigerian import

Dudu Omagbemi MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi (born 18 July 1987, in Lagos, Nigeria), commonly known as Dudu, is a Nigerian footballer. Career Dudu started his career in India in 2001. He is the most tenacious player India has ever seen. When playing in the Indian ...

, they managed to complete their matches in a very short span of time after being given a few weeks off so that their players could recover, and heroically came second ahead of traditional powerhouses

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = Eas ...

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

, Salgaocar and

Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, b ...

. Sporting entered into the finals of 2005

, but finished as the runner-up. In 2005, Sporting missed the

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

title by a whisker when the Army XI produced an upset to win. In the 2006 edition of Federation Cup, they reached the finals once again, but lost in penalty shoot-out to

Mohun Bagan AC Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

. They achieved third place in the

2008–09 I-League The I-League 2008–2009 season began on 26 September 2008 and finished on 16 April 2009 with a break in December for the Federation Cup and Durand Cup. Most games this season were played on Saturday's and Sunday's to attract larger crowds. Af ...

2010–present

After getting relegated from the I-League in 2010, they participated in the

2011 I-League 2nd Division The 2011 I-League 2nd Division is the fourth season of the second division of the I-League, the Indian professional football league. A total of 21 teams were divided into three groups and top two teams from each group played in final round, th ...

and won promotion by finishing in 2nd place. In the finals of

2013–14 Indian Federation Cup The 2013–14 Indian Federation Cup was the 35th edition of the Federation Cup, the main domestic cup competition in Indian football. A total of 16 teams played in this edition of the tournament in which they all entered in the group stage consi ...

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually p ...

defeated Sporting Goa 3–1. In June 2020, Sporting Goa enjoyed an international transfer when club's Indian forward Shanon Viegas signed with Portuguese AF Lisboa 2ª Divisão Série side

C.D. Olivais e Moscavide Clube Desportivo dos Olivais e Moscavide is a centenary club located in the eastern area of Lisbon that distinguishes itself in practice in different levels of football, basketball, American Football and Table Football, in addition to developing ...

for a long-term deal. In the

2020–21 Goa Professional League The 2020–21 Goa Professional League was the 23rd season of the Goa Professional League, the top football league in the Indian state of Goa, since its establishment in 1996. The league season commenced on 27 January 2021. Selvel Advertising P ...

, Sporting Clube de Goa emerged champions after recording a comprehensive 9–0 win over Guardian Angel in the final league match at Chowgule ground, but was not selected for

I-League Second Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

. Their

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...

section won GFA State Futsal Championship, earning the place in AIFF Futsal Club Championship. In the 2021–22 season, Sporting Goa finished as runners-up, finishing behind Dempo. In August 2022, legendary Goan manager

Armando Colaco Armando Colaço (born 22 June 1953) is an Indian football coach, who last managed East Bengal FC in the I-League. He is the most successful manager in the history of another I-League club Dempo, in terms of trophies in the last 20 years and i ...

was appointed as new head coach by the club on a three-year deal.

Crest & colours

The sporting crest is supposed to be almost an exact replica of the

, but not completely. One notable difference is that on Sporting Portugal's crest it says "Sporting Portugal", while Sporting Goa's does not. Another difference is that Sporting Portugal's crest is coloured in mostly dark green and yellow, while the Sporting Goa crest is darkish green and white. While the crest of Sporting Goa is coloured in

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

white White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, the official club colours are

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower * Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...

and white. The club's nickname is ''Flaming Orange''.

Ownership

The club was modelled on the Portuguese giants

and have adopted a similar club crest. The club was founded as Cidade de Goa, was taken over by entrepreneurs Peter Vaz and Edgar Afonso. Later they renamed it as Sporting Clube de Goa in 1999.

Stadium

Traditionally, Sporting Goa have played at the Fatorda Stadium in

Margao Margao or Madgaon is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population a ...

. During the

. However, they had to play at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a p ...

as the league does not host matches in home and away format. As SC Goa were back in the top-tier of the I-League, they had again started to play their home games at Fatorda Stadium.

Goa Football Association Goa Football Association ( GFA; pt, Associação de Futebol de Goa) is the state governing body of football in Goa within the jurisdiction of the Republic of India. It is affiliated with the All India Football Federation, the national governin ...

owned

Duler Stadium Duler Stadium is a football stadium located in Mapusa, Goa, India. It is the former home of local I-League clubs who participated in the highest level of football in the country. Dempo SC, Salgaocar FC, and Sporting Clube de Goa use the venu ...

Mapusa Mapusa (म्हापशें) is a town in North Goa, India. It is situated 13 km north of the capital Panaji. The town is the headquarters of Bardez Taluka. It is located on the main highway NH-17, linking Mumbai to Kochi. In Portugu ...

, became the home ground of Sporting during the

2012–13 I-League The 2012–13 I-League was the sixth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 6 October 2012 and finished on 12 May 2013 with Churchill Brothers ...

, alongside

Tilak Maidan Stadium Tilak Maidan is a multi-use stadium located in Vasco da Gama, Goa, India. It is used mostly for football matches and regularly hosts matches in the I-League as well as Goa Professional League. It also hosted Indian Super League matches from ...

(from the end of January). They also used Duler during the

2013–14 I-League The 2013–14 I-League (known as the ''Airtel I-League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the I-League, the top-tier Indian professional league for football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 21 Septem ...

and

. In Goa, it became the second stadium to get

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...

since 2006.

Rivalries

In the land of Portuguese heritage, Sporting Clube de Goa has rivalries with their fellow

n sides; Dempo,

and Salgaocar, whom they faced in

and face in

. The club previously had a rivalry with another Goan side Pax of Nagoa.

Academy and infrastructure

On 16 August 2013, Sporting launched their own football academy on the occasion of the 198th anniversary of founding of Don Bosco. The academy for various age groups, namely U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16, U-18 and U-20, with the coaching team built around Spanish coach Javier Fernández, assisted by

Norbert Gonsalves Norbert is a Germanic given name, from ''nord'' "north" and ''berht'' "bright". Norbert is also occasionally found as a surname. People with the given name Academia * Norbert Angermann (born 1936), German historian * Norbert A’Campo (born 1941 ...

, Ashwin Crasto, Francisco Raposo and Freddy Gomes. They worked under the overall supervision and guidance of Sporting's then head coach

Oscar Bruzon Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

, in order to implement the Sporting Clube de Goa youth development plan. Sporting Goa also renovated the football ground at Don Bosco College in

with the installation of sub-surface slit drainage combined with the laying of perforated pipes. The original mud topping has given way to a sand-based top layer, which encourages drainage and healthy grass growth, and provides a level and cushioned playing surface.

Honours

* Youth League U18 **Champions (1):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

In the community

Sporting Clube de Goa launched its mascot named "Zumba", besides its theme song "Flaming Orange", composed by one of Goa's leading bands, Sky High With Pomp.

Players

First-team players

Honours

League

**Runners-up (1): 2004–05 **Third place (1): 2008–09 * National Football League II **Champions (1): 2002–03 *

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind India ...

**Runners-up (1): 2011 *

**Winners (6): 2006–07, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20 (''shared''),

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

**Runners-up (2): 2016–17, 2021–22 *

I-League U19 The Youth League, also known as Hero Youth League for sponsorship reasons, is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (El ...

**Winners (1):

* Goa Futsal Championship **Winners (1): 2021

Cup

**Runners-up (3): 2005, 2006, 2013–14 *

Indian Super Cup AIFF Super Cup, also called the Super Cup or Hero Super Cup (for sponsorship ties), is an annual knockout football competition in Indian football. It is organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Competition is open to the clubs th ...

**Champions (1): 2005 *

**Runners-up (1): 2005 *Goa Governor's Cup **Champions (2): 2005, 2007–08 **Runners-up (1): 2003 *Goa Police Cup **Runners-up (1): 2005

Others

*AWES Cup **Champions (1): 2018 * Guru Gobind Singh Trophy **Runners-up (1): 2000

Managerial history

* Alex Alvares (—2007) *

Clifford Chukwuma Clifford Chukwuma is a former Nigerian football player and is the current head coach of the SESA Football Academy in India. Chukwuma's son, Chukwudi Chukwuma, currently plays for FK Teplice of the Czech First League. Coaching career Sport ...

(2007—2009) * Roy Barreto (2009) * Vishwas Gaonkar (2009) * Ekendra Singh (2010—2012) *

Óscar Bruzón Óscar Bruzón Barreras (born 29 May 1977) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as either a winger or a defensive midfielder, and currently managing Bashundhara Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League. Playing career Bruzón was born in V ...

(2012—2014) * Mateus Costa (2014—2019) * Francisco Vaz (2019—2022) *

(2022—present)

Notable former players

''For all current and former notable players of Sporting Clube de Goa with a Wikipedia article, see:

Sporting Clube de Goa players Sporting may refer to: * Sport, recreational games and play * Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs * AC Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon * Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt * Real Sp ...

''.

World Cup players

Anthony Wolfe Anthony Wolfe CM (born 23 December 1983) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a forward. He represented the Trinidad and Tobago national team on 35 occasions. As a member of the squad that competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cu ...

(2013–2014) *

Densill Theobald Densill Theobald CM (born 27 June 1982) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and represented Trinidad and Tobago national team 99 times, scoring twice. Club career Early career and moves to Eu ...

(2015–2016)

History

1999–2010

2010–present

Crest & colours

Ownership

Stadium

Rivalries

Academy and infrastructure

Honours

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

In the community

Players

First-team players

Honours

League

Cup

Others

Managerial history

Notable former players

World Cup players

Average attendances

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links