Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

from the city of

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

. Best known for the men's 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 ...

team playing 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 ...

, the top flight of Portuguese football at the

Estádio Municipal de Braga The Estádio Municipal de Braga (') is an All-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium located in Braga, Portugal, and the current home of S.C. Braga, Sporting Clube de Braga. It has a capacity of 30,286 spectators, maki ...

, it also has departments for athletics, badminton, basketball, billiards, boccia, boxing, esports, futsal, karate, kickboxing, muay thai, swimming, taekwondo and volleyball. Founded on 19 January 1921, Braga are nicknamed, ''Braguistas'', and ''Os Arsenalistas'' (The Arsenalists) for the shirt colour that resembles English club Arsenal. Since 2003, Braga have played their home matches at the

, which replaced the Estádio 1º de Maio, now used for the club's reserve team. In the 2000s, Braga became one of Portugal's most decorated clubs (5th) and has had some success in European competitions, winning the last

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

(the only Portuguese club to do so) in 2008, and reaching the final of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

in 2011. Domestically, they have also won another 7 domestic trophies: three

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 1965–66, 2015–16, and in 2020–21, and the Taça da Liga three times in 2012–13, 2019–20 and 2023–24. The club qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, reaching the competition for the first time in their history, by eliminating Celtic and Sevilla following a 2nd-place finish in the 2009–10 Primeira Liga season. This represented the highest finish in the league in the club's history. Moreover, in the 2010s, Braga have cultivated a reputation for spotting and developing young talent, and have remained focused on developing a youth system. Braga have a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Vitória de Guimarães, with whom they contest the Minho derby.

History

Existing records say that in 1919, two years before the formal foundation, a group of Braga residents who were sympathisers of the Lisbon-based

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) came up with the name Sporting Clube de Braga. The equipment used was also identical to that of Sporting CP. During weekend matches at Campo das Goladas, the friends from Braga wore the classic Sporting CP Stromp kit, with a green and white shirt split down the middle. Influenced by sympathisers of Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Benfica), a solution was found in 1921 to please everyone. The name remained true to Sporting CP, but the kit changed to red and white, in honour of the connection of some of the Braga fans to Lisbon's Benfica. Until 1945, SC Braga imitated Benfica's kit. Red shirt, shorts and white socks. That year, at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the club adopted the Arsenal version for their second team, with white sleeves. Braga changed their kits to their current red and white during the 1945–46 season (for the reserve squad) and the 1946–47 season (for the first team). The change, according to one version of the story, was at the behest of their president, José Antunes Guimarães, who had business connections in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and was an Arsenal fan; according to an alternate version, it was József Szabó, Braga's Hungarian coach, who asked the president to change the uniform to an Arsenal-style red and white. In 1947, Braga won the Second division title in the new kit, reaching the First division for the first time. Braga even renamed their youth team ''Arsenal de Braga''. BragavsCelta

Braga's emblem is the city of

's shield with Mother Mary and baby

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

with the blue from the city's shield changed to red. On the top of the emblem is the golden Mural Crown of Braga, with the name "Sporting Clube de Braga" on it. Many Braga fans have said that Mother Mary gives them luck. The fans of Braga are known as ''Arsenalistas'' due to their team home kit that resembles that of English club Arsenal. They are also known as ''Bracarenses'' because of being from the city of

Bracari The Bracari or Callaeci Bracari were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the northwest of modern Portugal, in the province of Minho Province, Minho, between the rivers Tâmega river, Tâmega and Cávado River, Cávado. After the con ...

, later named Bracara Augusta, city of Portugal that is now known as Braga. In the 1960s and 1970s, Braga began to climb up the league ladder and eventually participated in the

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

competitions. Braga's recent run of successive European participations began in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup after finishing fifth in the league under Jesualdo Ferreira's first full season in the club. In the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, the side reached the last 16 before a 6–4 aggregate loss to Tottenham Hotspur. That summer, the club signed a three-year sponsorship deal with French insurance company Axa, who took over the naming rights for the stadium for €4.5 million; this was renewed for a further three years in 2010. Braga won the 2008

and again reached the UEFA Cup last 16 in the 2008–09 season, where they lost by a single goal to Paris Saint-Germain. Braga was runners-up in the league for the only time in its history in the 2009–10 season under Domingos Paciência. Entering the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

for the first time, in the fourth qualifying round Braga beat Sevilla 1–0 at home and 4–3 away, thus making the group stage. On 15 September 2010, Braga were heavily defeated 6–0 by Arsenal in its first group stage match. Eliminated in third place, they dropped into the Europa League and reached the final in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, where they lost to a goal by

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Categoría Primera A club Millonarios F.C., Millonarios. Nicknamed "El ...

. Braga won the Taça da Liga for the first time in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

under José Peseiro, with one goal from

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

against Porto. Two years later, Sérgio Conceição's side lost on penalties to Sporting CP in the Taça de Portugal final, but Paulo Fonseca's triumphed over Porto on the same method in 2016 to win their first such cup in 50 years. In 2019–20, Braga went through four managers over the course of the season. The second of these,

Ruben Amorim Ruben Filipe Marques Amorim (; born 27 January 1985) is a Portuguese Professional association football, professional football Manager (association football), manager, a former player and the current manager of Premier League club Manchester Unit ...

, led them to a league cup victory over Porto, with Ricardo Horta scoring in added time to secure the trophy on home soil. On 28 July 2020, Carlos Carvalhal was announced as the new head coach, after 14 years away from the club. He led the club to the league cup final again, where they lost to Amorim's new team Sporting, but won the 2021 Taça de Portugal Final 2–0 against Benfica. He would leave the club and be replaced by Artur Jorge after the 2021–22 season ended. On 10 October 2022, 21.67% of the club shares were bought for €80 million by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the state-run sovereign-wealth fund in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

owned by Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, who is also the owner of

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side Paris Saint-Germain through the QSI. The season ended with third place and a return to the Champions League after 11 years, as well as club records for points (78), wins (25) and goals (75). SC Braga's considerable success in the first quarter of the 21st century, including participations in the

, winning the

(Portuguese Cup) for the second time in 2016 and the third in 2021, reaching the

final in 2011, which they lost to fellow Portuguese side

and the inauguration of the ''Cidade Desportiva'', newly built SC Braga's state-of-the-art facilities, improved it on the UEFA club rankings and Portugal's professional football landscape to such an extent that SC Braga started to be dubbed one of the fourth greatest football club in Portugal and regarded as a big club together with the well-established classic Big Three.

Finances and ownership

Results

In 2023, Sporting Clube de Braga - Futebol, SAD's net profit was 20.377 million euros and the

EBITDA A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced ) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, state-mandat ...

was 29.779 million euros.

Ownership

Sporting Clube de Braga – Futebol, SAD is listed on Euronext Lisbon. By 2023, Sporting Clube de Braga, the sports club as a whole, retained 36.99% of the football SAD (Sporting Clube de Braga – Futebol, SAD) stock, followed by Qatar Sports Investments with 29.60%, and then Sundown Investments Limited with 17.04%. Other investors held the remaining 16.37%.

Rivalries

Rivalry with Vitória SC

The Minho derby is the football rivalry between Sporting Clube de Braga and Vitória Sport Clube, two of the biggest clubs in the Minho region of northern Portugal. This derby is marked by great tension and passion, reflecting not only sporting competition, but also a historical and cultural rivalry between the cities of

and Guimarães that began even before the formation of the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

. Since then it has been a struggle in all aspects of society, sport, culture, the economy... Football has only become a means used to transpose the rivalry. Considered to be one of the most exciting and fiercely contested matches in Portuguese football, the Dérbi Minhoto is eagerly awaited by the fans, who live intensely for the clash between these two cities traditionally known for their history and identity.

Other rivalries

There is also a certain rivalry between Braga, Boavista, Belenenses and Vitória SC, due to the closeness in the number of titles and because they are some of the clubs with the largest number of fans in Portugal, with many people creating arguments to determine which would be the "4th big". However, the distance between these clubs and the Big Three is considerable enough in any sport to be given such a designation.

League and cup history

Recent seasons

Honours

Source:

National

League

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 ...

Upon the formation of the ''Liga de Honra'' (League of Honor), a new second level national league in 1990, the Portuguese Second Division became the third tier of Portuguese football. ** Winners (2): 1946–47, 1963–64

Cup

** Winners (3): 1965–66, 2015–16, 2020–21 * Taça da Liga ** Winners (3): 2012–13, 2019–20, 2023–24 * Taça Federação Portuguesa de Futebol ** Winners (1): 1976–77

International

** Winners (1): 2008

European record

Overview

''Fully up to date as of 2 August 2024.''

Matches

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Former players

Club staff

Managerial history

* József Szabó (1935–37), (1945), (1953–54) * Mário Imbelloni (1955–56) * Eduardo Viso (1955–56) * József Szabó (1956–57), (1960–61) * António Teixeira (1964–65) * José Valle (1965–66) * Rui Sim-Sim (1966) * Manuel Palmeira (1966) * Fernando Caiado (1966–67) * José Valle (1967) * José Maria Vieira (1967–68) * Artur Quaresma (1968–69) * Federico Passos (1969) * Alberto Pereira (1969–70) * Joaquim Coimbra (1970) * José Carlos (1975–76) * Mário Lino (1976–77) * Hilário Conceição (1977) * Mário Imbelloni (1977–78) * Fernando Caiado (1978–79) * Hilário Conceição (1979–80) * Mário Lino (1980–81) * Quinito (1981–82) * Juca (1 July 1982 – 30 June 1983) * Quinito (1983–85) * Henrique Calisto (1985) *

Humberto Coelho Humberto Manuel de Jesus Coelho (born 20 April 1950) is a Portuguese retired footballer and manager. In a career mainly associated with Benfica, the central defender also competed professionally in France and the United States, during a 16- ...

(1 July 1985–87) * Manuel José (1987–89) * Raul Águas (1990) * Carlos Garcia (1990–92) * Vitor Manuel (1992) * António Oliveira (1992–94) * Neca (1994) * Manuel Cajuda (1 July 1994 – 30 June 1997) * Fernando Castro Santos (1997–98) * Alberto Argibay Pazos (1998) * Vítor Oliveira (1 July 1998–98) * Carlos Manuel (1998) * Manuel Cajuda (1 April 1999 – 30 June 2002) * Fernando Castro Santos (2002–03) * Jesualdo Ferreira (19 April 2003 – 8 May 2006) * Carlos Carvalhal (10 May 2006 – 8 November 2006) * Rogério Gonçalves (13 November 2006 – 19 February 2007) * Jorge Costa (19 February 2007 – 30 October 2007) * António Caldas ''(interim)'' (31 October 2007 – 11 November 2007) * Manuel Machado (12 November 2007 – 21 April 2008) * Jorge Jesus (20 May 2008 – 15 June 2009) * Domingos (20 June 2009 – 30 June 2011) * Leonardo Jardim (1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012) * José Peseiro (1 July 2012 – 30 June 2013) * Jesualdo Ferreira (1 July 2013 – 23 February 2014) * Jorge Paixão (23 February 2014 – 23 May 2014) * Sérgio Conceição (2014–15) * Paulo Fonseca (2015–16) * José Peseiro (1 July 2016 – 15 December 2016) * Jorge Simão (17 December 2016 – 26 April 2017) * Abel Ferreira (27 April 2017 – 30 June 2019) * Ricardo Sá Pinto (3 July 2019 – 23 December 2019) *

(27 December 2019 – 3 March 2020) * Custódio (3 March 2020 – 1 July 2020) * Artur Jorge (1 July 2020 – 28 July 2020) * Carlos Carvalhal (28 July 2020 – 15 May 2022) * Artur Jorge (15 May 2022 – 3 April 2024) * Rui Duarte (3 April 2024 – 18 May 2024) * Daniel Sousa (24 May 2024 – 12 August 2024) * Carlos Carvalhal (12 August 2024 – 28 May 2025) * Carlos Vicens (28 May 2025 – present)

References

External links

*
S.C. Braga
at LPFP
S.C. Braga
at

FootballLineups team profile

at PSNL Soccer {{DEFAULTSORT:Braga SC Football clubs in Portugal Braga, S.C. 1921 establishments in Portugal Taça de Portugal winners Primeira Liga clubs Companies listed on Euronext Lisbon Sport in Braga B