S.C. Braga

Braga
Full nameSporting Clube de Braga
Nickname(s)Os Arcebispos (The Archbishops)
Os Arsenalistas (The Arsenalists)
Arsenal do Minho (Minho's Arsenal)
Minhotos (Those from Minho)
Os Guerreiros do Minho (The Minho Warriors)
Braguistas
Founded19 January 1921; 103 years ago (1921-01-19)
GroundEstádio Municipal de Braga
Capacity30,360
OwnerQatar Sports Investments (29.6%)
Sundown Investments Limited (17.04%)
PresidentAntónio Salvador
Head coachArtur Jorge
LeaguePrimeira Liga
2022–23Primeira Liga, 3rd of 18
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Sporting Clube de Braga (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈspɔɾtĩ ˈkluβɨ ðɨ ˈβɾaɣɐ]) (Euronext LisbonSCB ), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, it also has departments for athletics, badminton, basketball, beach soccer, 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 Estádio Municipal de Braga, which replaced the Estádio 1º de Maio, now used for the club's reserve team. Unlike most European sporting entities, Braga's members (sócios) owned and operated the club throughout its history.

In the 2000s, Braga became one of Portugal's most decorated clubs (5th) after the Big Three and has had some success in European competitions, winning the last UEFA Intertoto Cup (the only Portuguese club to do so) in 2008, and reaching the final of the UEFA Europa League in 2011, cultivating the reputation of being the fourth strongest club in Portugal, outside of the Big Three. Domestically, they have also won another 7 domestic trophies: three Taça de Portugal in 1965–66, 2015–16, and in 2020–21, and the Taça da Liga three times in 2012–13, 2019–20 and 2023–24. Braga have a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Vitória de Guimarães, with whom they contest the Derby do Minho.

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.

History

Braga changed their kits from green and white 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 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 green and white 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.

One of the first matches played in Arsenal-style kits against R C Celta Vigo

Braga's emblem is the city of Braga's shield with Mother Mary and baby Jesus 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, later named Bracara Augusta, city of Portugal that is now known as Braga.

Aside from the loyalty of its supporters, the Minho derby against Vitória de Guimarães is a match that both sets of fans eagerly await. This match is more than football – it is a way people from the north view each city. The derby is one of Portugal's most intense matches, and children under 13 are restricted from entering unless an adult is with them. The rivalry goes back to when the City of Braga was the ancient capital of Gallaecia and the largest Portuguese city by the time the Kingdom of Portugal was formed by Afonso I of Portugal. At that time, Guimarães became the seat of the King and nobility, whereas the city of Braga remained the centre of trade and religious power (the largest city and seat of the Archbishop).

Braga's ranking in Europe since 2003
Season UEFA Ranking Points
2003–04  –  –
2004–05 139th 15.739
2005–06 136th 17.533
2006–07 96th 27.107
2007–08 79th 33.176
2008–09 50th 39.292
2009–10 48th 39.659
2010–11 28th 62.319
2011–12 29th 63.069
2012–13 29th Steady 62.833
2013–14 40th 52.959
2014–15 37th 51.776
2015–16 46th 43.116
2016–17 55th 37.366

In the 1960s and 1970s, Braga began to climb up the league ladder and eventually participated in the UEFA 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 UEFA Intertoto Cup 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 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, where they lost to a goal by FC Porto's Radamel Falcao.

Braga won the Taça da Liga for the first time in 2013 under José Peseiro, with one goal from Alan 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, Rúben Amorim, 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 owned by Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, who is also the owner of Ligue 1 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 UEFA Champions League, winning the Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup) for the second time in 2016 and the third in 2021, reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2011, which they lost to fellow Portuguese side FC Porto 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 the fourth greatest football club in Portugal and regarded as a big club together with the well-established classic Big Three.

League and cup history

Recent seasons

Season League Cup League Cup Europe (UEFA) Notes
Div. Pos. Pld W D L GF GA Pts Result Result Competition Result
2018–19 1st 4th 34 21 4 9 56 37 67 SF SF Europa League Q3
2019–20 3rd 34 18 6 10 61 40 60 R5 W Europa League L32
2020–21 4th 34 19 7 8 53 33 64 W RU Europa League L32
2021–22 4th 34 19 8 7 52 31 65 R5 R3 Europa League QF
2022–23 3rd 34 25 3 6 75 30 78 RU QF Europa League
Europa Conference League
GS
L32

Honours

Source:

National

League

Cup

International

European record

Overview

Fully up to date as of 12 December 2023.

SC Braga record in European football by competition
Competition Pld W D L GF GA GD Win%
UEFA Champions League / European Cup 28 12 3 13 39 45 −6 042.86
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 10 6 1 3 13 11 +2 060.00
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup 139 61 31 47 203 174 +29 043.88
UEFA Europa Conference League 2 0 0 2 2 7 −5 000.00
UEFA Intertoto Cup 2 2 0 0 5 0 +5 100.00
Total 173 78 34 61 253 224 +29 045.09

Matches

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1966–67 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup R1 Greece AEK Athens 3–2 1–0 4–2
R2 Hungary Raba ETO Győr 2–0 0–3 2–3
1978–79 UEFA Cup R1 Malta Hibernians 5–0 2–3 7–3
R2 England West Bromwich Albion 0–2 0–1 0–3
1982–83 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Pre Wales Swansea City 1–0 0–3 1–3
1984–85 UEFA Cup R1 England Tottenham Hotspur 0–3 0–6 0–9
1997–98 UEFA Cup R1 Netherlands Vitesse 2–0 1–2 3–2
R2 Georgia (country) Dinamo Tbilisi 4–0 1–0 5–0
R3 Germany Schalke 04 0–0 0–2 0–2
1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup R1 Latvia Liepājas Metalurgs 4–0 0–0 4–0
R2 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 1–0 1–3 2–3
2004–05 UEFA Cup R1 Scotland Heart of Midlothian 2–2 1–3 3–5
2005–06 UEFA Cup R1 Serbia Red Star Belgrade 1–1 0–0 1–1 (a)
2006–07 UEFA Cup R1 Italy Chievo 2–0 1–2 (a.e.t.) 3–2
GS Netherlands AZ  – 0–3 3rd
Czech Republic Slovan Liberec 4–0  –
Spain Sevilla  – 0–2
Switzerland Grasshopper 2–0  –
L32 Italy Parma 1–0 1–0 2–0
L16 England Tottenham Hotspur 2–3 2–3 4–6
2007–08 UEFA Cup R1 Sweden Hammarby 4–0 1–2 5–2
GS England Bolton Wanderers  – 1–1 2nd
Germany Bayern Munich 1–1  –
Greece Aris  – 1–1
Serbia Red Star Belgrade 2–0  –
L32 Germany Werder Bremen 0–1 0–3 0–4
2008–09 UEFA Intertoto Cup R3 Turkey Sivasspor 3–0 2–0 5–0
2008–09 UEFA Cup Q2 Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski Mostar 1–0 2–0 3–0
R1 Slovakia Artmedia Petržalka 4–0 2–0 6–0
GS England Portsmouth 3–0  – 3rd
Italy Milan  – 0–1
Germany VfL Wolfsburg 2–3  –
Netherlands Heerenveen  – 2–1
L32 Belgium Standard Liège 3–0 1–1 4–1
L16 France Paris Saint-Germain 0–1 0–0 0–1
2009–10 UEFA Europa League Q3 Sweden Elfsborg 1–2 0–2 1–4
2010–11 UEFA Champions League Q3 Scotland Celtic 3–0 1–2 4–2
PO Spain Sevilla 1–0 4–3 5–3
GS England Arsenal 2–0 0–6 3rd
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 0–3 0–2
Serbia Partizan 2–0 1–0
2010–11 UEFA Europa League L32 Poland Lech Poznań 2–0 0–1 2–1
L16 England Liverpool 1–0 0–0 1–0
QF Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 0–0 1–1 1–1 (a)
SF Portugal Benfica 1–0 1–2 2–2 (a)
Final Portugal Porto 0–1
2011–12 UEFA Europa League PO Switzerland Young Boys 0–0 2–2 2–2 (a)
GS Belgium Club Brugge 1–2 1–1 2nd
England Birmingham City 1–0 3–1
Slovenia Maribor 5–1 1–1
L32 Turkey Beşiktaş 0–2 1–0 1–2
2012–13 UEFA Champions League PO Italy Udinese 1–1 1–1 (5–4 pen.) 1–1 (5–4)
GS Romania CFR Cluj 0–2 1–3 4th
Turkey Galatasaray 1–2 2–0
England Manchester United 1–3 2–3
2013–14 UEFA Europa League PO Romania Pandurii Târgu Jiu 0–2 (a.e.t.) 1–0 1–2
2015–16 UEFA Europa League GS France Marseille 3–2 0–1 1st
Czech Republic Slovan Liberec 2–1 1–0
Netherlands Groningen 1–0 0–0
L32 Switzerland Sion 2–2 2–1 4–3
L16 Turkey Fenerbahçe 4–1 0–1 4–2
QF Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 1–2 0–4 1–6
2016–17 UEFA Europa League GS Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 2–4 0–2 3rd
Belgium Gent 1–1 2–2
Turkey Konyaspor 2–1 1–1
2017–18 UEFA Europa League Q3 Sweden AIK 2–1 (a.e.t.) 1–1 3–2
PO Iceland FH Hafnarfjardar 3–2 2–1 5–3
GS Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 0–2 1–1 1st
Germany 1899 Hoffenheim 3–1 2–1
Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir 2–1 1–2
L32 France Marseille 1–0 0–3 1–3
2018–19 UEFA Europa League Q3 Ukraine Zorya Luhansk 2–2 1−1 3–3 (a)
2019–20 UEFA Europa League Q3 Denmark Brøndby 4–2 3–1 7–3
PO Russia Spartak Moscow 1–0 2–1 3–1
GS Turkey Beşiktaş 3–1 2–1 1st
England Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–3 1–0
Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 2–2 4–2
L32 Scotland Rangers 0–1 2–3 2–4
2020–21 UEFA Europa League GS England Leicester City 3–3 0–4 2nd
Greece AEK Athens 3–0 4–2
Ukraine Zorya Luhansk 2–0 2–1
L32 Italy Roma 0–2 1–3 1–5
2021–22 UEFA Europa League GS Serbia Red Star Belgrade 1–1 1–2 2nd
Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 4–2 1–0
Denmark Midtjylland 3–1 2–3
KPO Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol 2–0 (3–2 pen.) 0–2 2–2 (3–2)
L16 France Monaco 2–0 1–1 3–1
QF Scotland Rangers 1–0 1–3 2–3
2022–23 UEFA Europa League GS Sweden Malmö 2−1 2–0 3rd
Germany Union Berlin 1–0 0–1
Belgium Union Saint-Gilloise 1–2 3–3
UEFA Europa Conference League KPO Italy Fiorentina 0–4 2–3 2–7
2023–24 UEFA Champions League Q3 Serbia TSC 3–0 4−1 7−1
PO Greece Panathinaikos 2–1 1–0 3–1
GS Italy Napoli 1–2 2–0 3rd
Spain Real Madrid 1–2 3–0
Germany Union Berlin 2–3 1–1
UEFA Europa League KPO Azerbaijan Qarabağ 2–4 3-2 5-6
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate

Finances and ownership

Results

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

Players

Current squad

As of 9 February 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Brazil BRA Matheus
2 DF Spain ESP Víctor Gómez
4 DF Mali MLI Sikou Niakaté
5 DF Turkey TUR Serdar Saatçı
6 DF Portugal POR José Fonte (vice-captain)
7 FW Portugal POR Bruma
9 FW Spain ESP Abel Ruiz
10 MF Italy ITA Cher Ndour (on loan from Paris Saint-Germain)
11 FW Guinea-Bissau GNB Roger Fernandes
12 GK Portugal POR Tiago Sá
14 FW Spain ESP Álvaro Djaló
15 DF Portugal POR Paulo Oliveira
16 MF Uruguay URU Rodrigo Zalazar
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF Sweden SWE Joe Mendes
18 MF Brazil BRA Vitor Carvalho
19 DF Spain ESP Adrián Marín
20 FW Portugal POR Rony Lopes
21 FW Portugal POR Ricardo Horta (captain)
22 MF Portugal POR Pizzi
23 FW Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Simon Banza
26 DF Colombia COL Cristian Borja
28 MF Portugal POR João Moutinho
31 GK Brazil BRA Bernardo
90 MF Senegal SEN Djibril Soumaré
91 GK Czech Republic CZE Lukáš Horníček

Other players under contract

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
38 MF Brazil BRA Lucas Piazon

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
8 MF Libya LBY Al-Musrati (at Beşiktaş until 30 June 2024)
13 DF Portugal POR Tiago Esgaio (at Arouca until 30 June 2024)
29 MF France FRA Jean-Baptiste Gorby (at Paços de Ferreira until 30 June 2024)
47 DF Portugal POR Diogo Fonseca (at Estrela da Amadora until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Portugal POR André Horta (at Olympiacos until 30 June 2024)
FW Portugal POR Rodrigo Gomes (at Estoril until 30 June 2024)
FW Portugal POR André Lacximicant (at Casa Pia until 30 June 2024)

Former players

Club staff

As of 1 July 2022
Position Staff
Head Coach Portugal Artur Jorge
Assistant Head Coaches Portugal André Cunha
First-Team Coach Portugal João Cardoso
First-Team Goalkeeper Coach Portugal Orlando Silva
Portugal Eduardo Carvalho
Fitness Coach Portugal Ernesto Peixoto
Chief Scout Angola Paulo Meneses
Scout Portugal Ernesto Peixoto
Youth Chief Scout Portugal José Luís Antunes
Head of Medical Portugal Vítor Moreira

Managerial history

41°33′45″N 8°25′51″W / 41.56250°N 8.43083°W / 41.56250; -8.43083


This page was last updated at 2024-03-28 10:59 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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