S.C. Braga

Sporting Clube de Braga, 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
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 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, 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 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.

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).

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.

Honours
Source:

League

 * Segunda Divisão
 * Winners (2): 1946–47, 1963–64

Cup

 * Taça de Portugal
 * 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 (First Division)

International

 * UEFA Intertoto Cup
 * Winners (1): 2008 (Outright Winners)

Overview
Fully up to date as of 12 December 2023.

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%.

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 (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)
 * 🇵🇹 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)
 * 🇵🇹 Rúben Amorim (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)