S.C. Olhanense

History

Founded on 27 April 1912, Olhanense became branch number 4 of Sporting Clube de Portugal. Its first major honour came in the 1923–24 Campeonato de Portugal, now the Taça de Portugal, making it the first Algarve team to win that competition. In 1941, after winning the Algarve Football Association, the club became the first from the region to reach the top level of Portuguese football. A fourth-place finish in the 1945–46 season followed, but after ten consecutive top-flight seasons the team returned to the second division in 1951. Olhanense spent only five more seasons in the top flight during the 20th century: three in the early 1960s and two in the mid-1970s, while rivals Farense and Portimonense enjoyed their most successful years. Managed by former Portugal international defender Jorge Costa, the team won the 2008–09 Liga de Honra by defeating Gondomar 1–0, returning to the Primeira Liga. After five years in the top flight, Olhanense finished last in May 2014 and were relegated, leaving the Algarve without a top-flight team. Three years later, a last-place finish in the LigaPro ended 13 years of professional football. Former Netherlands international Edgar Davids managed the team for the first half of 2021. The club missed promotion to the new Liga 3 that year, falling to the fourth tier, and the 2022–23 season ended with relegation to the Algarve FA's First Division.