S.C. Braga

Did You Know?

• In 2023, Sporting Clube de Braga - Futebol, SAD reported a net profit of 20.377 million euros and an EBITDA of 29.779 million euros.
• Qatar Sports Investments held 29.60% of the football SAD stock as of 2023.
• Braga's youth team was once renamed Arsenal de Braga.

History

The club's origins trace to 1919, when a group of Braga residents sympathetic to Sporting CP adopted that club's name and green-and-white kit. In 1921, to accommodate fans of Benfica, the name remained but the kit changed to red and white, imitating Benfica's colours. In 1945, after World War II, the club introduced an Arsenal-style kit with white sleeves for its second team, and the first team adopted it the following season. The change is attributed either to president José Antunes Guimarães, an Arsenal fan with London business ties, or to Hungarian coach József Szabó. In 1947, Braga won the Second Division title in the new kit and reached the First Division for the first time. The club's emblem features the city of Braga's shield with Mother Mary and baby Jesus, the blue changed to red, topped by a golden Mural Crown and the club's name. Fans are called Arsenalistas due to the kit's resemblance to Arsenal's, and Bracarenses after the city's ancient name Bracara Augusta.

Rivalries

Braga's primary rivalry is with Vitória SC in the Derby do Minho, reflecting a historical and cultural competition between the cities of Braga and Guimarães that predates the Kingdom of Portugal. The derby is considered one of the most intense in Portuguese football. Braga also shares a secondary rivalry with Boavista, Belenenses, and Vitória SC, based on similar trophy counts and fan bases, though the gap to the Big Three remains substantial.