S.C. Braga

Portuguese club with Arsenal-style kits and European success.

Sporting Clube de Braga is a Portuguese sports club based in Braga, best known for its men's professional football team that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club has become one of Portugal's most decorated sides, winning the last UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2008 and reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2011. Domestically, Braga has won multiple Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga titles.

Quick Facts

Clubname

Braga

Fullname

Sporting Clube de Braga

Nickname

Os Arcebispos (The Archbishops)
Os Arsenalistas (The Arsenalists)
Os Guerreiros do Minho (The Minho Warriors)

Founded

19 January 1921

Ground

Estádio Municipal de Braga

Capacity

30,286

Chairman

António Salvador

Chrtitle

President

Facts from the source article.

Did You Know?

In 2023, Sporting Clube de Braga - Futebol, SAD reported a net profit of 20.377 million euros and EBITDA of 29.779 million euros.
Qatar Sports Investments held 29.60% of the football SAD stock as of 2023.

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 the reserve 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 from 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 fiercely contested in Portuguese football. Braga also shares a secondary rivalry with Boavista, Belenenses, and Vitória SC over the status of being the '4th big' club in Portugal, though the gap to the Big Three is considerable.