Coordinates	3°8′51″N101°41′36″N
clubname	Sporting Clube de Portugal
current	2011–12 Sporting Clube de Portugal season
fullname	Sporting Clube de Portugal
short name	Sporting
nickname	''Sportinguistas'' ''Leões'' (Lions)''Verde-e-Brancos'' (Green and White)
founded
ground	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon
capacity	50,049
chrtitle	President
chairman	Luiz Godinho Lopes
manager	Carlos Freitas
coach	Domingos Paciência
league	Primeira Liga
season	2010–11
position	Primeira Liga, 3rd
website	http://www.sporting.pt
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Sporting Clube de Portugal OM ComM MH IH () (), also known as Sporting or Sporting CP, and in English often unofficially and wrongly referred as Sporting Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Portugal's capital city of Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Sporting is mostly known for its association football team. Founded in Lisbon in July 1, 1906, it is one of the "Três Grandes" (The Big Three, in English) football clubs in Portugal, with Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Futebol Clube do Porto being the other two clubs, Sporting's two biggest rivals.

With more than 100,000 registered club members , its teams, athletes and supporters are often nicknamed ''Leões'' () by its fans.

During the first century of the club's existence, the teams and the athletes of Sporting won 1 Olympic gold medal, as well as many silver and gold medals and thousands of national and district titles.

During the founding period (1906), José Alvalade made known his wish to transform Sporting into a "....big Club, as big as the biggest in Europe". Daring to clear pathways in a time when, in Portugal, sports were still activities in their developmental stages and having mainly elitist characteristics, the first "Sportinguistas" managed to found what became the present day successful Sporting Clube de Portugal. Sporting Clube de Portugal has more than three million fans on all continents with up to 300 supporters' clubs, offices and delegations, as well as more than 150,000 affiliates.

Domestically, Sporting won a total of 18 Portuguese Liga titles, 19 Championship of Portugal/Portuguese Cup titles and 7 Portuguese SuperCup titles (44 national titles).

Internationally, Sporting won the 1963-64 European Cup Winners' Cup, and were runners-up in the 2004-05 UEFA Cup.

History

Pre-Sporting

It started as a romantic idealisation during the turbulent times of the early 20th century (1902), when a group of holidaymakers in Belas, which was then a distant suburb of Lisbon, decided to found a club and hold a game of foot-ball (as it was called back then) in Seteais: integrated as part of the popular festival held in Sintra. It was a very lively game, and was considered as being apart from the festival, – with members of the royal family being present – contested between Sport Club de Belas and a group from Sintra. Belas claimed a fine 3–0 victory, in a game where the Gavazzo brothers, Franciso and José Maria, along with other sportsman on display, where described as "elements of good families". The daily news reported that more than four thousand people attended in what was a busy and animated compact circle full of interest.

Sport Club de Belas was a summer dream that gathered dust with the end of the holiday period. A dream however, that did not die. The game in Sintra, held on the 26th of August 1902, left a unique and living mark that motivated the players. The young holidaymakers, who where little more than adolescents, returned to Lisbon, dreaming of the status of sports abroad, mainly in France and England, and maintained contact with each other as many lived in the same residential area in Campo Grande. The young men frequently met in Pastelaria Bijou that still exists today on Avenida da Liberdade and it was there that, two years after the experience in Belas, in 1904, the young men decided to return to their great love, sports, and found the Campo Grande Football Club. Other attendees of the events the 26th of August 1902 also followed their passion for sports and founded the Clube Internacional de Futebol (CIF). The historical CIF is now situated in Monsanto.

The headquarters of the Campo Grande Football Club where situated on the second floor of the Pinto da Cunha's Manor house, a building that continues to define the corner between Alameda das Linhas de Torres and Campo Grande. Amongst others, the Gavazzo brothers participated in the founding meeting, along with the young men José Holtreman Roquette (José Alvalade), José Stromp and other sporting enthusiasts. Visconde de Alvalade, José Alfredo Holtreman, grandfather of José Alvalade, who was nearing 70 years old and was the patriarch of the family, was appointed the President for his unselfish support and natural ability to understand and encourage the spirit and incentives of his grandson as well as his friends.

Football, fencing, tennis, running, jumping, social parties and picnics where the main activities that allowed the new club to gain momentum in its first two years of existence.

Foundation

In 1906, it became evident that there was a split between members who felt the club should focus on social events and get-togethers, and others who felt it should focus on the club's sporting aspects. Júlio de Araújo, who would later become the president of Sporting and is a keen historian of the founding process of Sporting, noted that "day to day, two trends emerged: that of the boys of Lisbon who claimed the current headquarters and that of the boys of Campo Grande who also laid claim to that spot, as was fair and advisable." Júlio de Araújo also notes that "the disagreement was not solely in regard to location, but also in regard to the objective of the club – with ac ontrast between Campo Grande and those interested in the social aspects of the club rather than the sporting aspects."

This period of turbulence would eventually result in a split between the two parties. José Gavazzo was amongst the first to resign from the original club, accompanied by around two dozen other members, one of which was José Alvalade who proclaimed, "I am going to have my grandfather with me and he will give me the money to make another club".

The determination shown by these disgruntled players did indeed bear fruit. Visconde de Alvalade agreed to the creation of the new club and gave it a considerable amount of money, made available a playing field in one of his farms – where Sporting is located to this day – and became the chairman of the board as an "associate protector" of the new club. It was largely due to this that the young José Alvalade, prompted by the success of his initiative, delivered his famous quote, so well known to Sporting supporters:

On 14 April 1906, the newly created collective adopted the provisional name of Campo Grande Sporting Club. On 1 July of the same year, it was suggested by António Félix da Costa Júnior that the club adopt the name Sporting Clube de Portugal, and this name was eventually adopted in July 1920 by the General Assembly of the Club, with 1 July 1906 declared as Sporting's official founding date. It was this original group of 18 members that made that fateful decision whose Centenary was celebrated in 2006.

Team colors

Kit evolution

Jerseys

The badges

Since its formation, on 1 July 1906, Sporting has had six badges, all of which have included the colour green and the lion.

First years

The root of Sporting's footballing tradition can clearly be traced back to its foundation in 1906. However, club also covered a multitude of other sports played by its early members. The founding members of the club were devoted athletes, as well as playing football, tennis, tug-of-war, fencing, cricket, gymnastics and field hockey.

In 1907, Dom Fernando de Castelo Branco (Pombeiro) authorized the use of the lion from his coat of arms, without its blue background. "Not with a golden gun of red on a blue field, as was Pombeiro's, but with a silver gun of black on a green field, that clearly affirms the intentions of the founders," notes Júlio de Araújo. The green exterior was in fact suggested by Visconde of Alvalade, symbolising hope for the new club.

The first game of football for Sporting was played on 3 February 1907. It cannot be said that the club met with immediate success: losing 5 – 1 in the second division against Cruz Negra in Alcântara. However, some of the players from the winning side would later join Sporting: Alípio da Motta Veiga, Octávio Teixeira Bastos, António das Neves Vital and others. D. João de Vila Franca scored the only goal for Sporting in the game, the first in the history of Sporting.

The eternal rivalry between Sporting Clube de Portugal and Sport Lisboa (simply known as Benfica from 1908) began on 1 December 1907 when they played at Quinta Nova, in Sete Rios.

Sporting, who dressed in white during its early years, debuted in a kit consisting of a striped green and white shirt and white socks. This is a kit that has been reproduced in celebration of Sporting's centenary. This kit became known as the "Stromp Kit", as homage to the very popular 'Sportinguista' Franciso Stromp: a brilliant footballer who was one of the best Portuguese sportsmen of all time. Sporting won the game against Benfica 2 – 1, with one goal being scored by Cândido Rosa Rodrigues, one of the Catatau brothers and former player of Sport Lisboa. This would become the first goal for the "Lions" in the great rivalry between this two giants of Portuguese sports. The 1907–08 season would see Sporting finish as regional runner-up.

Sporting had what was considered at the time as the best sports grouns in Portugal, in Sítio das Mouras. Located then at 73 Alameda do Lumiar, today known as Alameda das Linhas de Torres, the pitch was located in terrain made available by Visconde de Alvalade at his farm. The pitch was in use as early as May 1906 and was improved later in 1907. The pitch and surrounding sports complex housed a football pitch, athletics track, two tennis courts and a pavilion with showers, baths and a kitchen. A pavilion was, at the time, a luxury.

In 1910, Sporting's ecletic spirit was already apparent, with its tennis teams were gaining recognition, and titles won in pole vaulting, shot put and long jump. This was also the year that José Alvalade assumed the presidency of the club, an office he would hold until 1916.

Initial triumphs

The direction of the club was now drawn – in victory. Sporting won its first Campeonato de Lisboa, fourth division, in 1912, following this by winning the Honour division in 1915, together with the Honorary Cup, with a 3–1 victory over Benfica in the final. The victory in Campeonato de Lisboa in 1915 was the first in a long series that Sporting would claim, with 19 Championships (6 of them in a row) between 1915 and 1947, when the championship came to an end. 1915 also saw Sporting teams begin to use black shorts to accompany the "Stromp" shirt.

Laranjeira Guerra won the Porto-Lisboa cycling event in 1912, an event made more epic by the state of the roads traversed as well as the equipment used. He became the precursor of brilliant cyclists such as Alfredo Trindade, João Roque, Leonel Miranda, Marco Chagas and the greatest of all, Joaquim Agostinho. Agostinho enjoyed substantial success in the Tour de France, where he finished in the top 10 eight times, twice in 3rd place and once in 2nd place in the Vuelta a España (only 11 seconds behind the winner José Manuel Fuente). All this was achieved during the domination first by Eddy Merckx and then Bernard Hinault. This, together with his many successes in Portugal (three times winner of Volta a Portugal), transformed Agostinho into one of the legends and symbols of Sporting.

In tug-of-war, a sport that was very much in vogue at the time, Sporting achieved unparalleled success and were never defeated in a competition.

1912 brought more success for Sporting's athletes with the highly versatile António Stromp shining in the 100m (reaching the fourth round) and the 200m in the Olympic Games held in Stockholm, which proved fatal to the Portuguese marathon runner Francisco Lázaro. António Stromp was Sporting's first Olympian athlete and he placed Sporting on a path that would make them the most successful Olympic club in the country, both in the number of representatives and the number of medals won. Also in 1912 Sporting won its first in a long series of National Cross Country Championships.

In 1917, Sporting relocated. José Alvalade allowed for the building of the Stadium de Lisboa in 1914; however a disagreement between the founder and director over the use of the stadium led to those in office seeking another solution. These Sportinguistas leased a nearby pitch at 412 Campo Grande, where a stadium would be constructed by the architect António do Couto which would be the home of Sporting for the following 30 years. This however would not be the end of the stadium's life, as Benfica moved from Amoreiras and were granted use of the stadium by Sporting. This stadium was fondly known as the "office of wood" and was part of the land that now exists in the area south of Estádio José Alvalade.

1920–1940

During the 1920s, Sporting won its first Campeonato de Portugal (1922/23), a competition regarded as the National title although it was contested as a knockout competition. The decisive game was held in Faro on 24 July 1923, with a 3–0 victory against Académica. The Sporting team of the time was: Torres Pereira, Jaime Gonçalves, Francisco Stromp, João Francisco Maia, Carlos Fernandes, José Leandro, Filipe dos Santos, Joaquim Ferreira, Cipriano Santos, Jorge Vieira and Henrique Portela. Joaquim Ferreira scored two goals, with Francisco Stromp (Sporting and Portuguese sport legend, pioneer athlete and one of Sporting's original figures) scoring the other. Francisco Stromp would leave football the following year (1924).

The swimming, water polo and rugby sections were also founded during this period. It was the historic leader and career athlete Salazar Carreira who with the help of Sporting first introduced rugby to Portugal.

In 1928, Sporting first appeared in its famous shirts with horizontal white and green strips, a change caused, largely, by the rugby team. The change occurred while the football team were on a tour in Brazil, the first for a Portuguese team. The rugby kits were cooler and in better condition than those used by the football team (half white and half green shirt with black socks). The horizontal stripes used by the rugby team was a design of Salazar Carreira and was inspired by his time with the French club Racing de Paris, although Racing de Paris used red and white. Upon returning from Brazil, the football team did return the kits to the rugby team. However, in October 1928 when the football team were playing against Benfica, they emerged in the second half of the game wearing the shirts of the rugby team. Sporting won the game and so their new, distinctive kit was born.

The series of victories in the ''Campeonato de Portugal'' (Portuguese Championship) continued into the thirties with Sporting claiming titles in 1933–34, 1935–36, and 1937–38. During this decade, Sporting also claimed success in the sports of tennis, cycling, rugby (regional level), shooting, rink hockey (victory in the National Championship in 1937–38 – the first season of the competition), ice-skating, gymnastics and fencing.

Alfredo Trindade, already with several titles in different cycling disciplines, won the Volta a Portugal in 1933, the first individual and collective victory for Sporting in the most important event of the Portuguese cycling calendar. Trindade became a famous figure not only for his personal successes but also for his intense rivalry, although tempered with respect and friendship, with the Benfica cyclist José Maria Nicolau. Their epic duels even then, without the presence of the media dynamic that exists today, excited Portugal. José Albuquerque, known as Faísca, won the Volta a Portugal in 1940.

The legendary centre-forward Fernando Peyroteo, who debuted for Sporting in 1937, emerged as the leading scorer of the Portuguese Championship with 34 goals. He would be a central figure in the golden years still to come.

Golden years

The '40s and '50s were fabulous years for Sporting. They won 10 out of 18 National Football Championships during these decades, with 4 out of 13 Portuguese cups also on the club's roll of honour. From the 1946–47 season to the 1953–54 season, Sporting won seven of the eight championships contested, losing only in the 1949–50 season. This was the age of the famous ''Cinco Violinos'' ("Five Violins") that became famous on both the national and international levels, alongside with head coaches like Joseph Szabo, Robert Kelly, Randolph Galloway, Cândido de Oliveira, Armando Ferrira, Enrique Fernández and others. The name ''"Cinco Violinos"'' was given by the journalist and trainer Tavares da Silva to refer to the forward line of Jesus Correia, Manuel Vasques, Fernando Peyroteo, José Travassos, and Albano. These men were said to play as an orchestra together with the same collective spirit and efficiency on the field. During these years, Sporting scored 123 goals (almost five per game) in a championship played by 14 teams, 2 less than nowadays. This is certainly a record that will be hard to beat. For example, the striker Peyroteo finished all 12 seasons he played in the Sporting squad with more goals scored than games played.

As well as numerous National Championships and Portuguese Cups, Sporting team also claimed victories in the sporting initiative known as ''Taça O Século'' (The Century Cup). This competition came to an abrupt end after the Lions won the first two trophies as well as the ''Taça Império'' (Imperial Cup).

Sporting's success was recognised when, although not national champions in 1949–50, the club was invited to participate in the first edition of the Cup of the Clubs of the European Champions, now known as UEFA Champions League. It is unfortunate for Sporting fans that UEFA did not launch this competition earlier, otherwise Sporting could almost certainly have had at least one Cup of the Clubs of the European Champions amongst its honours. Sporting's first European game was against FK Partizan (3–3), in a match held at the Estádio Nacional with João Martins scoring their first goal in European competition and the first European Champions Clubs' Cup goal ever scored.

Sporting's tetra-championship, the first in Portuguese football, began in the 1950–51 season with players: Mário Wilson, Juca, Jesus Correia, Manuel Passos, Juvenal, Manuel Vasques, Galileu, Veríssimo, José Travassos, Martins, Tormenta, Carlos Gomes, Leandro, Manuel Caldeira, Armando Barros, Carlos Canário, César Nascimento, Anacleto, Manuel Marques, Pacheco Nobre, Mateus, and Pacheco. The head coach was Briton Randolph Galloway, with Fernando Vaz as his assistant.

In 1955, José Travassos became the first Portuguese footballer to be selected for the European XI. He played in Belfast against the team of Great Britain, in a performance highly praised by the international media, becoming known thereafter as ''"Zé da Europa"'' ("Zé of Europe").

By this time, the famous Sporting academy had already carved its place in history, winning the first National Junior Championship, held in 1938–39, a competition last held in 1960. Sporting would repeat this feat in 1945–46, 1947–48, and 1955–56.

In athletics, Sporting began the journey that would see it become the unrivalled champion of Portuguese athletics, winning 12 championships between 1940/1960 with cross country claiming ten victories during this period.

In 1941, Francisco Inácio claimed the Volta a Portugal; however, the number of national track and road titles reach well beyond this.

In 1945, Sporting founded the first swimming school in Portugal, the ''país dos marinheiros'' (country of sailors), where people,however, where poor swimmers. Sporting was already the most pioneering club in the field of nautical sports, however, claiming victories in water polo in the 1920s.

In 1941, Sporting won its first of what would become many titles in handball, with a victory in the Regional Championships of the variant of the game using 11 players (that existed at the time and was played on football fields). The series of 18 national victories that Sporting claims began in 1951–52: a Collection of championships that is unrivaled.

In the fifties, aside from the major titles won by Sporting, victories where also claimed in billiards, fencing, shooting, table tennis (31 championships won up until present day), badminton and motor racing. Sporting also claimed its two first national championships in volleyball (1953–54 and 1955–56) and its first national basketball championship in 1956. Sporting would go on to win seven titles in basketball until the sport was no longer played at competitive level by the club. In volleyball, which is also no longer played by the club, Sporting claimed four more titles up until 1993–94.

On 10 June 1956, Sporting inaugurated the Estádio José Alvalade, an achievement that was testament to the great level of vitality of the club. The dynamic ability and capacity of the club to undertake such a project was an affirmation of the sacrifices of the associates that made the constructing of such a magnificent stadium possible. Sporting had initially returned to its origins by returning to the Estádio do Lumiar in 1937, which had been rented out, in very good condition, until its renovation in 1947. This stadium had been the home of the infamous recitals of the "Cinco Violinos"; however the stadium was quickly becoming inadequate as Sporting approached its first half-century of life, and the necessity of constructing a new stadium was becoming apparent. This necessity was complimented with the construction of a new stadium, based largely on the site of the old stadium. The stadium was baptised with the name of the founder that had always occupied himself with the quality of the facilities of Sporting: José Alvalade. This name had in fact already been adopted before the construction of the new stadium, with the renovation of the Estádio do Lumiar in 1947, and is still used in the current stadium. The member holding membership number 1 of Sporting at the time of the inauguration of the new grandiose stadium was José Maria Gavazzo: one of the founders of the club and one of the original young holidaymakers in Belas in 1902.

Later, in 1983, under the supervision of the president João Rocha, the ambition of many Sportinguista's was realised with the "closing" of the stadium for the construction of a new seated terrace, that replaced the old standing terrace on the stadium's precinct.

On 6 June 1960, Sporting was declared an institute of public utility.

Manuel Faria, a long distance runner of great prestige, predecessor of Manuel de Oliveira, Carlos Lopes, Fernando Mamede and of the Castro brothers, won the famous race of São Silvestre de São Paulo in 1957 and 1958 which was, until then, the best achievement in Sporting athletics history, along with the 4th place of Álvaro Dias in the long jump at the European Athletics Championships.

European glory

During the sixties, Sporting reached the pinnacle of their European success by winning the Cup Winners Cup in 1963/64 in a campaign which ended in a 2 games final against MTK. Along the way, they managed a spectacular 5–0 win over Manchester United, after a 4–1 defeat in Old Trafford and a goal-fest against Apoel Nicosia with Sporting winning 16–1, which is still the record for most goals scored in a European match. This victory, which few expected, was achieved by an unknown management team and is largely attributable to the togetherness and psychological strength of the team. A team led principally by Gentil Cardoso, later by the architect Anselmo Fernandez and other great names of "Lions" and national football such as Carvalho, Pedro Gomes, Lino, Alexandre Baptista, José Carlos, Hilário, Fernando Mendes (The Great Captain), Geo, Pérides, Osvaldo Silva, Figueiredo, Mascarenhas (managed to score 6 goals in one single European match, which is still a record) and Morais: scorer of the infamous goal directly from a corner (known as "o cantinho de Morais") in Antwerp that would prove to be the winning goal of the match.

The 1998–99 season saw the end of the Cup Winners's Cup, subsequently revamped as the UEFA Cup, leaving Sporting as the only Portuguese club to win this historic title.

Between 1960 and 1999, Sporting's football team would win a further seven National Championships including the 1981–82 championship, and seven more Portuguese Cups, including the 1994–95 Cup, a victory that would mark the return to the top of the national podium after a prolonged absence. The youth team squads also enjoyed success, winning six championships, with the juvenile teams also winning eight titles. Sporting's children would also win three National Cups: an extinct cup during the nineties.

In 1974, with 46 goals, Hector Yazalde, Sporting striker, was Europe's most prolific striker, and so the golden shoe was awarded to him. In 2002, Mário Jardel became the second Sporting player to win this European title of distinction.

In rink hockey, Sporting enjoyed a wave of success between 1965 and 1990: winning a European Champions Cup, which placed them as the best team in the world at the time, three Cup Winner’s Cups and one CERS Cup. This well known team, managed by Torcato Ferreira, the head coach, had players like António Ramalhete, Vítor Chana, Júlio Rendeiro, João Sobrinho and António Livramento, which, together, formed the most brilliant Sporting roller hockey team.

Sporting athletics team continued to enjoy success and were a constant source of pride for Sporting, with Carlos Lopes winning 3 cross country World Championships and a one gold and one silver medal at Olympic level. Sporting runners also guided the country to a victory in the marathon in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. The trophies won by these athletes formed a precursor to the other Olympic, World and European titles that Sporting can today boast. Fernando Mamede became the world record holder for the 10,000 metres, which was a record that stood for 5 years and an amazing 15 years as the European record. Sporting has won, to this date, 14 European Champions Cups and 46 national titles in cross country, 43 national titles across all male events combined and 37 female national titles on the track.

In 2000, Sporting’s athletics team successed in the European Champions Clubs Cup on the track, making Portugal the only team to defeat Russia, who remains to this day as one of the athletics powers of the world. This glorious victory was further consolidated as Portugal finished third in three other events. These victories where further evidence of Sporting’s ability to maintain its Olympic athletes at the highest level, confirming its place of excellent as one of Europe’s premier athletics clubs. Athletes such as Carlos Lopes, the Castro brothers, Fernando Mamede, all of whom are international medal and record winners, Rui Silva, Naide Gomes, Francis Obikwelu (Europe’s fastest man nowadays, and silver medal in Athens 2004), Yuri Bilonog and Ionela Târlea are all athletes of Sporting's centenary generation that expresses and interprets Sporting’s drive for success on all fronts.

In handball, another sport with a special place at the heart of Sporting, Sporting’s teams spurred to an amazing penta-championship between 1968/69 and 1972/73, a record still unbeaten in Portugal.

João Roque, Leonel Miranda, Joaquim Agostinho and Marco Chagas, among others, all shone in cycling in Portuguese as well as foreign events, with Agostinho achieving an impressive third place in the Tour de France, second place in the Tour of Spain and three victories in the Tour of Portugal – dying on the 10th of May 1984 in a crash caused by a dog while he was racing in his yellow jacket in the Algarve on behalf of Sporting. His name is forever immortalised, as one of the turns of the epic climb of Alpe D'Huez in the Tour de France is now named after this infamous Portuguese cyclist and "Sportinguista".

Sporting’s table tennis teams also recorded an insurmountable series of victories, winning 11 consecutive titles between 1984/85 and 1994/95. The teams have won an outstanding number of 31 titles, since this competition was established back at the forties.

In billiards, Sporting’s representatives, such as Jorge Theriaga, also shone on the European levels in both individual and team events.

New cycle

In 1996, Sporting began a new lease of life, with José Roquette and others leading Sporting into a period of modernisation. Miguel Galvão Teles, Dias da Cunha and Ernesto Ferreira da Silva played their part in approving new statutes and laid the foundations for a business group and Society of Soccer Sports (SAD) which was admitted into the Portuguese Stock Exchange in 1998. New measures were also adopted to encourage transparency in the business relationships of the Club, as well as in tax and social security matters. This ambitious process of modernisation took place long before Portuguese candidature to host Euro 2004 was organised.

The reshaping of Sporting during this period became known as the "Projecto Roquette" ("Roquette's Project"), a program of dynamic modernisation of the club on three fronts: sports, through the rationalisation and optimisation of resources; finances, providing the club with multi-functional profitable elements; and finally the modernisation of the club's organisation, combining dedication and professionalism in a way that dealt with the present without mortgaging the future of the club.

Also in 1998, Sporting began the design and construction of a new generation stadium. The stadium was inaugurated on 6 August 2003 in an emotionally charged night for all Sportinguistas, and is rated amongst the best in the world (it was classified by UEFA as a 5-star stadium).

In addition to the new stadium, the new Alvalade XXI complex was also built, which further strengthened the club's multifunctionality. The area around the stadium was revitalised with the building of the Visconde de Alvalade building, which houses the club's business interests; a new shopping centre called Alvaláxia also opened, and operates as a cultural and entertainment centre; Clínica CUF, a medical clinic; a health club; a day-centre, made possible by the expression of solidarity of the "Leões de Portugal" ("Lions of Portugal") organization; and the "Mundo Sporting" ("Sporting's World") club museum.

In 2000, Sporting reconquered the National Football Championship after a gap of 18 years. The final game of the season saw a sweeping 4–0 victory against Salgueiros, sparking a nationwide party by all "Sportinguistas". Sporting retained the title in the 2001/2002 season. A Portuguese Cup and a Portuguese Supercup reinforced Sporting's resurgence, which also took them to the final of the prestigious UEFA Cup Final. The atmosphere at Estádio José Alvalade was electric as Sporting hosted the final at its own ground, though they lost the game 1–3 to CSKA Moscow.

Throughout its long history, Sporting has enjoyed much European football success, reaching 2 European finals and 2 European semi-finals, once in the Cup Winners Cup in 1974 and the other in the UEFA Cup in 1991, in both cases losing to the eventual winner of the competition.

Sporting also achieved success in other sports including athletics and handball. Sporting also holds most titles in futsal, a relatively new discipline, in which Sporting has enjoyed national, as well as international success.

It was Sporting's founding fathers that created the drive to make Sporting as one of Europe's greatest sports clubs. The work of all "Sportinguistas" has been characterised over the past 100 years by endless dedication, passion and ambition.

Name

Within Portugal, the Sporting Clube de Portugal is often referred to simply as "''Sporting''". Outside Portugal, the most commonly used designation for the club is "''Sporting Lisbon''". In the past, the club has attempted (unsuccessfully) to shed this name, particularly through ex-president Sousa Cintra and his staff, in an effort to become known abroad by its correct name. Despite this, the non-Portuguese media still uses ''Sporting Lisbon'' (or equivalent) due to precedent and to avoid confusion with other clubs such as Sporting Clube de Braga, Sporting Clube da Covilhã, Sporting Clube Farense and Sporting de Gijón, instead of using a more accurate name like ''Sporting Portugal''. UEFA has historically used the designation ''Sporting CP'' in English-language scorelines and match reports on its own site, but as of January 2010 uses the club's full Portuguese name.

Organization

Sporting is a multi-sport club comprising different departments including football, futsal, athletics and handball. The football department is the largest in terms of budget and popularity. The club's other sports departments (which have produced Olympic medallists and World Champions) are managed by specialized professionals and have their own decision-making bodies.

Football

Football is the most popular sport in Portugal and the Portuguese Liga is the most important sports championship, where the top teams earn a place in the most demanding and profitable European football competitions – the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League. The club's football team has won 18 national championship titles, 15 national cups and the former Cup Winners' Cup in 1964. In the late 2000s, Sporting has failed to win a championship but consistently finished 2nd place behind FC Porto and ahead of Benfica.

Sporting has been a major contender in the Portuguese Liga since its inception. The club's football department has developed an increasingly professionalized profile which operates in an increasingly competitive environment in both Portugal and Europe. In 1998, the football department of the club was reorganized into a company and issued stock on the market. Since then, Sporting – Sociedade Desportiva de Futebol, S.A.D., is a publicly traded company which is listed on the Euronext Lisbon stock exchange.

Facilities

Stadium

: Sporting boasts a new stadium, Estádio José Alvalade, built for the UEFA Euro 2004 championship. The stadium was designed by Tomás Taveira and was classified by UEFA as a 5-star stadium, enabling it to host finals of major UEFA events. This stadium – originally projected to hold only 40,000 spectators at any given time – has a capacity of 50,076 and was acoustically engineered as a venue for major concerts. Its official opening was on 6 August 2003 when Sporting played and beat Manchester United 3–1. It also hosted the 2005 UEFA Cup final between Sporting and CSKA Moscow, which CSKA Moscow won 3–1.

The stadium was also one of the stadiums that hosted matches during Euro 2004. There were five games played in Estádio José Alvalade, one of them being the semi-final Portugal 2–1 Netherlands.

Museum

There is a museum within Jose Alvalade stadium, boasting more than 16.000 Cups and Trophies.

Academia Sporting/Puma

Sporting also has a world-class football training facility (''Academia Sporting'' in Alcochete), which accommodated Portugal during the Euro 2004 competition. Famous for its football youth academy system which features a range of well-equipped facilities and is one of the most renowned in the world, Sporting has continuously developed many world class footballers. Some of its most notable home-bred footballers include Rui Patrício, Daniel Carriço, André Santos, André Martins, Bruno Pereirinha and Yannick Djaló in the current squad, Paulo Futre (retired), Luís Figo (retired), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Nani (Manchester United). The long list of valuable players who developed their skills in the youth academy of the club include other noted footballers such as Dani Carvalho (retired), who played for Ajax; former Barcelona, Chelsea, Porto and Internazionale player Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas); former Barcelona and Atlético Madrid player Simão (Besiktas); former Newcastle and Valencia player Hugo Viana (Sporting de Braga); Nuno Valente (former Porto Champions League winner and former Everton player); former Arsenal and Fulham player Luís Boa Morte (West Ham United); and Miguel (Valencia, although he only played for the youth squads before moving to Estrela da Amadora). Sporting's youth academy was considered by Luiz Felipe Scolari (former Portugal national coach) and José Pekerman (former Argentina national coach) as one of the best sports academies in the world. It was also the home training ground for the Portuguese national football team during Euro 2004. A number of European clubs choose the Sporting's ''Academia'' for training in the off-season.

The Sporting Academy has been renamed Sporting/Puma Academy (''Academia Sporting/Puma'') to reflect the sponsorship and naming contract signed by the club and the sports brand Puma in 2006; the contract lasts until 2012.

Sporting's Academy was also the first and only sports academy in Europe to receive the ISO9001:2008 – a quality certification awarded by EIC, a Portuguese anonymous society responsible for this type of reward, which is recognised both locally and internationally. This is a testimony to Sporting's excellence in several different areas, such as: their ability to raise up youngsters not only athletically, but also academically; Sporting responsibility towards ethical and social aspects, as well as their struggle to maintain the club values above everything else; quality of their infrastructures/facilities; their coaching and medical staff skills; scouting area.

Sporting has achieved 39 titles in the category of Juniors, and Schools so far.

Players picked for Portuguese National Team

Generally known as a hot-bed for talented young footballers, Sporting is the only club in the world that has developed two FIFA World Players of the Year through its academy. Luis Figo, who received the award in 2001, started training in the academy at age 13. Cristiano Ronaldo, the winner in 2008, began at age 12. Paulo Futre, another academy graduate, finished runner up for the European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) in 1987. Sporting is also the club that has provided the most players (8 players in 1966; 4 players in 1986; 7 players in 2002; 2 players in 2006 and 3 players in 2010) to the Portuguese national squad in World Cups.

Club records

''See Sporting Clube de Portugal records and statistics.''

Honours

Domestic competitions

Primeira Liga

:* Winners (18): 1940–1941, 1943–1944, 1946–1947, 1947–1948, 1948–1949, 1950–1951, 1951–1952, 1952–1953, 1953–1954, 1957–1958, 1961–1962, 1965–1966, 1969–1970, 1973–1974, 1979–1980, 1981–1982, 1999–2000, 2001–2002 :* ''Runners-up (19):'' 1934–1935, 1938–1939, 1939–1940, 1941–1942, 1942–1943, 1944–1945, 1949–1950, 1959–1960, 1960–1961, 1967–1968, 1970–1971, 1976–1977, 1984–1985, 1994–1995, 1996–1997, 2005–2006, 2006–2007, 2007–2008, 2008–2009

Championship of Portugal/Portuguese Cup

:* Winners (19): 1922-1923, 1933-1934, 1935-1936, 1937-1938, 1940–1941, 1944–1945, 1945–1946, 1947–1948, 1953–1954, 1962–1963, 1970–1971, 1972–1973, 1973–1974, 1977–1978, 1981–1982, 1994–1995, 2001–2002, 2006–2007, 2007–2008 :* ''Runners-up (16):'' 1922, 1924-1925, 1927-1928, 1932-1933, 1934-1935, 1936-1937, 1951–1952, 1954–1955, 1959–1960, 1969–1970, 1971–1972, 1978–1979, 1986–1987, 1993–1994, 1995–1996, 1999–2000

Portuguese League Cup

:* ''Runners-up (2):'' 2007–2008, 2008–2009

Portuguese SuperCup

:* Winners (7): 1982, 1987, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2008 :* ''Runners-up (1):'' 1980

Unofficial national titles

Taça Império (*inauguration of Estádio Nacional) :* Winner (1): 1943–1944

Copa BES :* Winners (1): 2005–2006 :* ''Runners-up (3):'' 2003–2004, 2004–2005, 2007–2008

Regional Competitions

Lisbon Championship :* Winners (19): 1914–1915, 1918–1919, 1921–1922, 1922–1923, 1924–1925, 1927–1928, 1930–1931, 1933–1934, 1934–1935, 1935–1936, 1936–1937, 1937–1938, 1938–1939, 1940–1941, 1941–1942, 1942–1943, 1944–1945, 1946–1947 :* ''Runners-up (10):'' 1907–1908, 1912–1913, 1916–1917, 1917–1918, 1920–1921, 1923–1924, 1925–1926, 1931–1932, 1939–1940, 1945–1946

Taça de Honra AFL (Lisbon Football Association Honour Cup)

:* Winners (29): 1914–1915, 1915–1916, 1916–1917, 1921–22, 1924–25, 1927–28, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1940–41, 1941–42,1943–44, 1944–45 1946–1947, 1948–1949, 1960–1961, 1962–1963, 1964–1965, 1983–1984, 1990–1991

Lisbon Championship of Reserves

:* Winners (42): 1911–1912, 1916–1917, 1922–1923, 1923–1924, 1924–1925, 1925–1926, 1927–1928, 1929–1930, 1931–1932, 1932–1933, 1932–1933, 1933–1934, 1934–1935, 1936–1937, 1937–1938, 1939–1940, 1941–1942, 1943–1944, 1945–1946, 1946–1947, 1947–1948, 1950–1951, 1951–1952, 1952–1953, 1954–1955, 1958–1959, 1959–1960, 1960–1961, 1961–1962, 1966–1967, 1967–1968, 1968–1969, 1972–1973, 1982–1983, 1983–1984, 1984–1985, 1985–1986, 1987–1988, 1989–1990, 1990–1991, 1991–1992, 1993–1994

International competitions

UEFA Cup

:*''Runners-up (1):'' 2004–2005

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

:* Winners (1): 1963–1964

Intertoto Cup

:* Winners (1): 1968 (only group winners, no trophy was awarded, unofficial at the time)

Latin Cup

:*''Runners-up (1):'' 1948–1949

Friendly competitions

Peninsular Cup

:* Winners (1): 2000

Teresa Herrera Trophy

:* Winners (1): 1961

Iberian Trophy (Badajoz, Spain) :* Winners:D (2): 1967, 1970 :* ''Runners-up (1):'' 2005

Trofeo Internacional Montilla-Moriles (Córdoba, Spain) :* Winners (1): 1969

International Tournament in Caracas :* Winners (1): 1981

Tournament of Bulgaria :* Winners (1): 1981

Tournament City San Sebastián :* Winners (1): 1991

Trofeo Ciudad de Vigo

:* Winners (1): 2001 :* ''Runners-up (1):'' 1977

Guadiana Trophy

:* Winners (3): 2005, 2006, 2008

Colombino Trophy

:* Winners (1): 2006

Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu

:* ''Runners-up (1):'' 2008

Fenway Football Challenge

:* ''Runners-up (1):'' 2010

Barclays New York Challenge

:* Winners (1): 2010

Award winners

;African Footballer of the Year The following players have won the African Footballer of the Year whilst playing for Sporting: Emmanuel Amuneke – 1994

;European Golden Boot The following players have won the European Golden Shoe whilst playing for Sporting: Héctor Yazalde (46 goals)  – 1974 Mário Jardel (42 goals)  – 2002

Current squad

As of 1 September 2011. :

Players with Dual Nationality

Fabián Rinaudo Emiliano Insúa Ânderson Polga Evaldo Fabiano Marcelo Boeck Matías Fernández Diego Rubio Atila Turan Tiago Ilori Yannick Djaló Jeffrén Suárez Oguchi Onyewu Luis Aguiar

Squad changes in 2011–12

In

''Summer Transfer Window'' Emiliano Insúa — Liverpool — Free transfer Fabián Rinaudo — Gimnasia — Undisclosed Elias — Atlético Madrid — €8.850.000 Marcelo Boeck — Marítimo — Undisclosed Valeri Bojinov — Parma — €2.600.000 Diego Rubio — Colo Colo — €1.000.000 Santiago Arias — La Equidad — Free transfer Atila Turan — Grenoble — Free transfer Ricky van Wolfswinkel — FC Utrecht — €5.400.000 Stijn Schaars — AZ Alkmaar — €850.000 Alberto Rodríguez — Sporting de Braga — Free transfer André Carrillo — Alianza Lima — €1.283.950 André Martins — Pinhalnovense — Loan return Bruno Pereirinha — Kavala — Loan return Diego Capel — Sevilla — €3.500.000 Jeffrén Suárez — Barcelona — €3.750.000 Oguchi Onyewu — AC Milan — Free transfer Luis Aguiar — Dynamo Moscow — Free transfer

Out

''Main squad — Summer Transfer Market'' Cristiano de Oliveira — Beira-Mar — End of contract Matheus Coelho — Al-Qadisiyah — End of contract Tales de Souza — Internacional — Loan return Timo Hildebrand — ? — End of contract Simon Vukčević — Blackburn Rovers — Undisclosed Abel Ferreira — ? — End of contract Afonso Taira — Córdoba — End of contract Carlos Saleiro — Servette — Contract termination Maniche — ? — Contract termination Marco Caneira — Videoton — Contract termination Nuno André Coelho — Sporting de Braga — Installment deduction for João Pereira and Evaldo Fabiano transfers Pedro Mendes — Vitória de Guimarães — Contract termination Alberto Zapater — Lokomotiv Moskva — Undisclosed Yannick Djalo — Nice — €4.500.000 Helder Postiga — Real Zaragoza — €1.000.000 (50% paid to Porto who owned 50% of the player's pass.

''Previously on loan players'' Milan Purović — OFK Beograd — Contract termination Rui Fonte — Espanyol — End of contract Vladimir Stojković — Partizan — Contract termination

''Yet to be solved'' Pedro Silva Ricardo Batista - Serving 2 year ban for alleged doping by Liga Zon Sagres Disciplinary Commission.

Out on loan

Clubs Officials

As of May 22, 2011.

Directive Board

President: Luiz Godinho Lopes

Vice-Presidents: Aureliano Oliveira Neves, Carlos Barbosa, José Filipe Nobre Guedes, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão

Vowel: Ana Margarida Ulrich, Duarte Nuno Galhardas, João Pedro Varandas, Pedro Cunha Ferreira, Ricardo Henrique Tomás, Rui Paulo Figueiredo

General Assembly

President: Eduardo Barroso Silva

Vice-President: Daniel Branco Sampaio

Secretaries: João Ferreira Sampaio, Rui Oliveira Morgado, Luís Carrilho Natário

Fiscal and Disciplinary Council

President: João Mello Franco

Vice-President: José Maria Ricciardi

Vowels: João Pedro Silva, Fernando Ferreira Pinto, Miguel Frasquilho, Nuno Moraes Bastos, Sikander Abdul Sattar

Substitutes: João Mota Lopes, Rafael Lucas Pereira

Sporting – Sociedade Desportiva de Futebol, S.A.D.

''Directive Board''

President: Luiz Godinho Lopes

Administrators: José Filipe Nobre Guedes, Luís Duque

''Fiscal Council''

President: José Melo Franco

Vowels: José Maria Ricciardi, Paulo Galvão André, Jorge Salema de Melo (Substitute)

''General Assembly''

President: Ângelo Correia

Vice-President: Maria de Fátima Abrantes Mendes

Secretary: Marcelo Rebanda

''Others''

Chartered Accountants Society: KPMG & Associados, SROC, S.A.

Society Secretaries: Patrícia Silva Lopes, Hugo Serra de Moura (Substitute)

Shareholders' Committee: Ângelo Correia, José Melo Franco, Filipe Soares Franco

Coaching and Medical Staff

First team staff

Manager: Domingos Paciência

Assistant managers: Miguel Cardoso

Strength & conditioning coach: Rui Santos

Goalkeeping coach: Jorge Vital

Match Observer Scout: Sérgio Agostinho

Kitman: Paulinho (Paulo Gama)

General Manager: Carlos Freitas

Director of Football: Luís Duque

Director of communication: Irene Palma

PR director: Maurício do Vale

Academy coaching staff

Director of youth football: Luís Duque

Co-Director of youth football: Aurélio Pereira

Director of scouting: Paulo Cardoso

Under 19s director: Mário Lino

Under 19s head coach: Telmo Costa

Under 17s director: Jorge Cardoso

Under 17s head coach: Luís Dias

Under 16s delegate: Atanásio

Under 16s head coach: Nuno Lourenço

Under 15s director: Alberto Fernandes

Under 15s head coach: Luís Gonçalves

Under 15s directors: Luís Corado, José Costa

Under 14s head coaches: Pedro Gonçalves, Tiago Capaz

Under 13s head coach: Hugo Cruz

Under 12s head coach: José Gonçalves

Under 11s head coach: Vasco Noronha

Under 10s head coach: João Plantier

Under 9s head coach: Daniel Gonçalves

Medical staff

Club doctor: Dr. Gomes Pereira

Assistant club doctors: Dr. Virgílio Abreu, Dr. Frederico Varandas

Nurse: Carlos Mota

Masseur: Mário André

Others

Conselho Leonino

President: Eduardo Almeida Catroga

Grupo Stromp

President: Carlos Graça de Oliveira

Vowels: Augusto Calixto Pires, Vítor Salgado

Os Cinquentenários

President: Carlos Araújo Sequeira

Vice-Presidents: Mário Casquilo, Maria de Lourdes Borge de Castro

Others: Carlos Canário, Isabel Batalha Ribeiro

Leões de Portugal

President: Raúl Baptista Gomes

Vice-Presidents: Pedro Rascão, Helena Dias Ferreira, Graça Nunes de Carvalho

Treasurer: Rui Ascenção

1st secretary: Raúl Magalhães Faria

2nd secretary: João Roque Martins

Notable former players

For a list of notable former and present players see List of Sporting Clube de Portugal players.

Former coaches

''For details on former coaches, see List of Sporting Clube de Portugal managers.''

Other sports

Sporting fields teams and supports athletes in many events other than football, among them athletics (members include world-class athlete Carlos Lopes, Olympic Marathon Gold Medal in Los Angeles 84, Rui Silva, Naide Gomes and Francis Obikwelu), swimming, handball, table tennis, beach soccer, and futsal. Sporting's athletics department and the futsal and handball team are especially notable.

Sporting Clube de Portugal's active sports departments besides the football department include:

Archery

Various types, adding up, amounts to more than 50 national titles and 2 European titles

Athletics

There are various titles in this sport but in the major ones, Sporting has almost 300 national titles and more than 30 European titles (1 time European champion)

Beach Soccer

1 Circuito Nacional de Futebol de Praia title.

Billiards

36 individual national titles

15 doubles national titles

2 individual Cups of Portugal

4 doubles Cups of Portugal

+ 100 titles in various types of billiards (Feminine, etc.)

Boxing

Sporting has more than 100 national titles at various weights.

Chess

14 national titles and more than 20 in other variances of chess.

Full Contact Kickboxing

14 national titles

1 Intercontinenatal Championship

3 European Champion

1 World Champion

Futsal

10 League titles

3 Cups of Portugal

4 Portuguese Super Cups

Gymnastics

Sporting has more than 150 national titles, in the various types of gymnastics and 11 European titles.

Handball

1 European EHF Challenge Cup

19 times National Champions: 2 Elite Division titles and 17 League titles

12 Cups of Portugal

2 Portuguese Super Cups

Shooting

18 individual titles

12 team titles

+ 50 other variances titles

Superleague Formula

Sporting CP has a team in the Superleague Formula race car series where football teams lend their name to cars. The team made its debut in the 2009 season with driver Pedro Petiz. The team is operated by former Formula One team Zakspeed. Sporting has 3 podiums: 2 by Pedro Petiz, and 1 by Andy Soucek.

Swimming

There are various competitions, in general Sporting has more than 150 national titles and 3 European titles

Table tennis

50+ League titles (11 in a row record)

3 Portuguese/Spanish vs American Competition

3 times Bronze Medal in European Championships

Taekwondo

In taekwondo, Sporting has performed almost like Boxing but adding up, Sporting has more than 50 national titles.

Weight-lifting

16 national titles

Presidents

Full list

Alfredo Augusto das Neves Holtreman (Visconde de Alvalade) (1906–10)

Luís Caetano Pereira (1910)

José Holtreman Roquette (José Alvalade) (1910–12)

Luís Caetano Pereira (1912–13)

José da Mota Marques (1913–14)

Daniel Queirós dos Santos (1914–18)

Mário de Lemos Pistacchini (1918)

António Nunes Soares Júnior (1918)

Mário de Lemos Pistacchini (1918–21)

António Nunes Soares Júnior (1921)

Manuel Garcia Carabe (1921–22)

Júlio Barreiros Cardoso de Araújo (1922–23)

Pedro Sanches Navarro (1923–24)

Júlio Barreiros Cardoso de Araújo (1924–25)

José Salazar Carreira (1925–26)

Pedro Sanches Navarro (1926–27)

António Nunes Soares Júnior (1927–28)

Joaquim Guerreiro de Oliveira Duarte (1928–29)

Eduardo Mário Costa (1929)

Álvaro José de Sousa (1929–31)

Artur Silva (1931)

Álvaro Luís Retamoza Dias (1932)

Joaquim Guerreiro de Oliveira Duarte (1932–42)

Augusto Amado de Aguilar (1942–43)

Prof. Dr. Diogo Alves Furtado (1943)

Alberto da Cunha e Silva (1943–44)

Augusto Fernando Barreira de Campos (1944–46)

António José Ribeiro Ferreira (1946–53)

Carlos Cecílio Nunes Góis Mota (1953–57)

Francisco de Cazal-Ribeiro (1957–58)

Guilherme Braga Brás Medeiros (1958–61)

Gaudêncio L. da Silva Costa (1961–62)

Commodore Joel Azevedo da Silva Pascoal (1962–63)

General Horácio de Sá Viana Rebelo (1963–64)

General Martiniano A. Piarra Homem de Figueiredo (1964–65)

Guilherme Braga Brás Medeiros (1965–73)

Dr. Orlando Valadão Chagas (1973)

Manuel Henrique Nazareth (1973)

João António dos Anjos Rocha (1973–86)

Amado de Freitas (1986–88)

Jorge Manuel Alegre Gonçalves (1988–89)

José de Sousa Cintra (1989–95)

Pedro Miguel Santana Lopes (1995–96)

José Alfredo Parreira Holtreman Roquette (1996-00)

António Augusto Serra Campos Dias da Cunha (2000–05)

Filipe Soares Franco (2005–09)

José Eduardo Bettencourt (2009–11)

Luís Godinho Lopes (born 2011)

Supporters

As one of the most popular teams in Portugal, Sporting Clube de Portugal is one of the Portuguese clubs with the most "house clubs" (i.e. houses that represent the club in a particular region in Portugal or outside the country). Sporting has more than 200 official houses and more than 100,000 club members. The Club have a fan Base in Algarve, Aveiro, Azores, Coimbra, Leiria, Lisbon, Madeira, Trás-os-Montes, Setúbal and Viseu regions. It´s the second clube with more fans in Portugal.

Organised fan groups:

Juventude Leonina – The biggest and oldest supporters group in Portugal founded by the sons of a former Sporting president in 1976, having more than 3,000 members.

Directivo Ultras XXI – Formed by a former leader of Juve Leo over an internal problem that has since been resolved. One of the biggest supporters group in Portugal with almost 2,000 members.

Torcida Verde – Second oldest supporters group of Sporting, formed in 1984, Torcida Verde is very well known because of their demonstrations against alleged corruption in Portuguese football and by supporting the less visible sports of Sporting.

References

External links

Official website:

Official club website

* Sporting CP on Facebook

* Sporting CP on YouTube

Official supporters websites:

Ultras Juventude Leonina

Directivo Ultras XXI

Torcida Verde

Other unofficial & fans websites:

Sporting Apoio Supporters site

Detailed up-to-date Sporting news

Portal Sporting

Fórum SCP – Sporting community Independent internet community of Sporting Lisbon

Wiki Sporting Everything you always wanted to know about Sporting

Portuguesefutebol.com Portuguese football

PSNL Soccer Get Current Info on Sporting

Tudo sobre Sporting

Fan site

Sporting Clube de Portugal Database

Sporting Poland

Sporting Korea

Category:Companies listed on the Euronext exchanges Category:Association football clubs established in 1906 Category:Multi-sport clubs Category:Portuguese football clubs Category:Publicly traded sports companies Category:Sport in Lisbon Category:Sports clubs established in 1906 Category:Superleague Formula clubs Category:1906 establishments in Portugal

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Coordinates	3°8′51″N101°41′36″N
background	solo_singer
birth name	Freda Josephine McDonald
born	June 03, 1906St. Louis, Missouri, United States
died	April 12, 1975Paris, France
instrument	Vocals
genre	CabaretMusic hallFrench popFrench jazz
occupation	Dancer, Singer, Actress
years active	1921–1975
label	Columbia, Mercury, RCA Victor
website	www.cmgww.com/stars/baker }}

Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess".

Baker was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture, to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (she was offered the unofficial leadership of the movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, but turned it down), for assisting the French Resistance during World War II, and for being the first American-born woman to receive the French military honor, the Croix de guerre.

Early life

Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Carrie McDonald. Her estate identifies vaudeville drummer Eddie Carson as her natural father. A biography written by her foster son Jean-Claude Baker stated:

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Her mother, Carrie, was adopted in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1886 by Richard and Elvira McDonald, both of whom were former slaves of African and Native American descent.

When Baker was eight she was sent to work for a white woman who abused her, burning Baker's hands when she put too much soap in the laundry. She later went to work for another woman.

Baker dropped out of school at the age of 12 and lived as a street child in the slums of St. Louis, sleeping in cardboard shelters and scavenging for food in garbage cans. Her street-corner dancing attracted attention and she was recruited for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville show at 15. She then headed to New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, performing at the Plantation Club and in the chorus of the popular Broadway revues ''Shuffle Along'' (1921) with Adelaide Hall and ''The Chocolate Dandies'' (1924). She performed as the last dancer in a chorus line, a position in which the dancer traditionally performed in a comic manner, as if she was unable to remember the dance, until the encore, at which point she would not only perform it correctly, but with additional complexity. Baker was then billed as "the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville."

On October 2, 1925, she opened in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where she became an instant success for her erotic dancing and for appearing practically nude on stage. After a successful tour of Europe, she reneged on her contract and returned to France to star at the Folies Bergères, setting the standard for her future acts. She performed the ''Danse sauvage'', wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas.

Baker's success coincided (1925) with the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs, which gave birth to the term "Art Deco", and also with a renewal of interest in ethnic forms of art, including African. Baker represented one aspect of this fashion.

In later shows in Paris she was often accompanied on stage by her pet cheetah, Chiquita, who was adorned with a diamond collar. The cheetah frequently escaped into the orchestra pit, where it terrorized the musicians, adding another element of excitement to the show.

Rise to fame

After a short while she was the most successful American entertainer working in France. Ernest Hemingway called her "… the most sensational woman anyone ever saw." In addition to being a musical star, Baker also starred in three films which found success only in Europe: the silent film ''Siren of the Tropics'' (1927), ''Zouzou'' (1934) and ''Princesse Tam Tam'' (1935). She also starred in ''Fausse Alerte'' (English title: ''The French Way'') in 1940.

At this time she also scored her most successful song, "J'ai deux amours" (1931) and became a muse for contemporary authors, painters, designers, and sculptors including Langston Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, and Christian Dior.

Under the management of Giuseppe Pepito Abatino—a Sicilian former stonemason who passed himself off as a count—Baker's stage and public persona, as well as her singing voice, went through a significant transformation. In 1934 she took the lead in a revival of Jacques Offenbach's 1875 opera ''La créole'' at the Théâtre Marigny on the Champs-Élysées of Paris, which premiered in December of that year for a six month run. In preparation for her performances she went through months of training with a vocal coach.

In the words of Shirley Bassey, who has cited Baker as her primary influence, "… she went from a 'petite danseuse sauvage' with a decent voice to 'la grande diva magnifique' … I swear in all my life I have never seen, and probably never shall see again, such a spectacular singer and performer."

Despite her popularity in France, she never obtained the same reputation in America. Upon a visit to the United States in 1935-1936, her performances received poor opening reviews for her starring role in the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' and she was replaced by Gypsy Rose Lee later in the run.

Baker returned to Paris in 1937, married Frenchman Jean Lion, and became a French citizen.

Her affection for France was so great that when World War II broke out, she volunteered to spy for her adopted country. Baker was so well known and popular with the French that even the Nazis, who occupied France during World War II, were hesitant to cause her harm. Baker's agent's older brother approached her about working for the French government as an "honorable correspondent" -- if she happened to hear any gossip at parties that might be of use to her adopted country, she could report it. Baker immediately agreed, since she was against the Nazi stand on race not only because she was black but because her husband was Jewish. Her café society fame enabled her to rub shoulders with those in-the-know, from high-ranking Japanese officials to Italian bureaucrats, and report back what she heard. She was able to do things such as attend parties at the Italian embassy without any suspicion falling on her and gather information that turned out to be useful. She also helped in the war effort in other ways, such as by sending Christmas presents to French soldiers.

When the Germans invaded France, Baker left Paris and went to the Château des Milandes, her home in the south of France, where she had Belgian refugees living with her and others who were eager to help the Free French effort led by Charles de Gaulle from England. As an entertainer, Baker had an excuse for moving around Europe, visiting neutral nations like Portugal, and returning to France. Baker assisted the French Resistance by smuggling secrets written in invisible ink on her sheet music.

She helped mount a production in Marseille on the south coast of France to give herself and her like-minded friends a reason for being there. She helped quite a lot of people who were in danger from the Nazis get visas and passports to leave France. Later in 1941, she and her entourage went to the French colonies in North Africa; the stated reason was Baker's health (since she really was recovering from another case of pneumonia) but the real reason was to continue helping the Resistance. From a base in Morocco, she made tours of Spain and pinned notes with the information she gathered inside her underwear (counting on her celebrity to avoid a strip search) and made friends with the Pasha of Marrakesh, whose support helped her through a miscarriage (the last of several) and emergency hysterectomy she had to go through in 1942. Despite the state of medicine in that time and place, she recovered, and started touring to entertain Allied soldiers in North Africa. She even persuaded Egypt's King Farouk to make a public appearance at one of her concerts, a subtle indication of which side his officially neutral country leaned toward. Later, she would perform at Buchenwald for the liberated inmates who were too frail to be moved.

After the war, for her underground activity, Baker received the Croix de guerre, the Rosette de la Résistance, and was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.

In January 1966, she was invited by Fidel Castro to perform at the Teatro Musical de La Habana in Havana, Cuba. Her spectacular show in April of that year led to record breaking attendance. In 1973, Baker opened at Carnegie Hall to a standing ovation. In 1974, she appeared in a Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium.

Civil rights activism

Although based in France, Baker supported the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s. She protested in her own way against racism, adopting 12 multi-ethnic orphans, who she called the "Rainbow Tribe." They were: Akio (Korean son), Jeannot, or Janot (Japanese son), Luis (Colombian son), Jari (Finnish son), Jean-Claude (French son), Moïse (Israeli son), Brahim (Algerian son), Marianne (French daughter), Koffi (Ivorian son), Mara (Venezuelan son), Noël (French son), and Stellina (Moroccan daughter). For some time she lived with all of her children and an enormous staff in a castle, Château de Milandes, in Dordogne, France. Baker bore only one child, stillborn in 1941, an incident that precipitated an emergency hysterectomy.

She refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States. Her insistence on mixed audiences helped to integrate shows in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 1951, Baker made charges of racism against Sherman Billingsley's Stork Club in New York, where she alleged that she'd been refused service. Actress Grace Kelly, who was at the club at the time, rushed over to Baker, took her by the arm and stormed out with her entire party, vowing never to return (and she never did). However, during his work on the ''Stork Club'' book, author and ''New York Times'' reporter Ralph Blumenthal was contacted by Jean-Claude Baker, one of Josephine Baker's sons. Having read a Blumenthal-written story about Leonard Bernstein's FBI file, he indicated that he had read his mother's FBI file and using comparison of the file to the tapes, said he thought the Stork Club incident was overblown. The two women became close friends after the incident. Testament to this was made evident when Baker was near bankruptcy and was offered a villa and financial assistance by Kelly (who by then was princess consort of Rainier III of Monaco).

Baker also worked with the NAACP. In 1963, she spoke at the March on Washington at the side of Martin Luther King, Jr. Wearing her Free French uniform emblazoned with her medal of the Légion d'honneur, she was the only woman to speak at the rally. After King's assassination, his widow Coretta Scott King approached Baker in Holland to ask if she would take her husband's place as leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. After many days of thinking it over, Baker declined, saying her children were "… too young to lose their mother."

Personal life

There is evidence to suggest that she was bisexual. Her son Jean-Claude Baker and co-author Chris Chase state in ''Josephine: The Hungry Heart'' that Baker was involved in numerous lesbian affairs, both while she was single and married, and mention six of her female lovers by name. Clara Smith, Evelyn Sheppard, Bessie Allison, Ada "Bricktop" Smith, and Mildred Smallwood were all African-American women she met while touring on the black performing circuit early in her career. She was also involved with the writer Colette, and possibly with Caroline Dudley Reagan, who ran the Paris extravaganza ''La Revue Nègre''.

Not mentioned, but confirmed since, was her affair with Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Baker wrote that affairs with women were not uncommon with Josephine throughout her lifetime.

Jean-Claude Baker interviewed over 2,000 people while writing his book. He was quoted in one interview as saying,

"She was what today you would call bisexual, and I will tell you why. Forget that I am her son, I am also a historian. You have to put her back into the context of the time in which she lived. In those days, Chorus Girls were abused by the white or black producers and by the leading men if he liked girls. But they could not sleep together because there were not enough hotels to accommodate black people. So they would all stay together, and the girls would develop lady lover friendships, do you understand my English? But wait wait...If one of the girls by preference was gay, she'd be called a bull dyke by the whole cast. So you see, discrimination is everywhere."

Death

On April 8, 1975, Baker starred in a retrospective revue at the Bobino in Paris—''Joséphine à Bobino 1975'', celebrating her 50 years in show business. The revue, financed by Prince Rainier, Princess Grace, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, opened to rave reviews. Demand for seating was such that fold-out chairs had to be added to accommodate spectators. The opening-night audience included Sophia Loren, Mick Jagger, Shirley Bassey, Diana Ross and Liza Minnelli.

Four days later, Baker was found lying peacefully in her bed surrounded by newspapers with glowing reviews of her performance. She was in a coma after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. She was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she died at age 68 on April 12, 1975. Her funeral was held at L'Église de la Madeleine. The first American woman to receive full French military honors at her funeral, Josephine Baker locked up the streets of Paris one last time. She was interred at the ''Cimetière de Monaco'' in Monte Carlo.

Legacy

"Place Joséphine Baker" in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris was named in her honor. She has also been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and the Hall of Famous Missourians. Her name has also been incorporated at Paris Plage, a man-made beach along the river Seine "Piscine Joséphine Baker".

Two of Baker's sons, Jean-Claude and Jarry (Jari), grew up to go into business together, running the restaurant Chez Josephine on Theatre Row, 42nd Street, New York, which celebrates Baker's life and works.

Baker's iconic performance style has also been influential. Diana Ross, a long-time admirer of Baker, performed in Bob Mackie-designed outfits similar to Baker's and reenacted similar poses of the latter in many photo sessions. During the 1980s, Ross moved to Paris for one year, to research Baker's life for a feature film project Ross hoped to mount. Whitney Houston pays tribute to Baker in her "I'm Your Baby Tonight" music video to represent the Harlem Renaissance. Baker's banana skirt, in particular, has made numerous media appearances. A dancer wore one in Sir-Mix-A-Lot's 1991 video for "Baby Got Back".

In 2009, a musical based on Baker's war experiences was headed for Broadway. The musical has a book by Ellen Weston and Mark Hampton, music by Steve Dorff and lyrics by John Bettis. At the time, Deborah Cox was being mentioned as a possibility for the title role, but—as of 2010—the musical has not yet appeared on Broadway.

Portrayals

In 2006, Jérôme Savary produced a musical, "A La Recherche de Josephine - New Orleans for Ever" (Looking for Josephine). The story revolved around the history of jazz and Baker's career.

In 1991, Baker's life story, ''The Josephine Baker Story'', was broadcast on HBO. Lynn Whitfield portrayed Baker, and won an Emmy Award for her performance.

Josephine Baker appears in her role as a member of the French Resistance in Johannes Mario Simmel's 1960 novel, ''"Es Muss Nicht Immer Kaviar Sein" (On a pas toujours du caviar)''.

The 2004 erotic novel ''Scandalous'' by British author Angela Campion uses Baker as its heroine and is inspired by Baker's sexual exploits and later adventures in the French Resistance. In the novel, Baker, working with a fictional black Canadian lover named Drummer Thompson, foils a plot by French fascists in 1936 Paris.

Her influence upon and assistance with the careers of husband and wife dancers Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder are discussed and illustrated in rare footage in the 2005 Linda Atkinson/Nick Doob documentary, ''Carmen and Geoffrey''.

Beyoncé Knowles has portrayed Baker on various accounts throughout her career. During the 2006 Fashion Rocks show, Knowles performed "Dejá Vu" in a revised version of the ''Danse banane'' costume. In Knowles's video for "Naughty Girl", she is seen dancing in a huge champagne glass á La Baker. In ''I Am... Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas'', Beyonce lists Baker as an influence of a section of her live show.

In the 1997 animated film ''Anastasia'', Baker appears with her cheetah during the musical number "Paris Holds the Key (to Your Heart)". A character clearly based upon Baker (topless, wearing the famous 'banana skirt') also appears in the opening sequence of the 2003 animated film ''Les Triplettes de Belleville''.

A German submariner mimics Josephine Baker's ''Danse banane'' in the film ''Das Boot''.

In 2010, Keri Hilson portrayed Josephine Baker in her single "Pretty Girl Rock".

Artist Hassan Musa portrayed Josephine Baker in a series of paintings entitled "Who needs Bananas?"

In 2011, Sonia Rolland portrayed Josephine Baker in the film ''Midnight in Paris''.

Filmography

''La Sirène des tropiques'' (1927) Aka ''Siren of the Tropics''

''Zouzou'' (1934)

''Princesse Tam Tam'' (1935) Aka ''Princess Tam-Tam''

''Fausse alerte'' (1940) Aka ''The French Way''

''Moulin Rouge'' (1941)

''An jedem Finger zehn'' (1954) Aka ''Ten on Every Finger''

''Carosello del varietà'' (1955)

''Grüsse aus Zürich'' (1963, ZDF TV)

References

Further reading

The Josephine Baker collection, 1926–2001 at Stanford University Libraries

Baker, J. C. & Chase, C. (1993). ''Josephine: The Hungry Heart''. New York: Random House.

Bonini, Emmanuel (2000). ''La veritable Josephine Baker''. Paris: Pigmalean Gerard Watelet.

Kraut, Anthea, ''Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham'', ''Theatre Journal 55'' (2003): 433–50.

Jules-Rosette, Bennetta (2006). "Josephine Baker in Art and Life: The Icon and the Image." Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Schroeder, Alan, ''Ragtime Tumpie'' (Little, Brown, 1989), an award-winning children's picture book about Baker's childhood in St. Louis and her dream of becoming a dancer.

Schroeder, Alan, ''Josephine Baker'' (Chelsea House, 1990), a young-adult biography.

Theile, Merlind. "Adopting the World: Josephine Baker's Rainbow Tribe" ''Spiegel Online International'', October 2, 2009.

External links

Josephine Baker Official website

Les Milandes- Josephine Baker's castle in France

(self) (character)

''A la recherche de Joséphine'' official site

A Josephine Baker photo gallery

Photographs of Josephine Baker

The electric body: Nancy Cunard sees Josephine Baker (2003) -- review essay of dance style and contemporary critics

Category:African American actors Category:African American dancers Category:African American singers Category:Burlesque performers Category:American buskers Category:American erotic dancers Category:American expatriates in France Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:Bisexual actors Category:Bisexual dancers Category:Burials in Monaco Category:Cabaret singers Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Category:Recipients of the Médaille de la Résistance Category:Deaths from cerebral hemorrhage Category:French erotic dancers Category:French female singers Category:French film actors Category:French people of American descent Category:French Resistance members Category:Actors from Illinois Category:LGBT African Americans Category:LGBT Christians Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:Musicians from Illinois Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from East St. Louis, Illinois Category:RCA Records artists Category:Traditional pop musicians Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Women in World War II Category:1906 births Category:1975 deaths

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