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| Full name | Sporting Clube de Braga | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Os Arcebispos (The Archbishops) Os Arsenalistas (The Arsenalists) Arsenal do Minho (Minho's Arsenal) Minhotos (Those from Minho) Os Guerreiros do Minho (The Minho Warriors) Braguistas (supporters) | |||
| Founded | 19 January 1921 | |||
| Ground | Estádio Municipal de Braga | |||
| Capacity | 30,360 | |||
| Owner | Qatar Sports Investments (29.6%) Sundown Investments Limited (17.04%) | |||
| President | António Salvador | |||
| Head coach | Carlos Carvalhal | |||
| League | Primeira Liga | |||
| 2023–24 | Primeira Liga, 4th of 18 | |||
| Website | http://www.scbraga.pt | |||
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Sporting Clube de Braga (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈspɔɾtĩ ˈkluβɨ ðɨ ˈβɾaɣɐ]) (Euronext Lisbon: SCB ), 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.[1][2]
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.[3] 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.
- ^ SAPO. "SC Braga, o clube "que não conhece impossíveis", inaugura pavilhão". SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ "Sporting Clube de Braga". Sporting Clube de Braga (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 7 December 2023.
- ^ Hopkins, Oliver (27 September 2022). "Braga's Push to Break the Big Three Hegemony in Portugal". The Analyst. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2022.