Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from

Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality ('' concelho'') and economic capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67, ...

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel. They are the most successful football team from the Azores Islands as the only team from the archipelago to compete in a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

competition, having qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup and the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

. To date, Santa Clara is the only club from the Azores islands to have competed in the top division of the

Portuguese Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

, being thus the westernmost top-flight club in Europe. They compete in the Primeira Liga, the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

first division football league. Santa Clara's kit manufacturer is Kelme and their main sponsor is Santander. Main rivals are

CD Operário Clube Operário Desportivo ''(known as CD Operário, Operário dos Açores or just Operário),'' is a Portuguese football club based in Lagoa in the island of São Miguel in the Azores. Background CD Operário currently plays in the Segunda ...

from Lagoa. Other major rivals are C.S. Marítimo and C.D. Nacional, from the island of Madeira.

History

Santa Clara reached the Primeira Liga for the first time by coming third in the 1998–99 Liga de Honra, but were instantly relegated back in last place. The team bounced back by winning the 2000–01 Segunda Liga under Manuel Fernandes and later

Carlos Manuel Carlos Manuel Correia dos Santos (; born 15 January 1958), known as Carlos Manuel, is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a manager. Best known for his spell at Benfica, for which he appeared i ...

. Fernandes, who left for

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

in January 2001, returned in October. Despite coming 14th in their first top-flight season, Santa Clara were chosen by

to play in the

2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Málaga, Fulham, and Stuttgart. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. First round First leg ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- -- ...

when

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal. Vitória de Guimarães have finished t ...

withdrew, needing the summer to renovate their Estádio D. Afonso Henriques for

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

. They beat Armenia's

Shirak FC Football Club Shirak ( hy, Շիրակ Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ), commonly known as Shirak, is an Armenian professional sports club based in Gyumri. Shirak is known for its professional football team which is one of the oldest football ...

5–3 on aggregate in the first round before falling 9–2 to Czechs

FK Teplice FK Teplice is a Czech football club based in the city of Teplice. The club currently plays in the Czech First League. The club was founded after World War II in 1945. The club advanced to the Czechoslovak First League in just three years after ...

in the second. Santa Clara were relegated in 2003, and then spent the next 15 years in the second tier, with the lowest point being 2014–15 when the club came 19th, saving themselves from relegation with three games remaining. In 2018, Carlos Pinto's Santa Clara team ended their exile by finishing second to C.D. Nacional, and he subsequently left. His successor João Henriques led Santa Clara to two consecutive 10th-placed finishes, their best results for position and points (43) in their history. He left in July 2020, having secured a third consecutive top-flight season for the first time in club history. Under his successor Daniel Ramos in 2020–21, the club finished a best-ever sixth to qualify for the inaugural

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

Stadium

Santa Clara plays in the Estádio de São Miguel in

, the largest city in the Azores. Due to mandatory

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

for all visitors to the Azores in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Santa Clara concluded the season playing home games in Oeiras near Lisbon.

Honours

* Segunda Liga ** Winners (1): 2000–01 *

Portuguese Second Division Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

** Winners (1): 1997–98

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

International players

* Klevis Dalipi * Figueiredo *

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...

* Mauro *

Francisco Zuela Francisco Zuela (born 3 August 1983) is a former Angolan footballer. Club career Zuela started his career in 2002 with the Portuguese club Sertanense F.C. In Portugal, he also represented Académica de Coimbra and C.D. Santa Clara. In 2005, ...

* José Vidigal * Leandro Machado * Pedro Pacheco * Hernâni Borges *

Mateus Lopes Mateus Henrique Fonseca Lopes (born 7 December 1975, in São Vicente), known simply as Mateus, is a Cape Verdean footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types ...

Steven Pereira Steven Pereira (born 13 April 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Sumgayit. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Cape Verde national football team. He formerly played for PEC Zwolle in the Dutch Eredivisie, MV ...

Stopira Ianique dos Santos Tavares (born 20 May 1988), commonly known as Stopira, is a Cape Verdean professional Association football, footballer who plays for Hungarian club Fehérvár FC as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left-back. Clu ...

Valter Borges Valter Gazalanas Borges (born 9 November 1988) is a Cape Verdean international association football, footballer who plays professionally as a midfielder. Career Borges began his career for Batuque FC, Batuque in the Cape Verde, before spending two ...

Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a ...

* António Duarte * Hugo Évora * Denis Pineda *

Malick Evouna Malick Evouna (born 28 November 1992) is a Gabonese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Egyptian club Aswan SC Career After scoring twelve goals in 17 matches in 2012–13 season for CF Mounana, Evouna joined Moroccan side Wy ...

* Mamadu Candé * Amido Baldé * Édson * István Vincze *

Shahriyar Moghanlou Shahriyar Moghanlou ( fa, شهريار مغانلو; born 21 December 1994) is an Iranian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Centre-forward, centre-forward for Persian Gulf Pro League club ...

Osama Rashid Osama Jabbar Shafeeq Rashid ( ar, أسامة رشيد; born 17 January 1992) is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Vizela and the Iraq national team. Club career Youth career Born in Kirkuk, Iraq, ...

Idrissa Keita Idrissa Keita (born 10 April 1977) is an Ivorian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He also held Spanish nationality law, Spanish citizenship. Club career Keita was born in Abidjan. After starring fo ...

* Hidemasa Morita * Muaid Ellafi * Mohamed Al-Gadi *

Hamdou Elhouni Hamdou Mohamed Elhouni ( ar, حمدو محمد الهوني, born 2 February 1994) is a Libyan professional footballer who plays for Tunisian club Espérance de Tunis and the Libya national team as a left winger. He has previously played for ...

* Faysal El Idrissi *

Reginaldo Faife Reginaldo Artur Faife (born 14 June 1990), known simply as Reginaldo, is a Mozambican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Kategoria Superiore club Kastrioti. Club career Luftëtari Gjirokastër On 1 September 2016, Reginaldo j ...

Garba Lawal Garba Lawal (born 22 May 1974) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a left midfielder. In 2014 he became general manager at Kaduna United and left his role in 2015. He is with the technical department of the Nigeria Footba ...

* Haruna Doda * Abdiel Arroyo * Alfredo Stephens *

Pauleta Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes (born 28 April 1973), known as Pauleta (), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. During 18 years as a senior he never played in the Primeira Liga, having spent 12 of those c ...

Marco Paiva Marco Paulo Paiva Rocha (born 7 February 1973), known as Paiva, is a Portuguese retired football defensive midfielder and manager. Club career Born in Funchal, Madeira, Paiva came through the ranks of his hometown team C.S. Marítimo. He totalled ...

* André Pinto * Pedro Martins *

Jorge Ribeiro Jorge Miguel de Oliveira Ribeiro (born 9 November 1981) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer. Mainly a left-back, he could also play as a wing-back or midfielder. He totalled 118 Primeira Liga games and 15 goals, for six clubs incl ...

Ukra The United Kingdom Rocketry Association (UKRA) is an enabling body set up to promote and represent high power, medium power and model rocketry in the United Kingdom for educational, recreational and amateur research purposes."Rocket science and sp ...

* Jorge Silva * José Leal * António Pacheco *

Martin Chrien Martin Chrien (; born 8 September 1995) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays for MFK Ružomberok as a midfielder. Club career Born in Banská Bystrica, Chrien made his professional debut for the local hegemon, Dukla Banská Bystrica aga ...

Mikel Villanueva Mikel Villanueva Álvarez (born 14 April 1993) is a Venezuelan footballer who plays as a central defender for Portuguese club Vitória Guimarães and the Venezuela national team. He spent several years at Málaga, where he made 15 La Liga appea ...

League and cup history

European record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Clara Football clubs in Portugal Football clubs in the Azores Association football clubs established in 1927 1927 establishments in Portugal Sport in Ponta Delgada Football clubs in São Miguel Island Liga Portugal 2 clubs