José Alfredo Holtreman Roquette (10 October 1885 – 19 October 1918), known as José Alvalade (), was one of the founders and first club member of multisport club

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

(Sporting CP or Sporting Lisbon) in the early twentieth century, founded along with brothers Stromp (

Francisco Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco (name), Paco". Francis of Assisi, San Francisco de A ...

and António), Henrique de Almeida Leite Junior, the Gavazzo brothers and others. His grandfather, Alfredo Augusto das Neves Holtreman, Viscount of Alvalade, a lawyer in the Portuguese capital, operated as a benefactor in the multisport club's foundation process by donating money and land to the new club, and took charge as its first president. Later, José Alvalade would become Sporting's 3rd president from 1910 to 1912.

Biography

He was born into

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

, his parents were António Ferreira Roquette, paternal nephew of the 1st Baron of Salvaterra de Magos, and his wife Josefina Libânia Garin Holtreman, a native of Lisbon, who died when José Alfredo Holtreman Roquette, that would be widely known as José Alvalade, was still a child. His maternal grandfather was Alfredo Augusto das Neves Holtreman, 1st Viscount of Alvalade, a wealthy landlord and a lawyer established in Lisbon who worked for the Portuguese royal household in that capacity. Interested in sport from a young age, José Alfredo Holtreman Roquette was part of a sports association in

Campo Grande Campo Grande (, ) is a city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, central and western Regions of Brazil, region of Brazil, Capital city, capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Historically a Fortification, stronghold of Separatism, separatists ...

called Campo Grande Football Club. Despite the name, Campo Grande Football Club was particularly active in the organization of

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

, picnics and

social dance Social dances are dances that have social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than Concert dance, performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have Ceremoni ...

events rather than sporting events, and this state of affairs made José Alvalade grow dissatisfied with the club. He studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

for 3 years, dropping out of the medical school and eventually giving up a career in medicine, because he said he was too sensitive to deal with suffering and pain, as well as with blood.

Sporting CP

In April 1906, José Alvalade expressed the intention to form a new club, with the support of several members of Campo Grande Football Club and the financial help of his grandfather, the Viscount of Alvalade, who oversaw the creation of the new club and made the grounds available for the construction of the stadium at his Quinta das Mouras, that covered the current areas of

Lumiar Lumiar () is a (civil parish) and typical Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. Located in northern Lisbon, Lumiar is east of Carnide, north of Alvalade, west of Olivais, Lisbon, Olivais, and south of Santa ...

and

Alvalade Alvalade () is a (civil parish) and typical Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. Located in central Lisbon, Alvalade is south of Lumiar and Olivais, Lisbon, Olivais, west of Marvila, Lisbon, Marvila, east ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. With the financial and logistical support of the Viscount of Alvalade, who was the first president,

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

was founded on 1 July 1906 after two months during which the newly-created sports club project was temporarily called Campo Grande Sporting Club instead of its final official name of Sporting Clube de Portugal. José Alvalade, a founder of the club who stood out for channelling crucial material support from his wealthy family, was the first club member, being the vice-president and manager of sports. He was also a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. In June 1910 he was named president, the club's third president until then, a position he held until November 1912. Two years later, he left the institution because of disagreements with members of the board of directors. During the founding period, José Alvalade had the desire to make Sporting a ''"great club, as big as the biggest in Europe"''. Guided by the aspiration to open the way to sport in Portugal, when it was still at an embryonic stage of development and with very

elitist Elitism is the notion that individuals who form an elite — a select group with desirable qualities such as intellect, wealth, power, physical attractiveness, notability, special skills, experience, lineage — are more likely to be construct ...

characteristics, the first "''sportinguistas''" (Sporting CP supporters) founded Sporting Clube de Portugal pursuing the ideals of "Effort, Dedication, Devotion and Glory." José Alvalade died at the age of 33, on 19 October 1918, a victim of the pneumonic epidemic. In 1947, after a General Assembly of Sporting CP, it was decided that the stadium should adopt its current name,

Estádio José Alvalade The Estádio José Alvalade (; ') is a Football (soccer), football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the Estádio José Alvalade (1956), older stadium. The stadium is named afte ...

, in his honor, a name that was maintained by statutory imposition (according to Article 4(2) of the Statutes of Sporting Clube de Portugal) in Sporting CP's stadiums inaugurated on 10 June 1956 and 6 August 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvalade, Jose Sporting CP presidents 1885 births 1918 deaths Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in Portugal Portuguese people of Italian descent Harvard Medical School alumni