Sporting CP B

Sporting CP B

Full name	Sporting Clube de Portugal B
Nickname(s)	Leões (Lions) Verde-e-Brancos (Green and Whites)
Short name	Sporting B
Founded	2000 2012 (refounded) 2020 (refounded)
Dissolved	2004 2018
Ground	Estádio Aurélio Pereira
Capacity	1,200
President	Frederico Varandas
Head coach	João Pereira
League	Liga 3
2022–23	Liga 3 Serie B, 5th (First stage) Serie 3, 1st (Relegation Stage)
Website	sporting.pt
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Sporting Clube de Portugal B is the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP, a team based in Lisbon. Reserve teams in Portugal play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. However, they cannot play in the same division as their senior team, so Sporting B is ineligible for promotion to the Primeira Liga and could not play in the Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga. The team play at the Estádio Aurélio Pereira in the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo which holds a seating capacity of 1,200.

Having been established in 2000, Sporting Portugal's B team operated until the end of the 2003–04 season when it was dissolved. The team was refounded in the 2012–13 season, when a new set of rules regarding B teams was introduced in the Portuguese football league system. In that season, another five B-teams were refounded and entered into Segunda Liga. In the 2017–18 season after the creation of a under-23 championship, club president Bruno de Carvalho announced the end of Sporting CP B.

President Frederico Varandas decided to refound Sporting CP B in 2019 and the team resumed operations in the 2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal. In 2021, Sporting CP B played in Liga 3, a new tier in the Portuguese league system.

History

Sporting CP had a B-team which competed in the third tier of the Portuguese football league system from 2000 to 2004. ^[1] This original iteration of Sporting CP B was the 1st club in the senior career of footballing legend Cristiano Ronaldo, where he debuted in a 2–1 away loss against Sport Clube Lusitânia on 1 September 2002, in the Azores. ^[2]

In late May 2012, it was officially announced that six Primeira Liga clubs' B teams would compete in the 2012–13 Segunda Liga including Sporting's B team. This would increase the number of teams in the league from 16 to 22 as well as increasing the number of games needed to play in one season from 30 games to 42 games. ^{[3] [4]} Sporting B's first season back ended with a best-ever fourth place, under managers Oceano and later José Dominguez. ^[5]

After the announcement of the creation of an under-23 championship in February 2018, club president Bruno de Carvalho announced the end of Sporting CP B. ^[6]

After the dismissal of Carvalho in August 2018, Sousa Cintra reverted the former's decision, subscribing the reserve team to the new season in the Campeonato de Portugal (Portuguese football's third tier), but he later gave up, with Santa Iria replacing Sporting CP B. ^{[7] [8]}

In 2019, President Frederico Varandas decided to reestablish Sporting CP B for the next year's Campeonato de Portugal. ^[9]

In 2021, Sporting CP B played in Liga 3, a new tier in the Portuguese league system, beginning with the 2021–22 season. ^[10]

Players

Current squad

As of 3 September 2024 ^[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 40 FW   ESP Adam Arvelo 41 GK   BRA Diego Callai 44 DF   POR Pedro Silva 46 DF   POR David Moreira 50 MF   POR Alexandre Brito 51 GK   POR Diogo Pinto 52 MF   POR João Simões 53 FW   POR Francisco Canário 54 DF   BRA Bruno Ramos 55 DF   POR José Silva 58 DF   POR David Monteiro 59 MF   BRA Kauã Oliveira 61 DF   POR Atanásio Cunha 66 DF   POR Miguel Alves 67 FW   POR Lucas Anjos 70 FW   POR Dudá 71 DF   POR Denilson Santos 73 MF   POR Eduardo Felicíssimo 74 GK   POR Guilherme Pires 75 MF   ANG Manuel Kissanga

No. Pos. Nation Player 76 MF   POR Diogo Abreu 77 MF   POR Rafael Besugo 78 FW   POR Mauro Couto 79 FW   POR Rodrigo Marquês 80 MF   POR Luís Gomes 81 MF   POR Henrique Arreiol 82 FW   POR Gabriel Silva 84 GK   POR Pedro Miguéis 85 DF   POR Rafael Mota 86 FW   POR Rafael Nel 88 MF   POR Manuel Mendonça 89 FW   POR Nilton Cardoso 90 FW   POR Afonso Moreira 93 MF   POR Miguel Menino 94 GK   POR Diogo Clara 95 DF   ESP Lucas Taibo 96 MF   POR Samuel Justo 97 DF   POR Diogo Travassos 99 GK   POR Francisco Silva — MF   ESP Paulo Iago

Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Out on loan

As of 1 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 43 DF   POR João Muniz

Managerial history

• Vítor Damas (2000–2001)
• Jean Paul Castro (2001–2002)
• Luís Alegria (2002–2003)
• Jean Paul Castro (2003–2004)
• Oceano da Cruz (July 2012 – Oct 2012)
• José Dominguez (Oct 2012 – June 2013)
• Abel Ferreira (July 2013 – July 2014)
• Francisco Barão (July 2014 – Oct 2014)
• João de Deus (Oct 2014– 2017)
• Filipe Celikkaya (July 2020– )

References

1. "Sete clubes interessados nas seis vagas para equipas B" [Seven clubs interested for the six vacancies for the B teams]. Relvado. 17 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
2. KeeG. "Sabia Que o 1º jogo como sénior de Cristiano Ronaldo foi nos Açores?". I Love Azores. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
3. "Liga: seis clubes inscreveram a equipa "B"" [League: six clubs register for a B team]. Mais Futebol. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
4. Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de (2012-02-17). "Sete clubes interessados nas seis vagas das equipas "B"". Sete clubes interessados nas seis vagas das equipas "B" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-10-03.
5. "Aves falha o pódio" [Aves miss out on the podium]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 12 May 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
6. "Sporting B vai deixar a II Liga" [Sporting B will leave the II Liga]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
7. "Sporting: equipa B continua e joga Campeonato de Portugal" [Sporting: B team continues and plays in the Campeonato de Portugal] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
8. "Santa Iria substitui o Sporting B no Campeonato de Portugal" [Santa Iria replaced Sporting B in the Campeonato de Portugal]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
9. "Varandas revela: "A equipa B estará de volta no próximo ano"" [Varandas reveals: "The B team will be back next year"] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
10. "Liga 3: os 24 clubes que vão estrear o campeonato em 2021/22". Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-07-24.
11. "Plantel". Sporting Clube de Portugal. Retrieved 24 July 2021.

External links

• Official club website (in English)
• Club Profile at ForaDeJogo (in Portuguese)
• Club Profile at LPFP (in Portuguese)
• Club Profile at ZeroZero (in Portuguese)