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.

Sporting CP B
Full nameSporting Clube de Portugal B
Nickname(s)Leões (Lions)
Verde-e-Brancos (Green and Whites)
Short nameSporting B
Founded2000
2012 (refounded)
2020 (refounded)
Dissolved2004
2018
GroundEstádio Aurélio Pereira
Capacity1,200
PresidentFrederico Varandas
Head coachPedro Coelho
LeagueLiga 3
2022–23Liga 3 Serie B, 5th (First stage)
Serie 3, 1st (Relegation Stage)
Websitesporting.pt

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

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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

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Current squad

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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
49 DF   POR Leonardo Barroso
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

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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

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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

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References

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  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.
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