C.D. Santa Clara

C.D. Santa Clara
Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese professional football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. 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 competition, having qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup and the UEFA Europa Conference League.
To date, Santa Clara is the only club from the Azores islands to have competed in the top division of the Portuguese Liga, being thus the westernmost top-flight club in Europe. They compete in Liga Portugal 2, the Portuguese second division football league. Santa Clara's kit manufacturer is Kelme and their main sponsor is Santander. Main rivals are CD Operário 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. Fernandes, who left for Sporting CP in January 2001, returned in October.
Despite coming 14th in their first top-flight season, Santa Clara were chosen by UEFA to play in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup when Vitória S.C. withdrew, needing the summer to renovate their Estádio D. Afonso Henriques for UEFA Euro 2004. They beat Armenia's Shirak FC 5–3 on aggregate in the first round before falling 9–2 to Czechs FK Teplice 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.
Santa Clara defeated KF Shkupi (North Macedonia) and NK Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) before falling to FK Partizan (Serbia) in the Conference League playoffs. Ramos left unexpectedly in October 2021 with the team in 15th. Mário Silva concluded the season with the team in 7th, earning a two-year contract extension, as well as taking the team to the semi-finals of the Taça da Liga (at FC Porto's expense) for the first time. Silva was sacked in January 2023 with the team 15th after as many games; the form did not improve under successors Jorge Simão and Danildo Accioly and Santa Clara finished last, ending five years in the top flight.
Stadium
Santa Clara plays in the Estádio de São Miguel in Ponta Delgada, the largest city in the Azores.
Due to mandatory quarantine 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
Winners (1): 1997–98
Players
Current squad
Other players under contract
Out on loan
International players
Klevis Dalipi
Figueiredo
Kali
Mauro
Francisco Zuela
José Vidigal
Leandro Machado
Pedro Pacheco
Hernâni Borges
Mateus Lopes
Steven Pereira
Stopira
Valter Borges
Platini
António Duarte
Hugo Évora
Denis Pineda
Malick Evouna
Mamadu Candé
Amido Baldé
Édson
István Vincze
Shahriyar Moghanlou
Osama Rashid
Idrissa Keita
Hidemasa Morita
Muaid Ellafi
Mohamed Al-Gadi
Hamdou Elhouni
Faysal El Idrissi
Reginaldo Faife
Garba Lawal
Haruna Doda
Abdiel Arroyo
Alfredo Stephens
Pauleta
Marco Paiva
André Pinto
Pedro Martins
Jorge Ribeiro
Ukra
Jorge Silva
José Leal
António Pacheco
Martin Chrien
Mikel Villanueva
League and cup history
European record
References
External links
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