page_title: Sporting CP
section_title: Foundation (1902–1906)
hierarchical_section_title: Sporting CP / History / Foundation (1902–1906)
caption_attribution_description: English: José de Alvalade Português: José de Alvalade
context_page_description: Sporting Clube de Portugal ComC MHIH OM, otherwise known as Sporting, Sporting CP, and referred to colloquially as Sporting Lisbon, is a football club based in Lisbon, Portugal.
  Founded on 1 July 1906, Sporting is one of the "Três Grandes" clubs in Portugal, along with rivals S.L. Benfica and FC Porto, that have never been relegated from the top flight of Portuguese football, Primeira Liga, since 1934. Sporting are nicknamed Leões and Verde e Brancos. The club's anthem, "A Marcha do Sporting", was written in 1955. On July 2020, Sporting announced that it had 106,625 active members, following its last recount.
  Sporting are the third most decorated Portuguese football team, with a total of 50 trophies, including one international title, the 1963–64 European Cup Winners' Cup. Domestically, they have won 18 Primeira Liga titles, 17 Portuguese Cups, 4 Championship of Portugal, 2 Taça da Liga and 8 Portuguese Super Cup trophies. Internationally, Sporting are currently ranked 31st in UEFA club rankings.
context_section_description: Sporting Clube de Portugal has its origins in June 1902, when young men Francisco da Ponte, Horta Gavazzo and his brother José Maria decided to create Sport Club de Belas. This club, the first ancestor of Sporting, played just one match and at the end of the year's summer, disbanded. Two years later, the idea of creating a football club was revived, and this time, with the Gavazzo brothers joined by José Alvalade (José Holtreman Roquette) and José Stromp: a new club, the Campo Grande Football Club, was founded. They played their matches on the estate of the Viscount of Alvalade (Alfredo Holtreman), José Alvalade's grandfather, with the club's headquarters located in Francisco Gavazzo's home. 
   
  For two years, the club developed an intense activity on several sports, namely football, tennis and fencing. The club also organized parties and picnics. Eventually, during one picnic, on 12 April 1906, discussions erupted, as some members defended that the club should only be focused on organizing picnics and social events, with another group defending that the club should be focused on the practising of sports instead. Some time later, José Gavazzo, José Alvalade and 17 other members left the club, with the latter saying, "I am going to have with me my grandfather and he will give me the money to make another club." As such, a new club, Sporting Clube de Portugal, was founded. The Viscount of Alvalade, whose money helped found the club, was the first president of Sporting. José Alvalade, as one of the main founders, uttered on behalf of himself and his fellow co-founders, "We want this club to be a great club, as great as the greatest in Europe." Three months later, on 1 July 1906, António Félix da Costa Júnior suggested the name Sporting Clube de Portugal, and this date is considered the official day Sporting was founded.
caption: José Alvalade borrowed money from his grandfather in order to found Sporting.
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