S.C. Campomaiorense

"Sporting Clube Campomaiorense" is a Portuguese football club, founded in 1926, and based in Campo Maior.

The club had a professional football section that played five seasons at the top level of Portuguese football, and reached the Cup of Portugal final in 1999. However, the section was closed in 2002, and the club currently fields only youth teams.

Campomaiorense was first promoted to the Portuguese major league in 1995 under the guidance of former Sporting Clube de Portugal star striker Manuel Fernandes. The club was only the third club in the Alentejo region to reach the top division (others were Lusitano de Évora in the sixties and CAD O Elvas in the eighties).

Their spell in the 1995/96 was a disappointing one, starting the league with an away 7-0 defeat against Sporting. Further poor results eventually lead João Manuel Nabeiro, the club chairman, to sack Fernandes. New players arrived in the mid season, among them Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who had just left AZ Alkmaar.

Former Portuguese international Diamantino Miranda was given the job with the aim of soon getting the club back into the first league. They finished 17th in the league. 1996/97 season in the second division earned them a first ever champions title, with former Chaves and Paços de Ferreira striker Rudi being the top goal scorer.

Diamantino's start of first division football however, was no better than the first and we was also sacked by Nabeiro. Christmas brought coach João Alves (Cup of Portugal winner with Estrela Amadora in 1990) along with Brazilian players like Isaías (previously with Benfica and Coventry City) and Demétrios. Alves' great finish earned Campomaiorense a superb 11th place and a new year among the top clubs. The club started an ambitious change of image and marketing campaign changing its symbol to a greyhound and green colors to bordeaux.

Managers seemed to only be fortunate in Campo Maior at the end of the season, and João Alves faith was no different its predecessors. José Pereira had the honor to lead the team to Portuguese cup final in 1999, with SC Beira-Mar. Campomaiorense benefited from all three major clubs' eliminations: FC Porto's shock defeat with third league side Torreense, Sporting's by Gil Vicente and Benfica against Vitória Setúbal. In the final, people from all around the region of Alentejo went to the Jamor National Stadium where a free banquet was offered by millionaire Rui Manuel Nabeiro, father of Campomaiorense chairman João Manuel Nabeiro, whose coffee company Delta was the club’s main sponsor. A late dramatic goal by FC Porto on-loan Ricardo Sousa finished the dream for Campomaiorense.

The club managed to remain two extra seasons in the first league, but following relegation in 2001 and inability to return the following year lead to the decision of extinguishing professional football. The situation of having more available seats in the stadium, than habitants in the village, was one the reasons for considering the club to be unworthy of the effort by its sponsors. The club dedicated a few years trying to find new talents competing only in the youth championships.

In 2006/07, the team returned, competing in the amateur level.

Notable players

*flagicon|Netherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
*flagicon|Portugal Beto
*flagicon|Brazil Isaías
*flagicon|Portugal Paulo Torres
*flagicon|Portugal Carlos Martins
*flagicon|Hungary István Vincze
*flagicon|Bulgaria Stanimir Stoilov
*flagicon|Portugal Rogério Matias
*flagicon|Galicia Emilio José Viqueira

Past coaches

*flagicon|Portugal Manuel Fernandes
*flagicon|Portugal Diamantino Miranda
*flagicon|Portugal João Alves
*flagicon|Portugal José Pereira
*flagicon|Portugal Carlos Manuel

League and cup history