S.C. Covilhã

Sporting Clube da Covilhã, commonly known as just Sporting da Covilhã or Sp. Covilhã, is a Portuguese football club from the city of Covilhã that plays in the third-tier Liga 3. The club was founded on 2 June 1923 and became the branch number 8 of Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting CP).^[1] Their nickname is the Leões da Serra, meaning "Lions of the Mountain Range," due to Covilhã's location in the Serra de Estrela, the highest mountains in Portugal.

Sporting da Covilhã

Full name	Sporting Clube da Covilhã
Nickname(s)	Leões da Serra (Lions of the Mountain)
Founded	2 June 1923; 102 years ago (1923-06-02)
Ground	Estádio Municipal José dos Santos Pinto, Covilhã
Capacity	3,500
Chairman	Marco Peba
Manager	Alex
League	Liga 3
2023–24	Liga 3, 8th (Promotion play-off)
Home colours Away colours

Their home ground is Estádio Municipal José dos Santos Pinto, located at approximately 900 m of altitude. However, the team plays also at the newer stadium of Complexo Desportivo da Covilhã, also in Covilhã, which holds a capacity of 3,000 spectators.^[2] Their current chairman is Marco Peba and current manager is Francisco Chaló. They have won five Second Division in 1948, 1969, 1987 (second-tier), 2002, and 2005 (third-tier).

Players

Current squad

As of 27 July 2025

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 1 GK  POR Igor Araújo 2 DF  ANG Cândido 5 DF  BRA Tiago Caveira 6 MF  POR Ângelo Barbosa 7 FW  POR Telmo Watche 8 MF  POR Ronaldo Coelho 9 FW  POR Rui Faria 10 MF  POR Mica 13 DF  POR Pedro Ribeiro 14 FW  POR Pedro Brito 16 MF  NGA Sani Suleiman 19 FW  POR Fábio Cruz 20 MF  POR Rodrigo Ferreira 21 MF  POR Vasco Cunha

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 DF  POR Edu Silva 24 DF  POR Gonçalo Loureiro 26 DF  ANG Carlos Balsa 28 MF  CMR Vini Lontsi 31 GK  BRA Gustavo Galil 33 DF  BRA Alison Calegari 55 DF  POR Filipe Garcia 74 GK  POR Tomás Igreja 77 DF  POR Miguel Silva 78 FW  POR Peixoto 89 FW  POR Piteira 96 FW  GNB Jailson 99 FW  SEN Cheick Niang

Honours

• Portuguese First Division (15 participations)
• Portuguese Second Division (11 participations) – 1948–49, 1958–59, 1986–87, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
• Portuguese Cup – Runners-up (1) – 1956–1957

Managerial history

• Vieira Nunes (1985–1988)
• Félix Mourinho (1989–1990)
• Vieira Nunes (1995–1996)
• António Jesus (1996–1997)
• Vieira Nunes (1997)
• António Jesus (1999–2000)
• Henrique Nunes (2000–2001)
• João Cavalero (2002–2004)
• Fanã (2004–2005)
• José Dinis (2005–2006)
• João Salcedas (2006)
• Vítor Quinha (2006–2007)
• Rui França (2007–2008)
• Álvaro Magalhães (2008)
• Hélio Sousa (2008–2009)
• João Eusébio (2009)
• Nicolau Vaquero (2009–2010)
• João Salcedas (2010)
• João Pinto (2010–2011)
• Tulipa (2011–2012)
• Nascimento (2012)
• Filipe Moreira (2012)
• Fanã (2012–2013)
• Francisco Chaló (2013–2016)
• Filipe Gouveia (2016–2017)
• José Augusto (2017–2018)
• Dito (2018)
• Filó (2018–2019)
• Ricardo Soares (2019)
• Daúto Faquirá (2019–2020)
• Capucho (2020–2021)
• José Bizarro (2021)
• Wender (2021)
• Filó (2021)
• Leonel Pontes (2021–2022)
• Alex (2022–2024)
• Francisco Chaló (2024–)

Club anthem

De verde e branco, Um dia te embriagaram;
De verde engalanaram, Os teus pés.
O branco escorreu-te, Das feições,
Onde moras, E onde mostras o que és! e Entre os maiores
Te sentes piqueno, Mas és na Beira
Rico em tradições, Agarra que te vem
De seres leão, Já tem feito tremer
Os aldeões!

Pelos anos contados, És velhinho, Mas continuas sempre
A ser um jovenzinho; D`esperança
Traçaram teu carinho, Força e coragem
O que te moem, O ar que te embriaga
Puro e leve, Te inspira e te dá fecundidade?
Que seja lema teu, Por toda a vila
A grandeza, leite Gresso, A humidade

League and cup history

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	League Cup	Notes
1948–49	1D	11	26	9	2	15	50	59	20	Semi Finals
1949–50	1D	6	26	10	5	11	55	70	25
1950–51	1D	6	26	13	0	13	62	53	26	Round 1
1951–52	1D	6	26	10	5	11	35	52	25	Quarter Finals
1952–53	1D	10	26	7	6	13	38	54	20	Quarter Finals
1953–54	1D	7	26	10	8	8	43	39	28	Round 1
1954–55	1D	12	26	8	4	14	32	53	20	Round 1
1955–56	1D	5	26	11	7	8	52	44	29	Round 1
1956–57	1D	13	26	7	4	15	33	62	18	Runners-up		Relegated
1958–59	1D	8	26	9	4	13	43	65	22	Round 1
1959–60	1D	9	26	8	6	12	32	49	22	Round 3
1960–61	1D	9	26	8	5	13	27	55	21	Round 1
1961–62	1D	13	26	6	5	15	30	48	17	Round 1		Relegated
1985–86	1D	16	30	5	7	18	23	61	17	Round 2		Relegated
1986–87	2D	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	Round 6		Promoted
1987–88	1D	20	38	5	11	22	30	70	21	Round 5		Relegated
1989–90	2DS	10	34	15	3	16	39	43	33	Round 2
1990–91	2DS	16	34	6	10	18	31	47	22	Round 2
1991–92	2DS	9	38	14	11	13	42	38	39	Round 3		Relegated
1992–93	3DS	2	34	21	7	6	53	19	49	Round 2		Promoted
1993–94	2DS	16	34	6	14	14	35	48	26	Round 2		Relegated
1994–95	3DS	2	34	22	7	5	62	22	51	Round 2		Promoted
1995–96	2DS	1	34	22	7	5	53	24	73	Round 3		Promoted
1996–97	2H	16	34	9	11	14	30	41	38	Round 3		Relegated
1997–98	2DS	2	34	20	7	7	67	26	67	Round 2
1998–99	2DS	1	34	19	10	5	49	27	67	Round 4		Promoted
1999–00	2H	18	34	5	10	19	23	48	25	Round 5		Relegated
2000–01	2DS	2	36	23	9	4	68	23	78	Round 3
2001–02	2DS	1	38	23	11	4	64	26	80	Round 2		Promoted
2002–03	2H	11	34	11	12	11	37	33	45	Round 6
2003–04	2H	17	34	8	5	21	39	55	29	Round 4		Relegated
2004–05	2DS	1	36	19	12	5	61	32	69	Round 3		Promoted
2005–06	2H	14	34	10	12	12	37	42	42	Round 5		Relegated
2006–07	2DS	4	26	12	7	7	48	25	43	Round 4
2007–08	2DS	1	26	17	4	5	49	20	55	Round 3		Promoted
2008–09	2H	7	30	10	10	10	42	42	40	Round 3	First Group Stage
2009–10	2H	14	30	7	9	14	35	49	30	Round 3	First Group Stage
2010–11	2H	14	30	9	5	16	32	48	32	Round 2	First Group Stage
2011–12	2H	15	30	7	11	12	22	29	32	Round 4	First Group Stage	[A]

A. ^A Despite finishing in a relegation position, the club was not relegated due to União de Leiria of the Primeira Liga being relegated to the non-professional tiers of Portugal due to there financial difficulties suffered during the 2011–12 Primeira Liga season.

Last updated: 22 July 2012
Div. = Division; 1D = Portuguese League; 2H = Liga de Honra; 2DS/2D = Portuguese Second Division; 3DS = Terceira Divisão
Pos. = Position; Pl = Match played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lost; GS = Goal scored; GA = Goal against; P = Points