S.C. Campomaiorense

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

[edit] Notable players

[edit] Past coaches

[edit] League and cup history

Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes
1992-1993 2H 15 34 10 5 19 40 53 25
1993-1994 2H 9 34 13 7 14 43 46 33
1994-1995 2H 2 34 19 8 7 58 27 46 promoted
1995-1996 1D 17 34 10 13 11 32 69 33 relegated
1996-1997 2H 1 34 18 8 8 51 32 62 last 64 promoted
1997-1998 1D 11 34 11 7 16 53 58 40 last 64
1998-1999 1D 13 34 10 7 17 41 51 37 final
1999-2000 1D 13 34 10 6 18 31 51 36 last 32
2000-2001 1D 16 34 7 11 16 29 58 32 last 64 relegated
2001-2002 2H 10 34 13 6 15 48 50 45 last 64 folded