Académica de Coimbra (football)

The Associação Académica de Coimbra – Organismo Autónomo de Futebol (AAC-OAF), also referred to as Académica de Coimbra (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐkɐˈðɛmikɐ ðɨ kuˈĩbɾɐ]) or simply Académica, is a professional football club based in Coimbra, Portugal. As of the 2022–23 football season in Portugal, the club competes in the third division of the Portuguese football league system, and hosts home games at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra. It also has a futsal department with men's and women's teams. The club's name derives from the footballing division of the Associação Académica de Coimbra, officially known as the Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Futebol (AAC-SF), which fields its own amateur football teams as a second incarnation and belongs to the student association of the University of Coimbra like the professional AAC-OAF which is however an autonomous organization inside the student association and owns the entire heritage and historical records formerly belonging to AAC-SF until 1974.

Académica de Coimbra
Full nameAssociação Académica
de Coimbra 
Nickname(s)Briosa
Founded3 November 1887 (1887-11-03)
GroundEstádio Cidade de Coimbra
Capacity30,210
ChairmanMiguel Ribeiro
ManagerMiguel Valença
LeagueLiga 3
2021–2218th, Liga Portugal 2 (relegation)
WebsiteClub website

The club was created in 1887, when Clube Atlético de Coimbra (founded in 1861) and Academia Dramática (founded in 1837) merged. The club have won the Taça de Portugal twice, in 1938–39 and 2011–12. In 1966–67, they achieved their highest position of runner-up in the Primeira Liga table.

History

The Associação Académica de Coimbra - Organismo Autónomo de Futebol, hereinafter AAC-OAF, which dates back to November 3, 1887, the date of creation of the Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) which is the student association of the University of Coimbra, is the legal and legitimate successor of the extinct Section of Football of the Association Académica de Coimbra (Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Futebol (AAC-SF)) that, by resolution of June 10, 1974 of the General Assembly of Members of AAC after the events of the Carnation Revolution, was transformed into Clube Académico de Coimbra (CAC). The current name, AAC-OAF, was adopted on the joint initiative of the General Board of Academica de Coimbra (Direcção-Geral da Associação Académica de Coimbra (DG-AAC)) and the Board of the Academic Club of Coimbra (Clube Académico de Coimbra (CAC)), and it was approved by the General Board of Associação Académica de Coimbra (DG-AAC) and by the General Assembly of CAC in 1984. By these statutes, a legally-binding link to the student association AAC and its university, the University of Coimbra (UC), was preserved[1] in favour of AAC-OAF. The Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Futebol (AAC-SF), amateur varsity football team which plays in the lowest non-professional regional football leagues, was reinstated some time later and has been in operation as a student-only football team of AAC.[2] It shares the same crest and colors, as well as the same parent organization, with AAC-OAF, the professional and autonomous football club.

Académica de Coimbra won the 1938–39 Taça de Portugal, the inaugural staging of the competition; they defeated S.L. Benfica 4–3 in the final.[3] In 1966–67, the club finished as Primeira Liga runners-up to Benfica (best-ever finish), and lost the cup final 3–2 after extra time to Vitória de Setúbal. Two years later, a cup-final defeat to Benfica meant that the team competed in Europe for the first time, entering the 1969–70 Cup Winners' Cup and losing in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Manchester City via a single extra-time goal.[4]

Académica de Coimbra moved frequently between the top two divisions in the years that followed. Under João Alves, they ended a three-year exile by winning promotion in 2001–02 as runners-up to Moreirense FC.[5] Following a decade of almost exclusively bottom-half finishes, the team won its first silverware in 73 years when they took the cup in 2012, Marinho scoring the only goal after four minutes against Sporting CP.[6] This allowed them entry into the group stage of the UEFA Europa League – a first European campaign in 30 years. Eliminated in third place in the group, they managed one win, 2–0 at home to holders Atlético Madrid with a brace from Wilson Eduardo.[7]

A fourteen-year spell in the top division ended for Académica de Coimbra in 2015–16, when they finished in last place.[8]

On 4 November 2017, in honour of their 130th birthday, they joined the Club of Pioneers, a worldwide network of the oldest continuing football clubs from each country in the world, originally founded by Sheffield FC.[9][10]

After the 2021-22 Liga Portugal 2 season, the club was relegated for the first time to the third tier of the Portuguese football pyramid.[11]

The Associação Académica de Coimbra - Organismo Autónomo de Futebol filed for insolvency in September 2022. The club had overdue debts of more than 5.6 million euros, of which 1.9 million euros to the state, and had 3.1 million euros in defaults with suppliers and service providers.[12]

Grounds

Their home ground is the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, which has a capacity of 29,622.

A side view of the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra

Honours

[13]

League and cup history

 
  • CWC = Cup Winner's Cup
  • FC = Fairs Cities' Cup
  • UC = UEFA Cup
  • EL = Europa League

Note

  1. Only goals scored in the regional championship or Primeira Liga are considered.

Players

Current squad

As of 8 August, 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Portugal POR Diogo Costa
4 DF Portugal POR João Tiago
6 DF Brazil BRA Aloísio Neto
7 MF Japan JPN Toki Hirosawa
8 MF Portugal POR André Salvador
9 FW Colombia COL Juan Perea
10 FW Portugal POR Fausto Lourenço
11 MF Portugal POR David Teles
12 DF Portugal POR Vitinha
13 DF Portugal POR Diogo Amaro
16 MF Portugal POR Vasco Gomes
17 MF Brazil BRA Lucas Henrique
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF Portugal POR Stitch
19 FW Portugal POR Tiago Veiga
21 FW Brazil BRA João Victor
22 DF Portugal POR Francisco Ferreira
24 MF Ivory Coast CIV Dje Tah Davilla
26 DF Portugal POR Diogo Outeiro
42 MF Cape Verde CPV Aílson Tavares
77 FW Portugal POR Hugo Seco
79 FW Portugal POR João Silva
91 GK Portugal POR Bernardo Santos
98 GK Portugal POR Carlos Alves

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Records and statistics

[15]

Coaches

References

  1. "ESTATUTOS DA ASSOCIAÇÃO ACADÉMICA DE COIMBRA ORGANISMO AUTÓNOMO DE FUTEBOL" (PDF). www.academica-oaf.pt/.
  2. "Secção de Futebol – AAC". Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  3. "Taça de 1939 já tem exposição própria" [1939 Taça now has own exposition]. Record (in Portuguese). 3 May 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  4. Bevan, Chris (29 April 2020). "The strange tale of how Man City conquered Europe - 50 years on". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  5. "Santa Maria sobe ao plantel de elite" [Santa Maria promoted to first team]. Record (in Portuguese). 23 May 2002. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  6. Ruela, João (21 May 2012). "Académica conquista a Taça de Portugal 73 anos depois" [Académica win the Taça de Portugal after 73 years]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  7. Bryan, Paul (8 November 2012). "Wilson Eduardo hails Académica team ethic". Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  8. "Académica desce de divisão" [Académica go down a division]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 7 May 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  9. "Académica olha para o futuro sem esquecer o passado" [Académica looks to the future without forgetting the past] (in Portuguese). Notícias de Coimbra. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  10. "The Club Of Pioneers | The Home Of Football | Sheffield FC | Sheffield FC". Sheffield F.C. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  11. SAPO. "Académica despromovida pela primeira vez ao terceiro escalão do futebol português". SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  12. Lusa, Agência. "Académica entregou esta semana pedido de insolvência e plano de recuperação". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  13. "Provas Nacionais". Académica (AAC). Record. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  14. Núcleo de Veteranos AAC Archived 24 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Núcleo de Veteranos AAC Archived 24 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
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