Académica
From Freepedia
| Image:Academica flag.jpg | |
| Full name | Associação Académica de Coimbra - Organismo Autónomo |
| Nickname(s) | A Briosa (The Proud) |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Ground | Estádio Cidade de Coimbra (City of Coimbra Stadium) |
| Capacity | 30,000 |
| Chairman | Eduardo Simões |
| Manager | Nelo Vingada |
| League | SuperLiga |
| 2003-04 | SuperLiga, 13th |
Académica de Coimbra or simply Académica, is formally known as the Associação Académica de Coimbra - Organismo Autónomo de Futebol (AAC-OAF). It is an autonomous and professional football organization created inside of the students' union of the University of Coimbra - the Associação Académica de Coimbra, when football was professionalized in Portugal. It is one of the oldest sports institutions in Portugal, and is claimed by its fans to be the fourth in number of supporters (after Benfica, Sporting and Porto) although this is arguable since many other Portuguese clubs claim this as well. It is a sports club emotionally and historically related to the university life, so through generations, many students, even those born in farther regions, became lifelong supporters of the team. In general, the city's population identifies itself as Académicas's fan or simpathizer. Being the most important sports club of Coimbra, it was founded by students of the University of Coimbra in 1876, when Clube Atlético de Coimbra (founded in 1861) and Academia Dramática (founded in 1837) merged together.
The equipment used is black shirt, shorts and socks, due to the relation to and origin in the local and famous University of Coimbra where students wear a typical all-black suit. The main football team uses the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra (specially rebuilt and modernized for the Euro 2004) with 30.000 seats.
In the beginning, Académica's footballers were all mostly university students, and very talented players were discovered in the pitch. This was the rule during many decades until the 1970s. Académica used to be a constant team in the Portuguese main division before 1974. After the "25 de Abril" revolution (1974) in Portugal, many changes took place in Portuguese society, and after a period of uncertainty and several relegations to the Second Division, the Académica's football team and staff, were gradually professionalized aiming to achieve a stronger position in the modern times of fierce professional competition.
Highlights
- The original sports section of the Associação Académica de Coimbra which gave birth to AAC-OAF still exists. This Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Futebol plays in the lower divisions and is a 100% amateur team where the large majority of its players are students of the University of Coimbra or then ex-students, as in the past. Many people claims that this is the "real" Académica de Coimbra football team, successor of the original team and owner of all the Académica's grass roots and heritage before the 1980s.
- Some modern professional players coming to AAC-OAF are still university students at Coimbra. An example was Académica's famous goalkeeper Pedro Roma, during the 1990s and early 2000s.
- Académica's football team was the first winner in the history of the Portuguese Football Cup, in 1939.
- The team has the nickname of "Briosa" (Full of «Brio») - «Brio» is a portuguese word derived from the celtic «Brivos», which has a cross meaning between Pride and Excellence.
- The AAC-OAF has also a professional Futsal team.
See also
External links
- Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F.
- Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC)
- Mancha Negra (Official supporters and fan club of AAC-OAF)
- Universidade de Coimbra
| Liga betandwin.com 2005/06 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Académica | Belenenses | Benfica | Boavista | Sp. Braga | Estrela da Amadora | Gil Vicente | Nacional | Naval | Marítimo | Paços de Ferreira | Penafiel | Porto | Rio Ave | Sporting | U. Leiria | V. Guimarães | V. Setúbal | ||
| Portuguese football by seasons | ||
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1990-91 |
1991-92 |
1992-93 |
1993-94 |
1994-95 |
1995-96 |
1996-97 | ||
| Governing Bodies Professional Clubs Association | Portuguese Football Federation | District Associations | ||
