Overview
Santa Clara plays in the Estádio de São Miguel in Ponta Delgada, the largest city in the Azores. It is the only team from the Azores islands to ever participate in the Portuguese Liga, where they play for three non-consecutive seasons (1999–00, 2001–02 and 2002–03). The club also qualified once for UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2002. Manuel Fernandes, a former Portuguese international, who took Santa Clara to the First Division the first time, is a highly acclaimed figure in Azores. While it now plays in the Segunda Liga, Santa Clara is always a favorite to get promoted.
The club is known for its close connection to Sport Lisboa e Benfica, having shared until recently the very same crest. The club played in the old Estádio da Luz, as Benfica's last official opponent before a new stadium was built in Lisbon for the UEFA Euro 2004, which Portugal hosted. The attendance of that game was close to 50,000.
Among the club's most famous players are Paulo Figueiredo, Clayton, Idrissa Keita,Lito Vidigal, and Jorge Ribeiro while Portugal's all-time leading scorer Pauleta also played for the club.
Read more about this topic: C.D. Santa Clara