History
Sporting Clube de Goa, a professional football club, came into existence in 1999, when the public of Panjim decided to launch a football club after Cidade de Goa disbanded its football team. Thus, after Vasco Sports Club, Sporting became the second club of public shareholding in Goa. The club, built on the lines of Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal, has made rapid strides in the national circuit. Sporting shot to prominence by an impressive performance in the 2001-02 Federation Cup, the team made it to the last four after victories over stronger teams like East Bengal and Indian Bank.
Sporting made its debut in the 2003-04 season of the Indian National Football League Premier Division, and were on the verge of winning their first league championship but lost out on the last day when Dempo Sports Club pipped them to the title. Their season was marred by a horrific bus accident which ruled out 4 key players for the whole season, while several others were injured. However, led by Nigerian import Dudu Omagbemi, they managed to complete their matches in a very short span of time after being given a few weeks off so that their players could recover, and heroically came second ahead of traditional powerhouses East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Salgaocar and Mahindra United. Sporting entered the finals of 2005 Federation Cup, and emerged as the runner-up. In the following season, the club reached the finals once again, but lost in penalty shoot-out to Mohun Bagan. After getting relegated from the I-League in 2010 Sporting Goa participated in the 2011 I-League 2nd Division and won promotion by finishing in 2nd place.
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“History takes time.... History makes memory.”
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