Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F.

Football club infobox
clubname = Académica de Coimbra


fullname = Associação Académica
de Coimbra - Organismo
Autónomo de Futebol
nickname = "A Briosa" (The proud one)
"Os Estudantes" (The students)
founded = 1876
ground = Estádio Cidade de Coimbra
("City of Coimbra Stadium"),
Coimbra, Portugal
capacity = 30,210
chairman = flagicon|Portugal Eduardo Simões
manager = flagicon|Portugal Domingos Paciência
league = Portuguese Liga
season = 2007-08
position = Portuguese Liga, 12th
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=000000|body1=000000|rightarm1=000000|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF
The Associação Académica de Coimbra - Organismo Autónomo de Futebol (A.A.C. - O.A.F.), also referred to as Académica de Coimbra (pronounced|ɐkɐˈdɛmikɐ dɨ kuˈĩbɾɐ) or simply Académica, is an autonomous and professional football organization based in Coimbra, Portugal. The team was created inside of the students' union of the University of Coimbra - the Associação Académica de Coimbra, during a period of changing in the 1970s and 1980s, when football was professionalized in Portugal. But its foundation as a students amateur sports association backs to 1876, so it is effectively one of the oldest sports institutions in Portugal. The club is claimed by its fans to be the fourth in number of supporters (after Benfica, Sporting Clube de Portugal and FC 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 sympathizer. The main football team uses the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra (specially rebuilt and modernized for the Euro 2004) with 30.000 seats. In 1939, the football team of the A. Académica de Coimbra became the first winner of the Portuguese Football Cup. The Associação Académica de Coimbra, the mother institution of the professionalized A.A.C. - O.A.F. autonomous football organisation, has several sports branches performing under the same AAC logo and using the same black colors, being effectively one of the largest sports clubs of Portugal. The Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F. has also a futsal department (Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F. (futsal)).

History and tradition

Being today the most important sports club of Coimbra, Académica 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. 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 the team experienced many changes. Between 1974/75 and 1983/84 football seasons, Académica was present in national competitions as "C.A.C. - Clube Académico de Coimbra" 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 (although a small number of its modern players continue being students, and among them, a few at the University of Coimbra).

Training and Youth Facilities

Founded in 2007, the Centro de Estágios da Académica is Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F.'s training center and youth academy. In addition, the club has a multiuse sports arena - the "Pavilhão Jorge Anjinho".

Coimbra Stadium

The "Estádio Cidade de Coimbra" (Coimbra City Stadium) is the home ground of Académica de Coimbra football team, and belongs to Coimbra's municipality. The stadium has 30,210 seats, two-thirds of which are covered and offers several amenities and services. Until 2003 it used to be called "Estádio Municipal de Coimbra" (Coimbra's Municipality Stadium) or "Estádio do Calhabé" (Stadium of Calhabé), after the name of its location in Coimbra. It had a capacity of 15,000 seats, all seated, but just one small covered area. Then it was rebuilt, expanded and modernized to host some Euro 2004 matches. The "Estádio Cidade de Coimbra" was inaugurated with a Rolling Stones concert on 27 September 2003, attended by over 50,000 people. On 29 October 2003, Académica de Coimbra played at home to SL Benfica, in the first official match in the remodelled stadium.

Honours

* Portuguese Football Championship runners-up: 1966/67
* Portuguese Football Cup winner: 1938/39 (SL Benfica 4-3)
* Portuguese Football Cup runners-up: 1950/51 (SL Benfica, 1-5); 1966/67 (Vitória de Setúbal, 2-3); 1968/69 (SL Benfica, 1-2)
* Qualified for the UEFA European Football Competitions: 1968/69; 1969/70; 1971/72
* Winner of the II Divisão Nacional: 1948/49; 1972/73

Current Squad

Notable former players

*flagicon|Portugal Artur Jorge
*flagicon|Portugal Banderinha
*flagicon|Portugal Mário Wilson
*flagicon|Portugal José Ribeiro
*flagicon|Portugal Álvaro Magalhães
*flagicon|Portugal Toni
*flagicon|Portugal Sérgio Conceição
*flagicon|Portugal Fernando Couto
*flagicon|Portugal Dimas Teixeira
*flagicon|Portugal Vítor Paneira
*flagicon|Portugal Pedro Roma
*flagicon|Portugal Nuno Piloto
*flagicon|Portugal João Tomás
*flagicon|Portugal Zé Castro
*flagicon|Portugal Fábio Felício
*flagicon|Portugal Filipe Teixeira
*flagicon|Portugal Ivanildo
*flagicon|Angola André
*flagicon|Argentina Raúl Estévez
*flagicon|Austria Markus Berger
*flagicon|Cape Verde Lito
*flagicon|Colombia Néstor Álvarez
*flagicon|Hungary Ákos Buzsáky
*flagicon|Romania Lucian Marinescu
*flagicon|Scotland Steve Kean
*flagicon|Senegal Dame N'Doye
*flagicon|Senegal Ousmane N'Doye
*flagicon|TRI Russell Latapy
*flagicon|TRI Leonson Lewis
*flagicon|Turkey Fatih Sonkaya
*flagicon|Uruguay Luis Aguiar
*flagicon|Uruguay Horacio Peralta
*flagicon|Uruguay Pablo Castro

Former coaches

*flagicon|Portugal Mário Wilson
*flagicon|Portugal Jesualdo Ferreira
*flagicon|Portugal Artur Jorge
*flagicon|Portugal Nelo Vingada
*flagicon|Portugal Manuel Machado

Highlights

*The original sports section of the Associação Académica de Coimbra which gave birth to A.A.C. - O.A.F. 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. After "25 de Abril" democratic revolution of 1974, between 1974/75 and 1983/84 seasons, Académica was present in national competitions as C.A.C. - Clube Académico de Coimbra, being this period the turning point which lead to the creation of the current day professionalized autonomous team.
*Some modern-day professional players signing for A.A.C. - O.A.F. are still university students at the University of Coimbra. Examples were Académica's famous goalkeeper Pedro Roma (sports sciences), defender Tó Sá (mathematics), or midfielder Nuno Piloto (biochemistry).
*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". They are also known as "Equipa dos Estudantes" (The Students Team).
*The AAC-OAF has also a professional futsal department (Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F. (futsal)).

League and cup history

External links

* [http://www.academica-oaf.pt/ Associação Académica de Coimbra - O.A.F.]
* [http://www.aac.uc.pt/desporto/futebol.php Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Futebol]
* [http://www.aac.uc.pt/ Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC)]
* [http://www.manchanegra85.com/ Mancha Negra] (Official supporters and fan club of AAC-OAF)
* [http://www.uc.pt/ Universidade de Coimbra]