Casa Pia Atlético Clube is a Portuguese multi-sports club founded in 1920 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, best-known for its professional football team, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after Casa Pia, a Portuguese children's charity, and many of its athletes come from that institution. Its football stadium is Estádio Pina Manique, named in honor of Pina Manique, the founder of Casa Pia children's charity. Casa Pia AC was one of the most versatile Portuguese clubs, having played 25 sports, with the curiosity of having been the only one who practiced Baseball regularly, beating the strong team of the American Colony on 4 July 1923 at Campo das Laranjeiras by 25–24.[1]

Casa Pia
Nickname(s)Os Gansos (The Geese)
Casapianos (The ones from Casa Pịa)
Short nameCasa Pia
Founded3 July 1920; 103 years ago (3 July 1920)
GroundEstádio Pina Manique, Lisbon
Capacity2,574
OwnerRobert Platek
ChairmanVictor Franco
ManagerGonçalo Santos
LeaguePrimeira Liga
2022–23Primeira Liga, 10th of 18
WebsiteClub website
Current season

On 18 December 1921, when Portugal made their international debut against Spain in Madrid, Casa Pia FC provided the squad with four players in a 1–3 loss, including Cândido de Oliveira, who was the team captain. Casa Pia promoted from Serie E of Terceira Divisão to Centre Group of Portuguese Second Division in 2009–10 season as champions.[2][3] They were promoted again to LigaPro in 2019. The team will play for the first time in 83 years in the Primeira Liga in the 2022–23 season.

History edit

Early success edit

Although Casa Pia A.C. was officially founded on 3 July 1920, at the initiative of Cândido de Oliveira, Ricardo Ornelas and David Ferreira (among others), the club's history dates back to 1893, when the Real Casa Pia de Lisboa football team was formed, the first team to defeat the so-called "invincible" team Carcavelos Club in 1898 in a historic victory that forever cemented the practice of football in Portugal.[1]

On 3 October 1920, just a few months after its foundation, Casa Pia FC won its first-ever piece of silverware after beating Benfica 2-1, thus winning the Bronze Herculano Santos. The team was captained by Cândido de Oliveira, and the game was refereed by Cosme Damião.[4]

In its debut season, Casa Pia FC won the Lisbon Regional Championship and the Lisbon Cup without registering a single defeat. And to these titles, Casa Pia added the triumph in the confrontation with the champion of the North, FC Porto, in the then-called Taça 27 de Julho. This game was the final rehearsal for the start of the Portuguese Championship, the forerunner of the Taça de Portugal, which began in the following year.[5]

At 17 months of age, Casa Pia had already participated in three tournaments abroad: Paris, San Sebastián, and Seville. The Casapianos was the first Portuguese team to play in Paris, playing at the Pershing Stadium in the city's Tournament at Christmas 1920, together with the Cercle Athlétic de Paris, Cercle Athlétic de Vitry, FC Cantonal (from Switzerland) and FC Espanya de Barcelona, who headed the rankings in the championships of their countries. In the opening game, Cercle de Paris beat Casa Pia 2–1, with the Casapian goal scored by Cândido de Oliveira. The trip to Seville took place on 16 October 1921, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Campo de Sports on Avenida de la Reina Victoria, facing Sevilla FC, who was wearing its current emblem on their chests for the first time, and despite the injury suffered by Spencer, who was forced to leave the pitch for much of the match, Sevilla FC achieved a clear victory over the Casapianos, prevailing by three goals to nil, goals scored by León, Kinké and Escobar.[6]

The team's best player was Cândido de Oliveira, one of the founders of the club and the captain, who had grown up in Casa Pia since he was delivered there at the age of nine as an orphan, and who had previously played for Real Casa Pia de Lisboa, founded at the end of the 19th century.[5] Oliveira was the main architect of the team's rise to football power in Lisbon, competing head-to-head against the likes of Benfica and Sporting CP, and largely thanks to his quality, the immediate impact of Casa Pia continued to be felt in the following seasons. In the first four years they competed, the 'Gansos' won the Lisbon Championship three times.[5]

The reputation grew and, on 13 December 1925, the club was invited to face Benfica on the occasion of the inauguration of Estádio das Amoreiras, which was considered at the time the best stadium in the Iberian Peninsula.[5] The Casapians faced Benfica in the 4 categories in front of 15 thousand people, and although it is defeated in the Quartas by 8–1, in Terceiras by 11–0, in Segundas by 4–2, they won in Primeiras by 3–1.[1] Casa Pia FC was also the first team on the continent to travel to the Azores doing it so for free after being invited by Fayal S.C. to play 3 games there in favor of the victims of the 1922 earthquake in that archipelago.[1]

Stagnation edit

In 1938–39, Casa Pia FC played in the inaugural editions of the National Championship and Taça de Portugal, which still today are the most important football competitions in Portugal. However, its participation in the National Championship in the 1938–39 season was the only one in which the club played in the First Division.[1] Their field, Campo do Restelo, was expropriated in 1939–40 by the Estado Novo for the exhibition of the Portuguese World. Without its own field until 29 August 1954, when the Pina Manique Stadium in Benfica was inaugurated, far from Belém and Casa Pia, the club wandered from one field to another, achieving a brilliant record in National Championships.

Recent history edit

In the 2020–21 season, Casa Pia registered its 71st participation in National Championships, starting in the 1938–39 season.

Honours edit

Divisions edit

 
Casa Pia team in 1898

Players edit

Current squad edit

As of 31 January 2024[7]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   POR Afonso Monteiro
2 DF   CMR Duplexe Tchamba
3 DF   POR João Nunes
5 DF   POR Leonardo Lelo
7 FW   POR Nuno Moreira
8 MF   BRA Ângelo Neto (captain)
9 FW   POR André Lacximicant (on loan from Braga)
10 FW   POR Rúben Lameiras
11 FW   JPN Yuki Soma (on loan from Nagoya Grampus)
12 DF   FRA Fahem Benaïssa-Yahia
14 MF   NOR Kevin Krygård
15 DF   CPV Fernando Varela
16 MF   ANG Beni Mukendi
17 MF   POR Rafael Brito
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF   POR André Geraldes
19 DF   BIH Nermin Zolotić
20 FW   POR Kiki Silva
21 MF   VEN Telasco Segovia
22 GK   POR Daniel Azevedo
23 FW   BRA Fernando Andrade
30 FW   BRA Felippe Cardoso
33 GK   POR Ricardo Batista
68 GK   BRA Lucas Paes
72 DF   ESP Gaizka Larrazabal
77 DF   POR Tiago Dias
80 MF   BRA Pablo Roberto
96 MF   POR Samuel Justo (on loan from Sporting CP)
99 FW   BRA Clayton

Out on loan edit

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
44 DF   POR Isaac Monteiro (at Sporting da Covilhã until 30 June 2024)
DF   VEN Eduardo Fereira (at Academia Puerto Cabello until 30 June 2024)

Records and statistics edit

The club has a single presence at the top level of Portuguese football.

2019-2020 season cut short due to COVID-19 global pandemic

Season I II III IV V Pts. Pl. W T L GS GA Diff. Notes
1938–39 8 2 pts 14 1 0 13 12 56 −44 Relegated
1995–96 11 44 pts 34 11 11 12 37 44 −13
1996–97 ... 29 pts 34 6 11 17 29 54 −25
1997–98 17 29 pts 34 6 11 17 29 54 −25 Relegated
1998–99 5 61 pts 34 18 7 9 65 37 +38
2002–03 18 34 pts 38 8 10 20 46 65 −19 Relegated
2003–04 1 75 pts 34 23 6 5 73 28 +45 Promoted
2004–05 5 59 pts 38 17 8 13 56 44 +12
2005–06 13 41 pts 30 12 5 13 45 50 −5 Relegated
2006–07 12 34 pts 30 8 10 12 32 45 −13 Relegated
2007–08 1 67 pts 33 20 7 6 57 31 +26 Promoted
2008–09 4 41 pts 26 12 5 9 42 28 +14
2011–12 6
2018–19 1 Promoted
2019–20 18 11 pts 24 2 5 17 19 47 -28
2020–21 9 43 pts 34 10 13 11 41 46 -5
2021–22 2 68 pts 34 21 5 8 50 22 +28 Promoted

Club officials edit

As of 22 November 2023
Position Staff
Sporting Director   Diogo Boa Alma
Manager   Pedro Moreira
Assistant Manager   José Borges
Coach   Ricardo Vasconcelos
Coach   Gonçalo Santos
Coach   Nuno Madureira
Goalkeeping Coach   João Santos
Fitness Coach   Pedro Barros
Match Analyst   Fábio Ferreira
Chief Scout   Rui Ferreira

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "História e Palmarés – Casa Pia Atlético Clube" [History and Honours – Casa Pia Atlético Clube]. casapiaac.pt (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Summary - III Divisão - Portugal - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
  3. ^ "Casa Pia Atlético Clube: Statistics, Titles, History (Timeline), Goals Scored, Fixtures". www.thefinalball.com. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  4. ^ "SL Benfica x Casa Pia". Serbenfiquista.com (in Portuguese). 23 January 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "Casa Pia: o clube que fez a seleção jogar de preto celebra 100 anos" [Casa Pia: the club that made the national team play in black celebrates 100 years]. maisfutebol.iol.pt (in Portuguese). 3 July 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Primer centenario del actual escudo" [First centenary of the current shield]. sevillafc.es (in Spanish). 16 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Plantel" (in Portuguese). Casa Pia AC.

External links edit