Lusitano G.C.

The club competed for 14 consecutive seasons in the Primeira Divisão, its major period of success in the 1950s and 1960s, earning an honorable 5th place in 1956/57, and reaching the semi-finals of the Taça de Portugal twice.

The club's anthem was composed by poet Celestino David in 1926 Camaradas da luta e do sonho Companheiros no mesmo ideal Entoemos um canto risonho Que levante, a cantar, Portugal Exaltemos a força que dá A alegria, a saúde, o valor... Pois com eles um dia virá Outra vida, outro sol, outro amor Sem intuitos de guerras e lida Em batalhas que o ódio revela Recordemos as forças e a vida Num anseio de vidas mais belas [2] [3] In 1917/18 Lusitano won its first Evora FA championship.

At the initiative of historical leaders such as José Benchimol, Napoleão Palma, Alberto da Conceição and António Prazeres, the club was restructured, the facilities were reorganized and its action extended to other modalities, with emphasis on gymnastics that would reach great projection.

Lusitano started investing on a concept of full personal development, involving the man and the athlete, a design that would be the hallmark of all those who have passed through their teams over the years.

Lusitano lined-up with the following roster: Dinis Vital; Eduardo and Soeiro; Madeira, Valle and Paulo; Pepe, Di Paola, Teixeira da Silva, Duarte and Domingo.

On 28 September 1952 Dinis Vital, Soeiro, Paixão, Madeira, Valle, Paulo, Flora, Di Paola, Patalino, Batalha and Duarte debuted in the competition.

The document contained the rights and duties of the players, defined the prizes policy and praised correctness, loyalty and fair play.

In the 1956/57 season, led by Otto Bumbel, the club achieved its best performance in the biggest event of Portuguese football, reaching an exceptional 5th place.

In 1958/59, high note for the draws 0-0 and 3–3 at Campo Estrela, against Benfica and Sporting, respectively and return to the Cup semi-finals (eliminated by FC Porto).

In terms of Taça de Portugal the club obtained its biggest victory so far in official games, beating Portalegrense, in the first round, in Evora, 10–0.

They had 14 consecutive seasons in which Évora was at the center of the great decisions of national football, mobilizing crowds whenever the big teams, would come to play at the Museum City.

However wins against Sacavenense, Nacional and Estrela da Amadora as well as away draws against Farense and Fabril boosted the team a great second round of the season.

The season did not seem easy with former Portuguese champions Belenenses (playing in the second division for the first time in history) Farense, Olhanense, Nacional, União da Madeira, Barreirense, Atlético and Juventude.

Farense, coached by Hristo Mladenov won the series and gained direct promotion to the top tier, in addition to becoming Segunda Divisão champions, while Lusitano had to face the play-offs once again.

Notwithstanding a Lusitano victory in Coimbra (1–2), Sporting de Espinho with former Benfica striker Moínhos was too strong winning both matches against the Eborians and gaining access to Primeira Divisao via play-off.

This would mean that rich clubs in the North and Centre of Portugal would only need to travel a few kilometers to play, poor teams from the South were forced to exhausting and expensive flights to the islands constantly throughout the mid-1990s and 2000s.

Lusitano SAD would keep the professional team, most of the sponsors, the access to the Silveirinha Sports Complex and would participate in the Campeonato de Portugal and, on the other hand, a newly created Associação Lusitano de Évora 1911 would keep the Campo Estrela, the youth teams, the amateur sports and would compete in the EVORA FA second-tier league.

[14] In June 2020, Lusitano Ginásio Clube, Futebol, SAD announced that it had reached an agreement with Nigerian entrepreneur Dorothy Nneka Ede, such agreement focusing on a new investment into the club targeting a promotion to higher tiers of Portuguese championships, combined with a total revamp of the Silveirinha infrastructures and the creation of a U-23 team which will serve as nursery for young national and international talents.

Notwithstanding, the new owners were also unable to register players with the Evora FA for the 2021/2022 season, and also claimed to no longer have access to the Silveirinha Sports Complex.

Lusitano started competing in the 2021/2022 season with a clear and assumed will to return to national football and with a team made of youngsters from the club's youth system, lead by Nelson Valente and with new Chairman Pedro Caldeira, a former athlete of the club, promotion from the regional League was celebrated in Évora at the end of the 2022/23 season, winning Regional League, Cup and Super Cup.

To contest the Campeonato de Portugal, the first semi-professional tier in Portugal (4th League), manager João Nivea was appointed, and the coach from Ponte de Sôr who was given the responsibility of stabilizing the club on this tier almost lead the club to the Liga 3, by qualifying to the final four of the South Zone, after making second place in the regular season.

The following season expectations were high, and the team was reinforced with new talented players such as Marcelo Valverde, Cassiano Borges, Johnson Juah and Sele Davou.

An excessive number of draws was principally the reason as the club conceded merely 9 goals in 28 official matches, a European record for the season.

In 1922 the Ateneu folded and its president, Emídio Crujeira de Carvalho, handed over all its assets and sports equipment to Lusitano, thereby terminating the lease.

The money came directly from the pocket of Mário Ribeiro de Lemos and as soon as the public deed was executed on 3 February 1931, recovery, enlargement and improvement works started immediately over four years.

[18][19] Construction started 7 February 2006 and was accelerated due to Luiz Felipe Scolari's intention to prepare Portugal for the upcoming 2006 FIFA World Cup in the city of Évora.

The existing grounds were old and not suitable for training and holding a friendly match against Cape Verde, so there was a project to abandon the Campo Estrela which would be demolished and Lusitano would start using the Silveirinha complex after the departure of the Portugal national football team.

António Jacinto da Silva Brito Paes was an adventurer pilot who tried a direct flight to Madeira in 1922 on a plane called the Dark Knight.

[27] By the end of the 2023/24 Juventude descended to the regional league which means that the derbies of this season were the last ones ever to be played in the historical grounds of Campo Estrela and Sanches de Miranda as both clube are now building new stadiums which should be in use in 2025.

Sanches Miranda derby in the old stadiums [3] Archived 10 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Lusitano crest at Campo Estrela 2020