The Associação Académica de Coimbra – Organismo Autónomo de Futebol (AAC-OAF), also referred to as Académica de Coimbra () or simply Académica, is a professional football club based in Coimbra, Portugal.
As of the 2023–24 football season in Portugal, the club competes in the third division of the Portuguese football league system, and hosts home games at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra which is owned by the local municipal government. Académica also played at the Estádio Sérgio Conceição at the start of the 2023–24 season.
It also has a futsal department with men's and women's teams. The club's name derives from the footballing division of the Associação Académica de Coimbra, officially known as the Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Futebol (AAC-SF), which fields its own amateur football teams as a second incarnation starting in 1977 and belongs to the student association of the University of Coimbra like the professional AAC-OAF which is however an autonomous organization inside the student association and owns the entire heritage and historical records formerly belonging to AAC-SF until 1974.
Despite being founded in 1887 as a student organisation, following the merger of Clube Atlético de Coimbra (founded in 1861) and Academia Dramática (founded in 1837), the football section of the Associação Académica de Coimbra was only established in 1911, making it one of the oldest active clubs in Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula. The club have won the Taça de Portugal twice, in 1938–39 and 2011–12. In 1966–67, they achieved their highest position of runner-up in the Primeira Liga table.
History
The Associação Académica de Coimbra - Organismo Autónomo de Futebol, hereinafter AAC-OAF, which dates back to 3 November 1887, the date of creation of the Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) which is the student association of the University of Coimbra, is the legal and legitimate successor of the extinct Section of Football of the Association Académica de Coimbra (Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Futebol (AAC-SF)) that, by resolution of 10 June 1974 of the General Assembly of Members of AAC after the events of the Carnation Revolution, was transformed into Clube Académico de Coimbra (CAC). The current name, AAC-OAF, was adopted on the joint initiative of the General Board of Academica de Coimbra (Direcção-Geral da Associação Académica de Coimbra (DG-AAC)) and the Board of the Academic Club of Coimbra (Clube Académico de Coimbra (CAC)), and it was approved by the General Board of Associação Académica de Coimbra (DG-AAC) and by the General Assembly of CAC in 1984. By these statutes, a legally-binding link to the student association AAC and its university, the University of Coimbra (UC), was preserved in favour of AAC-OAF. The Associação Académica de Coimbra - Secção de Futebol (AAC-SF) amateur football team, which also belongs to the Associação Académica de Coimbra students association (students union) of the University of Coimbra, was reinstated in 1977 operating as a sports section of AAC and has been in operation as a student-only football team, usually playing in the lower, regional non-professional football leagues. The AAC-SF section, the non-professional football team made of students, and the AAC-OAF, the professional and autonomous football club, share the same crest and colors displayed on the clothes or uniforms of their sports players, as well as the same parent organization (which is the students' union or association Associação Académica de Coimbra that houses several sections for a multitude of other sports operating under the same name and crest as well).
Académica de Coimbra won the 1938–39 Taça de Portugal, the inaugural staging of the competition; they defeated S.L. Benfica 4–3 in the final. In 1966–67, the club finished as Primeira Liga runners-up to Benfica (best-ever finish), and lost the cup final 3–2 after extra time to Vitória de Setúbal. Two years later, a cup-final defeat to Benfica meant that the team competed in Europe for the first time, entering the 1969–70 Cup Winners' Cup and losing in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Manchester City via a single extra-time goal.
Académica de Coimbra moved frequently between the top two divisions in the years that followed. Under João Alves, they ended a three-year exile by winning promotion in 2001–02 as runners-up to Moreirense FC. Following a decade of almost exclusively bottom-half finishes, the team won its first silverware in 73 years when they took the cup in 2012, Marinho scoring the only goal after four minutes against Sporting CP. This allowed them entry into the group stage of the UEFA Europa League – a first European campaign in 30 years. Eliminated in third place in the group, they managed one win, 2–0 at home to holders Atlético Madrid with a brace from Wilson Eduardo.
A 14-year spell in the top division ended for Académica de Coimbra in 2015–16, when they finished in last place.
On 4 November 2017, in honour of their 130th birthday, they joined the Club of Pioneers, a worldwide network of the oldest continuing football clubs from each country in the world, originally founded by Sheffield FC.
After the 2021-22 Liga Portugal 2 season, the club was relegated for the first time to the third tier of the Portuguese football pyramid.
The Associação Académica de Coimbra - Organismo Autónomo de Futebol filed for insolvency in September 2022. The club had overdue debts of more than 5.6 million euros, of which 1.9 million euros to the state, and had 3.1 million euros in defaults with suppliers and service providers. By June 2023, an intricate creative accounting process had been initiated by Académica de Coimbra O.A.F.'s administration board to allow its emergence from bankruptcy avoiding the extinction of the football club.
Grounds
The home ground it uses is the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra which has a capacity of 29,622 and belongs to the municipality's local government authority.
Honours Source: I Liga/I Divisão Runners-up (1): 1966–67 Taça de Portugal Winners: 1938–39, 2011–12 Runners-up (3): 1950–51, 1966–67, 1968–69 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira Runners-up (1): 2012 Campeonato de Portugal Runners-up (1): 1922–23 II Divisão Winners: 1948–49, 1972–73
League and cup history
Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA PCupLeague CupEuropeOther competitionsTop-scorer(s)1934–35CL814111214493Last 16Rui Cunha (5)1935–36CL814111213513Last 16Rui Cunha (6)1936–37CL514518243011Last 16Alberto Gomes (6)1937–38CL614509233710Quarter-finalsMário Cunha (6)1938–391D514437273911WinnerArnaldo Carneiro (14)1939–401D618738425417Last 16Alberto Gomes (8)1940–411D514437324111Quarter-finalsPeseta (9)1941–421D5221309775126Last 16Nini Conceição (9)1942–431D6186210546014Last 16Alberto Gomes (9)1943–441D918301535686Semi-finalsAlberto Gomes (6)1944–451D918411333659Last 16Nini Conceição (4)1945–461D10227213517616Last 16Bentes (13)1946–471D11268414499620not heldBentes (16)1947–481D142642202511310Last 16Bentes (11)1948–492D1141004461420Last 16Bentes (?)1949–501D7268810565724not heldMacedo (21)1950–511D82610412405324FinalMacedo (10)1951–521D7268612394722Last 16Bentes (14)1952–531D11267514395719Last 16Bentes (14)1953–541D13268216295018Last 16Francisco André (11)1954–551D62610511535225Semi-finalsFrancisco André (15)1955–561D13268315365219Last 16Faia (15)1956–571D62612410453328Quarter-finalsFrancisco André (16)1957–581D92610412454024Quarter-finalsFrancisco André (17)1958–591D10268513454621Last 16Chipenda (11)1959–601D626899404125Last 64Miranda (9)1960–611D72610610312926Last 64Jorge Humberto (10)1961–621D10269413445422Last 16Gaio (21)1962–631D10268315495019Last 16João Lourenço (24)1963–641D92611312434825Last 32Oliveira Duarte (9)1964–651D4261628584034Last 32Manuel António (20)1965–661D626989584826Last 64Ernesto (17)1966–671D2261844501840FinalArtur Jorge (25)1967–681D4261556532435Last 16Artur Jorge (28)1968–691D6261268483230FinalFC1st roundManuel António (19)1969–701D10268612424622Last 16CWCQuarter-finalsNene (11)1970–711D5261376382433Last 32Manuel António (9)1971–721D15307716293821Last 32UC1st roundManuel António (12)1972–732D1302253661449Last 16Manuel António (23)1973–741D103087152945235th roundVala (9)1974–751D143076173347205th roundManecas (7)1975–761D113079143247235th roundVala (8)1976–771D53014610292534Last 64Joaquim Rocha (13)1977–781D83011415414926Last 128Joaquim Rocha (15)1978–791D15305817204118Quarter-finalsGregório Freixo (4)1979–802D1301992571347Last 32Eldon (16)1980–811D16304620165814last 32Eldon (8)1981–822D23018102591346Last 128Eldon (21)1982–832D2302163743248Semi-finalsEldon (42)1983–842D1301974582245Last 128Camegim (12)1984–851D73012513454729Last 16Pedro Xavier (13)1985–861D10309714283825Quarter-finalsPedro Xavier (9)1986–871D103071211223426Last 128Reinaldo Silva (5)1987–881D1638915143242333rd roundQuinito (6)1988–892D23421103662352Last 32Rúbens Feijão (22)1989–902D434195105534431st roundEldon (11)1990–912H638171011413244Last 32Lewis (13)1991–922H6341311103725374th roundLewis (11)1992–932H43419785639455th roundLatapy (12)1993–942H534174133930384th roundLewis (7)1994–952H734139124139355th roundFebras (9)1995–962H1534118153848415th roundFebras (8)1996–972H334177103921586th roundMiguel Bruno (12)1997–981D1534812142741364th roundJoão Tomás (7)1998–991D183449213071214th roundDário (8)1999–20002H53416995537576th roundJoão Tomás (19)2000–012H834146145148484th roundDário (21)2001–022H234171166049626th roundDário (17)2002–031D153481313384837Quarter-finalsDário (11)2003–041D1334115184042385th roundJoeano (6)2004–051D1434911142941386th roundDário (6)2005–061D143410915374839Quarter-finalsJoeano (13)2006–071D13306816284626Quarter-finalsLino (5)2007–081D1230614103138323rd round2nd roundLito (9)2008–091D7301009112832394th round3rd roundLito (7)2009–101D11300809133742334th roundSemi-finalsSougou (9)2010–111D1430070914324830Semi-finals2nd roundMiguel Fidalgo (8)2011–121D13307815273829Winner2nd roundEdinho (5)2012–131D113061014334528Quarter-finals3rd roundELGroup stageSupertaçaRUEdinho (13)2013–141D830 91011253537Quarter-finals2nd roundMarcos Paulo (5)2014–151D1534 4 17 1326 46 293rd round3rd roundRui Pedro (6)2015–161D1834 5 10 1932 60 255th round2nd roundPedro Nuno (4)2016–172H642 17 11 1442 35 62Quarter-finalsFirst roundRui Miguel (10)2017–182H438 19 6 1359 40 635th roundFirst roundDonald Djoussé (11)2018–192H534 15 6 1336 37 512nd roundFirst roundHugo Almeida (10)
Note
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Records and statistics
Most appearances Competitive, professional matches only, appearances as substitute included in total. #NameCareerAppearances1 Pedro Rocha1986–044552 Vasco Gervásio1962–794303 Pedro Roma1990–92 / 1994–093864 Augusto Rocha1956–713735 Mário Torres1950–663736 Vítor Campos1963–763457 Bentes1945–603288 Rui Rodrigues1962–71 / 1976–793109 Tomás Fernandes1980–9029810 Mito1985–90 / 1993–98288
Núcleo de Veteranos AAC
Most goals Competitive, professional matches only, appearances as substitute included in total. #NameCareerGoals1 Bentes1945–601672 Manuel António1964–65 / 1968–771533 Eldon1978–83 / 1987–901344 Artur Jorge1965–69945 Dário1996–05916 Francisco André1953–59817 Alberto Gomes1936–44 / 1947–49678 Gaio1959–64659 Ernesto de Sousa1965–686410 Augusto Rocha1956–7159
Núcleo de Veteranos AAC
Coaches
José Maria Pedroto (1962 – 1964) Artur Jorge (16 December 2002 – 28 August 2003) Vítor Oliveira (29 August 2003 – 26 January 2004) João Carlos Pereira (1 February 2004 – 22 December 2004) Nelo Vingada (23 December 2004 – 6 May 2006) Manuel Machado (15 May 2006 – 10 September 2007) Domingos Paciência (12 September 2007 – 31 May 2009) Rogério Gonçalves (9 June 2009 – 4 October 2009) André Villas-Boas (14 October 2009 – 2 June 2010) Jorge Costa (8 June 2010 – 21 December 2010) José Guilherme (26 December 2010 – 21 February 2011) Ulisses Morais (23 February 2011 – 17 May 2011) Pedro Emanuel (14 June 2011 – 7 April 2013) Sérgio Conceição (8 April 2013 – 26 May 2014)