SC BragaThe story behind SC Braga's colours is far more tangled than the club's nickname alone might suggest. Founded on 19 January 1921 in the city of Braga, in the Minho region — which gave rise to its other nickname, Os Guerreiros do Minho — the club was originally named Sporting Clube de Braga and wore green and white, modelled on Sporting Clube de Portugal, whom some of the club's founders admired. That same founding year, the colours were changed to red and white, this time in reference to Benfica, and the kit remained unchanged until the mid-1940s. It was only after the 1945–46 season, first for the reserve team and a year later for the first team, that the club adopted its now-familiar look — a red shirt with white sleeves, modelled on English side Arsenal. That final switch gave rise to the club's most recognisable nickname, Os Arsenalistas, and the club's youth team is still known today as Arsenal do Braga.
Since 2003, the team has played at the Estádio Municipal de Braga (around 30,300 capacity), one of European football's most distinctive grounds, with stands partly carved into the rock of a former quarry on Monte Castro hill. Much of the club's sporting and financial growth in the 21st century has been driven by president António Salvador, in office since 2001, under whose leadership Braga has firmly established itself among Portugal's most decorated clubs, alongside the traditional Big Three of Benfica, Porto and Sporting.
SC Braga have won the Taça de Portugal three times (1965–66, 2015–16, 2020–21) and the Taça da Liga on three occasions (2012–13, 2019–20, 2023–24). In Europe, the club won the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup — the only Portuguese side ever to do so — and reached the 2011 UEFA Europa League final in Dublin, where they lost to fellow Portuguese club FC Porto. Among the club's other notable moments is the 2016 Taça de Portugal final, where, after a 2-2 draw, Braga fell to Sporting CP only on penalties, as well as memorable campaigns in the Champions League group stage, where Braga has faced opponents including Olympique de Marseille.
One of the fiercest fixtures on the club's calendar remains the so-called Minho Derby, the rivalry with neighbouring Vitória de Guimarães, whose roots trace back to disputes between the two towns predating the founding of the Kingdom of Portugal itself. While this rivalry has little direct bearing on the club's European achievements, it remains a central part of the region's identity and of the passion of supporters who, for more than a century, have followed the fortunes of the team from Braga on both the domestic and international stage.
