The then president of Chelas Football Club, Rui de Seixas, first mooted the idea of a single club to represent the eastern part of the city in a newspaper interview in January 1936. The idea was initially rejected, but after World War II, it was wholeheartedly accepted.
Hundreds
of members joined the new club, which would develop with departments in
handball, volleyball, chess, hockey, table tennis, basketball, triathlon,
gymnastics, swimming, and self-defence. However, it would be through the
football section that eventually turned professional that Oriental is best
known.
Azinhaga dos Alfinetes was already in use staging the matches of Marvilense, but for the club to progress, it required a larger home stadium. Land on the east side was developed as
Campo Engenheiro Carlos Salema was opened in 1949, with the name given in honour of its architect.
By
1950-51, Oriental had reached the Primeira Divisão. It required a further
upgrade of the stadium, which was achieved in record time, while the team
finished in fifth place. The team suffered relegation the season after, but
returned at the first attempt. At this point, a decision was made to rotate the
pitch by ninety degrees.
Once again, the work was carried out on time. The ground reopened with a 3-0 top-flight victory against Belenenses in January 1954. However, the club would once more be relegated at the end of the season before they appointed the Hungarian coach, Sándor Peics, and then his compatriot János Biri.
Oriental
returned to the Primeira Divisão for the 1956-57 season, but they went back
down after a two-season period. During the 1960’s the club dropped down to the
third tier, Terceira Divisão Portuguesa, before climbing their way back and
eventually making the Primeira Divisão for the 1973-74 campaign.
This was under the guidance of Pedro Gomes, who was involved in his first of three spells in charge of the team before being replaced by José Cordeiro, who in turn was succeeded by Costa Pereira after relegation to Segunda Divisão followed at the end of the 1974-75 season.
The club found
itself playing the majority of its football in Terceira Divisão. Despite hopes
of developing Campo Engenheiro Carlos Salema further, tragedy struck following
a game in the Taça de Portugal on 22nd February 1977, when a stand
collapsed, at a time that Miguel Vinueza was in charge of the team.
It was thought this was due to a water well being buried under the previous construction works. This was believed to have caused the collapse of the pillars. Not to be beaten, Oriental rebuilt the stadium. The club found itself in the Segunda Divisão in the 1988-89 campaign, from where the team was relegated from Zona Sul under coach Rui Silva.
By
1990–91, the Segunda Divisão B had become the third tier of Portuguese football,
from where Oriental were relegated down to the fourth level, Terceira Divisão.
Promotion from Série F followed in 1992-93. As the decade neared its end, the
team pushed for a further promotion.
Unfortunately, the hard work was undone with relegation from Zona Sul back down to Terceira
Divisão. Oriental typically fought back and lifted the Série F divisional title
at the first attempt to return to the third tier for 2002-03 with Carlos Eduardo before he was replaced by Fernando Chalana. The 2005-06 season
saw the team go down once again.
Winning the Série E Promotion Group in 2007-08 led to promotion back to the Segunda Divisão. A few seasons of steady finishes led to Oriental becoming members of the newly named third-tier Campeonato Nacional de Seniores for 2013-14 after coach João Barbosa had enjoyed his first of two spells at the helm.
Having
finished in the promotion group places of Serie G, the team went on to once
again reach the second-tier Segunda Liga. A
mid-table finish under coach João Barbosa saw the team retain their place for 2015-16.
The second tier was renamed LigaPro for the 2015-16 campaign, as Jorge Andrade was in charge, as the team was relegated to Serie G of Campeonato de Portugal after a spell under Litos. Oriental ended the 2016-17 campaign in sixth before a further demotion was averted.
Oriental finished as runners-up of Serie E in the streamlined competition in 2017-18 before finishing fourth in Serie D, as Campeonato was further reduced after the appointment of coach João Silva. Francisco Barão was in charge during the complicated period surrounding the worldwide pandemic.
Mauro Bastos was the next Oriental coach as the side was relegated in 2020-21 before the appointment of André Tomaz as the side plied its trade in the AF Lisboa 1ª Divisão. The title was won under coach Tuck in 2022-23, leading to the side winning promotion to the fourth-tier Campeonato de Portugal.
The jump proved too steep, as Oriental went back down to AF Lisboa 1ª Divisão a year later, with Bruno Clara being given the coach's job. He took the side to the title and a return to the Campeonato de Portugal, where they were placed in Série D.
Clube Oriental de Lisboa will play in the Campeonato de Portugal Série D in the 2025-26 season.
My
visit
Monday
16th February 2016
It
was the last day of my adventure around Lisbon and its surrounding area. I had
been absolutely soaked the previous day on my travels and at the game in
Estoril, meaning an early night trying to dry out my clothes and trainers and
avert a cold.
Originally, I had planned to visit Oriental on my opening day, but my phone battery had
gone dead, meaning it would have been pointless. It seemed an easy enough place
to get to from my apartment in Almafa, so I figured that a Monday morning visit
followed by sightseeing was a good solution.
I
knew that the 759 bus went right by the ground from Santa Apolónia station.
However, the stop seemed to say that it only ran at night. Surely this was
wrong? I was having trouble getting the internet to work on my iPhone, so it
was time for some thinking on my feet.
A
map in the station indicated that the Bela Vista Metro station was the nearest
transport link. I took the train and alighted. Checking the excellent bus
timetable and guides that had assisted me so much, I discovered that the 793
bus went nearby.
Watching
out of the windows, I saw the floodlights perched on top of a hill a few hundred
yards away. I jumped out at the next stop and made my way to the top end of the
ground. It looked like my luck was out as the gates were locked, until I
managed to climb a small bank to see inside the stadium. I noticed that men
were working on the pitch. Just where had they got in?
Walking
down the side along a wide path and downhill, I found the main entrance. Players
were about to start training, but a club official still allowed me inside and
opened the gate so I could climb the steps up to the terracing.
Campo Engenheiro Carlos Salema really was my type of old stadium. It had obviously seen better days, but it had plentiful steep terracing and real character.
The
only covered accommodation was on the opposite side by way of a low-seated
stand built into the banking. The rest of the ground consisted of terracing and
banking. The club end had no room for spectators.
On the way out, I gave a courteous “obrigado” to the kind gent who’d started off my happy Monday. During my visit, I noticed a lot of buses passing the stadium. I waited at the stop across the road, where a smiling old gent tried to make conversation.
He seemed
to be indicating that I was in the right place before clearing off after ten
minutes! As it was, I remembered where I should have caught the bus if I had
visited on the Friday as planned.
Alighting from the first bus, I caught the 759 all the way back to Santa Apolónia, finding the ideal store for fresh and cooked food at the station. It wasn’t the cheapest, but still a lot better than the convenience stores nearer my room. I went back for a lovely chicken, bread, and soup lunch to reflect on a groundhopping job well done.
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