Atlético Clube de Portugal is a sports club from the Alcântara district in the west of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, who were formed on the 18th September 1942 following the merger of Carcavelinhos Football Clube and União Football Lisboa.
The club has sections for futsal, swimming, hockey, basketball, triathlon, gymnastics, and bingo, but it is as a football club that Atlético is best known. União Football Lisboa was formed on the 3rd March 1910 by a group of enthusiasts from Santo Amaro.
They were initially called Grupo dos 15. Carcavelinhos
Football Clube was formed in 1912. On formation, the club moved into their Estádio da Tapadinha, and by 1943-44. Atlético CP, as they are often known, had joined the Primeira Divisão, the top flight of Portuguese football.
In 1946, the team reached the final of the Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup) but lost out 4-2 to Sporting CP at Estádio Nacional, Jamor. The side reappeared in the 1949 Taça final at the same venue, but on that occasion they lost 2-1 to SL Benfica, while they continued life in the Primeira Divisão
The team achieved a couple of top-three finishes before being relegated in 1956-57 to Segunda Divisão. Promotion
back to the top tier was achieved in 1958-59, where they remained until the
conclusion of the 1962-63 campaign. Another promotion came in 1965-66, but this
time Atlético’s spell amongst the elite lasted just one season.
After
an absence of two further seasons spent in Segunda Divisão, Atlético once again
bounced back to appear in top-flight football. The 1976-77 season saw the team
finish bottom of the table to be demoted once again. This time, the drop from
the top flight would be terminal.
The
club spent the 1999-00 season in the fourth tier before making an immediate
return under head coach António Veloso. They were to go back down to the fourth level, Terceira Divisão in
2001-02. The team won the regional Série F title in 2003-04 before returning to
the fourth tier after just one season with Luís Perdigão in charge of the team.
Bruno
Baltazar took over for the following season before he was replaced as early as
August by the Spaniard boss Gorka
Etxeberria. He, in turn, resigned in November with Professor Neca arriving as his
replacement. The team skippered by Hugo Carreira finished bottom of the table
but avoided relegation.
Atlético were
relegated in 2015-16 before a disastrous 2016-17 campaign saw the side finish
bottom of Serie E of the third-tier Campeonato de Portugal. They accumulated
enough points in the relegation group to earn a play-off match, which was lost
on aggregate to CD Gouveia, with Carlos Alves in charge of the team.
Placed in
regional football, Atlético were thrown out of the AF Lisboa Divisão
Pro-Nacional competition after being unable to fulfil two fixtures. The football
club started again in the sixth tier AF Lisboa 2ª Primeira Divisão Série 2. Rui Santos was appointed as head coach in 2018-19 as league restructuring saw Atlético move up to the fifth level, Divisão 1ª Campeonato.
Promotion was won in 2021-22 to the fourth-tier Campeonato de Portugal after the appointment of new head coach Tiago Zorro. The title was won in 2022-23, leading to promotion to Liga 3, while the club was restructured, with 90% of the team purchased by Signature Football Holdings, an investment group led by former New York City council speaker Gifford Miller.
The promotion round was reached in Liga 3 in 2023-24, and once again the following year, before the appointment of new head coach Pedro D’Oliveira in July 2025.
Atlético CP will play in Liga 3 in the 2025-26 season.
My visit
Sunday
14th February 2016
At
least there were some breaks in the clouds as I emerged from my self-contained
apartment in Lisbon’s old town of Alfama. The previous day had been absolutely
miserable, and my trainers hadn’t even dried out properly.
Rather
than going home for a change, I had gone straight out and gone to bed early,
meaning a good start to my Sunday expeditions. The sun even appeared, giving
the backdrop a beautiful lease of life.
Eventually, after asking a local, I found the correct bus stop for the number 760 bus at Pç.
Comércio. I knew I was on the right service as the destination read Cemitério
da Ajuda on the front. It was a busy bus which went along the waterfront before
cutting into the hill near the dramatic Golden Gate style Ponte 25 de Abril
bridge over the Tagus.
Inadvertently, I got off a couple of stops early by a parade of shops on R 1 de Maio and had
to walk up the hill along Calcada da Tapana and under the raised bridge
approach before a final climb up R Prof Vieira Natividade.
I
wandered round to the main entrance to find an open gate. A groundsman was
working in his garage with his dog keeping guard. Fortunately, it seemed to be a
friendly pet, or did it appreciate groundhoppers respecting its club?
Estádio
da Tapadinha was another cracking venue. Once again, whitewash had been used on
all the terraces, but it looked cared for. Three sides had a continuous open, steep stepped terrace, with the final main side having a long covered VIP and
media area along the top.
The river end had no spectator accommodation, but
what I imagined to be a long trek to fetch back any errant shots on goal. A lovely feature was stone footballs on either side of several gates leading to the pitch at the front of the stand.
Such attention to detail would enhance so
many other soulless venues. As I wandered back out, I heard the noise of a game
in progress on the second pitch behind the top goal, but time was against me in going for a look. Instead, I wandered back down the hill to take a tram to Belem for a look at my second
club of the day, Belenenses.