Casa Pia A.C.

Casa Pia Atlético Clube is a professional football club founded in 1920 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Liga Portugal 2. The club is named after Casa Pia, a Portuguese children's charity, and many of its athletes come from that institution. Its football stadium is "Estádio Pina Manique", after Pina Manique, the founder of Casa Pia children's charity.
Casa Pia had four players at the first match of Portugal national football team, in Madrid, at 18 December 1921, which finished in a 1–3 loss. Casa Pia player Cândido de Oliveira was the captain. Casa Pia promoted from Serie E of Terceira Divisão to Centre Group of Portuguese Second Division in 2009–10 season as champions. They were promoted again to LigaPro in 2019.
History.
The Athletic Club “Casa Pia” is a centenary club. It was founded on the third July 1920 by several Portuguese personalities of the time, namely Ricardo Ornelas, David Ferreira, Mário da Silva Marques and António Pinho. Most important of all was Cândido de Oliveira, national instructor and Benfica player, as well as co-founder of the Abola newspaper along with Vicente de Melo e Ribeiro dos Reis.
The club is intrinsically linked to its mother house , Lisbon Casa Pia, a public institution which is responsible for the promotion of the rights and protection of children and youngsters, being one of the bastions of the sport, culture and solidarity in Portugal.
The “Geese” as they are known, are in the genesis of the football’s outline in Portugal, after a victory upon the British masters of Carcavelos club in 1898. Throughout the history, the Athletic Club “Casa Pia” has already had 25 different modalities, thus being one of the most eclectic Portuguese clubs.
Football has always been the main modality of the “Casa Pia” club. However, it ended up to be Mário da Silva Marques, one of the club founders, and outstanding swimmer, to be the first sportsman to represent officially the club in a festival in Alcântara docks. Some days after he conquered the Naval Association Cup in a 400 metres style competition. This was the first club’s trophy.
Regarding football, “Casa Pia” conquered its first trophy against the “red ones” by 2-1, accomplishing the “Herculano Santos”  bronze. This game had Cosma Damião as referee, a member of “Casa Pia”, eleventh president of Athletic Club “Casa Pia” (CPAC) and founder of     “ Sport Lisboa and Benfica” . The captain of the team was Cândido de Oliveira, on the third October 1920.
On the debut era , “Casa Pia” won (with no defeats) the Lisbon Regional Championship and the Lisbon Cup. Moreover, it still gathered the success on the dispute with the North Champion Oporto Football Club in the 27th July Cup. This was the final rehearsal for the Portugal’s championship which began the following year.
At that time, on the team stood out one of the club founders, Cândido de Oliveira, who grew up on the Lisbon Royal Casa Pia, founded by the steward Pina Manique in the end of the eighteenth century, who gave his name to the stadium where the football team plays nowadays  (Pina Manique Stadium).
In the first four years they have competed, the Geese won the Lisbon Championship three times. Their reputation grew and, in 1925, the club was invited for the inauguration of the Amoreiras Stadium , formerly property of Benfica and considered to be by then the best stadium in Portugal and Spain. Previously it has already been inaugurated Sevilha and Vitória de Setúbal  Campus in 1921.
Around 1938/39, and for the first time in Portugal, it was disputed the National Championship of the first division and the Portugal Cup, one of the most important football competitions in Portugal. “Casa Pia” football team attended the debut of these two national historical competitions. Nevertheless, its participation on the National Championship of the first division of the season of 1938/39 was, until then, the sole presence of the Lisbon club on the main Portuguese football performance. The geese occupied the last place of the first National Championship of the first division, where also participated  the Oporto football club, Sporting CP, SL Benfica, Académica de Coimbra, FC Barreirense and Académico do Porto. The team won only one game; apart from it, it lost the rest of the thirteen games of the National Championship of 1938/39.
In 2020/2021 “Casa Pia” marked its seventy first participation in National Championships, beginning in 1938/39, the only time that the club was in the first division, playing in Restelo Campus, expropriated by the New State to the realization of the Portuguese World Exhibition.
In 2018/2019, and after conquering the title on the Portugal Championship, the CPAC rose, for the first time to the second league, founding  a SDUQ ( Sportive unipersonal society by quotas) for the due effect. It was on that competition that began the 2020/2021 season, interrupted by Covid-19 pandemic. The descend of Vitória de Setúbal and Aves, made possible the maintenance of the geese on the Portugal Football professional championships.
NATIONAL SELECTION /TEAM.
On the 18th December 1921, the year after the club foundation, the Portuguese football selection disputed the first official game of its history, in Madrid, competing with Spain. On that game, took part six players from “Casa Pia”, among them, Cândido de Oliveira, the first Captain of the selection.
The first Portuguese selection wore black; the colour of “Casa Pia”. The club lent the equipments which were the symbol of the Athletic Club “casa Pia” whose players wore with proud.
Records and statistics.
The club has a single presence at the top level of Portuguese football.