sporting's new beginning

Opinion: Sporting’s new beginning
An exciting future in prospect at the Alvalade
The Alvalade StadiumSomething is afoot at Sporting, and it’s a welcome sight. After a disastrous run stretching several years, with the Lisbon club finishing the last two seasons on 48 points and well behind top spot, the Lions appear to have refound their roar. Most importantly, it doesn’t seem like empty promises or lip service this time.

With Bettencourt running the show, Sporting’s strategy appeared to comprise of looking for former glory by tapping into older stars. You can say that they also did everything on the cheap, and it cost them. Maybe the most glaring mistake of the Bettencourt regime was their inability to bring Domingos Paciencia or Andre Villas-Boas to the Alvalade when given the chance.

That all changed with the surprise election of Godinho Lopes. Surprise, because like everything else it seems, corruption might have reared its ugly head in the ballot. The good news is that Godinho has been able to move forward quickly, and it all started with the appointment of Domingos Paciencia as Sporting’s new manager.

New approach
Right from the beginning the fans were notified of the huge turnover in the squad. This necessity has turned into a rebirth, and at a crazy pace. Lopes and Paciencia have gone out very quickly and put their stamp on this squad. Most surprisingly for fans is their willingness to sign young foreign players. Unlike Porto and Benfica, Sporting is still looked upon as Portugal’s foremost factory for developing talented youngsters. To say that young foreign talent is a surprise is an understatement in some circles.

What we do know for sure is that excitement is coming back to Sporting. With the signing of Rodriguez, Onyewu, Scharrs, and van Wolfswinkle, the spine of Sporting’s team has been improved greatly. There is both young and experienced talent in this squad. With Perreira and Carrico at the back, Santos and Matias in the middle, a veteran presence and a raft of exciting newcomers, a serious tilt at the championship no longer sounds like an empty promise. Especially with more newcomers being mentioned every day.

Fans being mobilised
The transition hasn’t been on the field alone. All the talk about putting down carpet in the Alvalade has quietened down. After years of falling crowds, there was a slight uptick at the tail end of last season after the presidential elections. The board has once again begun reaching out to their fans. All new “Socios” who signed up on Friday 1 July, which marked the 105th anniversary of the club, did not have to pay registration. They will also get free tours of the stadium, museum and team bus. This was followed up by a publicity game at the Academy in Alcochete the next day, attended by team veterans, board members and public figures associated with Sporting.

The fact is that Sporting has always been Portugal’s second biggest team, and the fans will all come out again if they have a winning team to get behind. It seems that everything they tried in the last few seasons rebounded back off the woodwork. Well maybe, just maybe, they are shooting on target now. All that’s left to see is if it’s a goal or not.