Sporting Clube de Portugal B, otherwise referred to as Sporting CP B, is the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP, based in Lisbon.
The reserve teams in Portugal compete in the same league system as the senior main team, instead of a reserve teams league. However, the reserve teams cannot participate in the same division as the first team, which means that Sporting CP B is not eligible for promotion to the Primeira Liga and cannot compete in the Taça de Portugal or the Taça da Liga.
Sporting CP B plays at the Estádio Aurélio Pereira in the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo, located in Alcochete, which holds a seating capacity of 1,180 spectators.
Sporting CP B was founded in 2000 and competed in the third division of the Portuguese football league system until the end of the 2003âÂÂ2004 season, when it was dissolved.
It was during this period of the B team that Cristiano Ronaldo made his domestic senior football competition debut, in a 2âÂÂ1 defeat at the S.C. Lusitânia ground on 1 September 2002. His senior football debut happened on 14 August 2002, in the first team, against Inter Milan on the second leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.
In May 2012, the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional announced several changes to the second division of the Portuguese football league system, including an increase in the number of participating teams through the incorporation of five B teams from Primeira Liga clubs, including Sporting CP B. This change increased the number of matches to 42 per season and was implemented in the 2012âÂÂ2013 season.
In their first season after returning, Sporting B finished in fourth place (all-time best position), under the management of coaches Oceano Cruz and José Dominguez.
At the start of the 2013/2014 season, Sporting B represented the club in the Taça de Honra, played at the Estádio António Coimbra da Mota, due to the first team being in the United States playing pre-season matches. After defeating SL Benfica B in the semi-final, it beat the reserve team of G.D. Estoril Praia on penalties, winning the first trophy in the team's history.
In the 2017/2018 season, the team finished in 18th place, which resulted in relegation. This performance, together with the announcement of the establishment of a national under-23 championship, a new tier, to begin in the 2018/2019 season, in which Sporting CP will participate, culminated in the decision by president Bruno de Carvalho to terminate the B team.
Fulfilling one of his election promises and taking advantage of a reorganization in the third division of the Portuguese football league system, president Frederico Varandas announced, in 2019, the reactivation of the B, which returned to competition in the following season.
In the 2020/2021 season, Sporting CP B entered directly into the Campeonato de Portugal, which, due to being replaced in the following season by Liga 3 as the third division of the Portuguese football league system, allowed 22 teams to qualify for the new competition. By finishing second in the first qualifying phase, behind Estrela da Amadora, it failed to qualify directly, which forced it to compete in the second phase, where it finished in first place, qualifying for the new competition.
In 2021/2022, it made its debut in the new national competition, Liga 3. It remained in this division until the 2024/2025 season, when, despite changing coaches three times, it managed to finish fourth in the southern zone, which allowed it to compete in the championship play-offs. The team finished in second place, behind Lusitânia F.C., earning a direct promotion spot to Liga Portugal 2.
In 2025/2026, after eight seasons, Sporting CP returned to compete in Liga Portugal 2.
Staff