Sporting CP (handball)

Handball was introduced in Sporting Clube de Portugal in 1932, under the influence of Salazar Carreira, who introduced the sport to the club. It was on 10 April that a Sporting Portugal team played its first game in the sport, then in the eleven-a-side variant, the only one practised at the time, with the team beating Centro de Armas 1-0. The first official match would take place a month later against the same opponent, on 15 May 1932. Indoor handball, which later became known as seven-a-side handball, was approved by the International Handball Federation in 1937, but the first demonstration of this variant in Portugal only took place on 12 September 1949 at the Cascais skating rink, when a Sporting team faced and beat another from Dramático de Cascais by 25-5, setting the tone for what would become one of the most emblematic sports in Portugal: Evaristo Ribeiro; Artur Mira and Rui Lanceiro; Fernando Nunes; Pereira de Sousa; Domingos Vicente and Joaquim Chagas, with Pinto dos Santos deputising. Officially, Sporting started seven-a-side handball in the 1950-51 season and the sport immediately took root in the club, winning the first national championship in Portugal the following season. Initially, the seven-a-side handball season began in the summer after the 11-a-side competitions had finished, which was justified by the fact that the players were practically the same. Sporting dominated Portuguese handball, particularly in the sixties and seventies and even in the eighties, with emphasis on the period from 1966 to 1973, in which seven National Championships were won in eight possible, five of which were consecutive, with a mythical team that became known as Os Sete Magníficos (The Magnificent Seven). In 1995, Sporting fans were forced to choose the modalities to keep in the club, due to financial problems, having chosen handball and futsal, leading to the closure of the basketball, rink hockey and volleyball sections (which in the meantime would be reactivated). Sporting CP completed the 2023-24 league season undefeated in its 22 home and away matches and completed its first domestic triple. They completed a second domestic triple in the 2025 season surpassing their northern rivals for domestic titles won. They also achieved its highest EHF Champions League 2024-25 placing, by reaching the quarter finals. ==Facilities==