Tiny club on ‘haven of volcanic islands’ in middle of North Atlantic Ocean qualifies for Conference League
TEAMS playing in next season’s Conference League will be treated to an unusual venue – in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
C.D Santa Clara, who play in Portugal‘s top flight, secured a fifth-place finish on Saturday.
The club beat Farense 2-1 to book their place in next season’s Conference League qualifiers.
Saturday’s win secured a best-ever Primeira Liga finish for the club, who are located on the tiny Atlantic archipelago of the Azores.
Santa Clara are the only team from the stunning volcanic islands to have ever competed in a Uefa competition.
The Azores are made up of nine main islands situated around 870 miles west of Lisbon.
It is the outermost region of the European Union and became an autonomous region of Portugal in 1976.
Santa Clara are based in the capital city of Ponta Delgada, which has a population of just over 70,000 and is located on Sao Miguel Island.
The club made their European football bow back in 2002, replacing fellow Portuguese side Vitoria in the Intertoto Cup.
And they made their Conference League debut almost two decades later after a sixth-place finish in 2021.
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Santa Clara will enter next season’s competition at the second qualifying round.
They almost made the group stages four years ago, falling to Serbian side Partizan Belgrade in the final qualifier.
Should they make it this time, fans will face around a 7-hour trip to the club’s 12,500-seater Estadio de Sao Miguel.
Flights to the Azores from the UK are mostly via Lisbon, with travel between the different islands tricky.
One fan wrote on X following Saturday’s game: “Santa Clara vs [Kazakstan side] Astana, let’s make it happen.”
Another laughed: “Mid Atlantic trip!”
While a third added: “I hope the record for most km traveled in an European game is set if they get like a team from Azerbaijan. Teams will be lucky to visit Azores, it’s a great place.”