Club Sport Marítimo MH M (), commonly known as Marítimo or Marítimo da Madeira, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in the city of Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Established in 1910, Marítimo is best known for its football team currently playing in the first tier Primeira Liga. The club's female team also feature in the top-tier Campeonato Nacional Feminino. Aside from football, Marítimo have teams in other sports competing in national leagues, such as volleyball, handball, roller hockey and athletics.
The football club has won one major trophy, the Campeonato de Portugal in 1926. After a long period of being restricted to regional competitions, Marítimo made their inaugural appearance in the national league in 1973 and four years later became the first club based outside Portuguese continental territory to achieve promotion to the top division in 1977. Since then the club has played 43 seasons in the highest tier of Portuguese league football – ranking 10th on the all-time list – as well as being finalists of the Taça de Portugal twice, finalists of the Taça da Liga twice, winning the Segunda Divisão three times and achieving nine appearances in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. Marítimo's most recent foray into European competition came in 2017, though their best performance was during the 2012–13 season, finishing third in the Europa League group stage.
History
Marítimo was founded on 20 September 1910 as Club Português de Sport Marítimo, by Cândido Fernandes de Gouveia. The club adopted the red and green colours of the new Republican flag of Portugal to distinguish themselves from rivals Club Sports da Madeira, who used the blue and white colours of the old monarchy flag which had been replaced 15 days earlier. The name Marítimo, meaning Maritime in English, was used to reflect the fact that many of the team's players were workers of the nearby Funchal docks, a prominent employer at the time. The first ever match for Marítimo was a 2–1 win against Santa Clara, a select team composed of workers of the Western Telegraph Company. Soon after they began playing teams of sailors from visiting British ships. José Rodrigues Barrinhas, an old-fashioned attacking centre-half, made a name for himself in these games and in matches against rivals CS Madeira.
In 1921–22, the Portuguese clubs started playing a new national competition. The Campeonato de Portugal, played on a knock-out-basis (similar to the current Taça de Portugal), was the first national competition. After competing in the regional championships, the regional winners competed together to pick the Champion of Portugal. Marítimo make 13 appearances in the 17 editions of the competition.Lisboa, Agosto 2007 "Guia de Futebol 2007/2008", editado pelo Jornal Record, pág.112 After several attempts, the club finally won the Campeonato de Portugal in 1925–26. In the semi-final against Porto, Marítimo won 7–1, and in the final against Belenenses Marítimo won 2–0. It was after this great achievement that Marítimo was called "The Greatest of the Islands".
In the early 1930s, the club faced a serious financial crisis, although this did not affect its supremacy in the regional competitions. However, in 1934, a new national competition called Primeira Liga was created, in which teams outside the continental territory were excluded. Nevertheless, in 1938–39 the teams from the islands started to participate in the Taça de Portugal, after the champions of Madeira and Azores played a qualification round between themselves. Being excluded from competing in the Primeira Liga, the club continued playing in regional competitions. It was in this period that Marítimo won many of the Regional Championships. In 1950, the team went through an amazing tour of Africa in which they made some great achievements.
After arduous negotiations with the Portuguese Football Federation, it was established that the winner in the regional championship of 1972–73 could play a qualifying round with the last of the Segunda Divisão and the first of the Terceira Divisão. Marítimo won that regional championship and started to participate in the national championships. They therefore became the first team from a Portuguese island to participate in the national championship. Maritimo's record of 35 Madeira Championships won between 1916 and 1973 still stands.
The consequences of long years without being able to compete regularly in national competitions were visible in the beginning. The fact that the island was not able to put teams in national competitions showed the discrepancies in terms of infrastructures and organization between the regional and national reality. Yet in the 1976–77 season the club wins the II Divisão and rises to the Portuguese First Division, remaining there for over three seasons. Due to the existing semi-professionalism and some logistical difficulties, the club is relegated to Second Division in 1980–181, rising immediately next season, winning for the second time the II Divisão. After two seasons the club returns to Primeira Liga in the 1982–83 season. Since then the club has remained in the Primeira Liga, consolidating its status as a team that consistently finishes in the top ten and competes for European qualification.
Until the early 1990s, the club's best result in the Primeira Liga was ninth place in the 1987–88 season.Lisboa, Agosto 2007 "Guia de Futebol 2007/2008", editado pelo Jornal Record, pág.266 The entry of a young coach, ambitious Brazilian Paulo Autuori, brought greater internal organisation and attractive attacking football, so that in the 1991–92 campaign the club reached seventh place. The 1992–93 season saw a "wonder-trio" (Ademir, Edmilson and Jorge Andrade) drive the club to have the third best attack in the league, with 56 goals. European qualification came on the final day of the season, with a 3–2 victory against Boavista earning a 5th place finish and qualification to the UEFA Cup. Again the club was a pioneer, being the first Portuguese island-based team to achieve qualification for European competitions. That same season is also notable for the home wins against Sporting (4–2) and Gil Vicente (7–0).
The club's first foray in Europe saw them defeated by Royal Antwerp in the first round of the 1993–94 UEFA Cup, however another fifth place finish at the end of the 1993–94 league campaign saw an immediate return to European competition for the 1994–95 UEFA Cup. A 1–0 win over Aarau saw the club earn their first European victory, before being eliminated by eventual finalists Juventus in the second round, with a 1–3 defeat on aggregate. Another great achievement was made during the season when the club qualified to the Taça de Portugal final for the first time in its history, after defeating Porto in the semi-finals 1–0. Marítimo disputed the final against Sporting, but lost 2–0 to a team featuring stars such as Luís Figo, Ricardo Sá Pinto, Ivaylo Yordanov and Krasimir Balakov. Six years later, in the 2000–01 season, Marítimo achieved another final appearance, after defeating Boavista in the semi-final 1–0. This time Marítimo played the final against Porto, losing again 2–0.
Throughout the early 2000s, the club achieved consistent top six finishes and featured regularly in European competitions, with memorable victories against Leeds United and Rangers. In the 2012–13 season, Marítimo qualified for the Europa League group stages for the first time, finishing third with a win against Club Brugge and two draws against Newcastle United.
In the 2014–15 season, Maritimo reached the Taça da Liga final for the first time ever, beating Porto in the semi-final but then losing to Benfica 2–1 in the final. The following season they repeated this feat, playing against Benfica again in the final, but losing 6–2. From then, the team suffered a steady decline, narrowly escaping relegation in the 2020–21 season, by 1 point, before finally yielding in 2022–23 ending a 38-year streak in the top division.
The team almost bounced straight back in the 2023–24 season, missing out on the promotion play-offs due to head-to-head results with third-place AVS. After three seasons in the Segunda Liga, on 26 April 2026, Marítimo finally secured their return to the top flight with 2–1 victory away to Benfica B, infront of 1,312 visiting Verde-Rubros supporters. A week later, on 1 May, Marítimo were crowned as league champions of the Segunda Liga following a 3–2 home victory over Leixões, infront of more than 10,000 fans at Estádio do Marítimo.
Colours and crest
Since the very beginning of the club's history, red and green have been the official colours. In 1910, the club adopted the red and green colours of the new Republican flag of Portugal to distinguish themselves from rivals Club Sports da Madeira, who used the blue and white colours of the old monarchy flag which had been replaced 15 days after the club's foundation, following the 5 October 1910 revolution.
Although there is no date or author, the first crest clearly refers to the maritime origins of the club, which is stated in the paddle, the float, the harpoon, and the anchor. The ball in the badge represents the sport played in the club.
For the 1916–17 season, a new crest was created by José Inês Ramos, a designer at an Embroidery House in Funchal. The new crest maintains the maritime roots of the club, expressed in the ship's wheel. However a Lion was included in the new crest, which was to symbolize the strength of the new Champion of Madeira. Since then the crest has remained the same, with only some minor graphical changes over the years. The crest was updated again in 1999 to a modern version, following the formation of the SAD organisation, however the classic logo remained on the team jerseys until 2008. In 2022, the club announced the return of the classic crest, used from 1916 to 1999, as the primary logo.
Kit evolution
Kit sponsorship Period Kit manufacturer Principle sponsor1987–1988UmbroMadeira Tourism1988–1989Hummel1989–1991Banif Financial GroupMadeira Tourism1991–1992DiadoraBanco BCI1992–1993O Madeirense1993–1994HummelGrupo SáMadeira Tourism1994–1995OlympicBanif Financial Group1995–1996Saillev1996–2001Grupo Sá 2001–2002Lotto2002–2005Banif Financial Group2005–2008Tepa2008–2015Lacatoni2015Nike2015–2019Santander2019–2022Betano2022–2026PumaCoral CervejaMadeira Tourism2026–HummelbwinMadeira Tourism
Support Supporters of Marítimo are known as Marítimistas. The club has around 12,000 registered members (known as sócios), ranking Marítimo as the 6th most supported club in Portugal; in their most recent season in the Primeira Liga, Marítimo also had the 6th highest average home match attendance. The club has three predominant supporter groups, the Claque Esquadrão Marítimista, the Ultras Templários and the Ultras Fanatics 13.
The club's official anthem, "Marcha do Marítimo", was sung for the first time in 1950 following the successful Tour of Africa. Additional club anthems include "Maritimo, o Glorioso!", written by João Luís Mendonça, and "Duas Vezes Madeirense".
Famous persons who have publicly shown their support for Marítimo include businessman Joe Berardo, international footballer Cristiano Ronaldo - both are registered sócios of the club - and former president of the Regional Government of Madeira, Alberto João Jardim. Musician and 2017 Eurovision Song Contest winner Salvador Sobral has occasionally been seen wearing a Marítimo shirt during performances, and a viral video of indie band NAPA showed the group singing the club's anthem, Marcha do Marítimo, prior to their appearance at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.