Associação Académica do Fogo is a football club that plays in the Campeonato Nacional de Cabo Verde and in the Fogo Island League in Cape Verde. It is based in the island of Fogo and plays in the stadium with a capacity of 1000. The logo and the uniform as well as other teams with the name Académica and Académico in Cape Verde is identical to Académica de Coimbra, it features the volcanic mountain on the right. The club name and the year of foundation are at the bottom. Académica do Fogo are one of the unrelegated clubs on the island which includes Vulcânicos and Botafogo.
Académica do Fogo is the second most successful club on the island, having won 16 official regional titles.
History The club was founded on November 18, 1962 (some sources stated as July) and is an affiliate of Académica de Coimbra. The club celebrated their 25th anniversary in 1987.
Académica played its first regional competition in 1976 after being registered. The first title the claimed for the island was in 1985, later, the team won two consecutive titles in 1987 in 1988.
Académica won two straight regional cup titles in 2002.
In the national championships, In the 2002 season, they started with a 4–2 win over Académica Operária of Boa Vista and held it as the highest for two weeks, two losses followed including one to Sporting Praia, their position dropped to sixth. A two match winning streak was followed before their goal draw with Atlético was made, their position risen to fourth. After their bye week in week 7, two straight wins were made, each with five goals which was the season's fourth highest, first 5–1 over Sanjoanense of Santo Antão and their position risen to third, then 5–0 over the weak Académica da Brava. Along with Académico do Aeroporto and SC Atlético, the club had 16 points and was third, it was second ranked. From the reintroduction of the group stage in 2003 up until the stage changed in 2016, not a single club would have 16 points. As the national championships became three groups and each club has a six match regular season, still not a single club has over 16 points today. Académica do Fogo finished third, shared with SC Atletico and Académico do Aeroporto, they also had 5 wins and a draw, the difference was the club scored 21 goals, more than Académico do Aeroporto's 19 and Atlético's 17, it was also more than Batuque's 19 goals who was second.
Académica won a regional title in 2005 and headed to the nationals and played in Group A, no luck as their match with Sport Sal Rei Club (of Boa Vista Island) ended in a loss. A double goal draw with Paulense DC of Santo Antão was next. Académcia Fogo made a 6–1 win over Flor Jovem, champion of Santiago North. At the fourth round, they suffered a loss to Académica do Sal, the last season match, a 2–0 win over Ribeira Brava, champion of Sãp Nicolau. Académica finished third and failed to qualify into the playoff stage.
Académica's next two seasons were in the moderate range in Fogo. But in 2008, another regional title was achieved in the Premier Division and another stint at the nationals was made, better than the one in 2005, again they played in Group A. Académica won the first three matches where they defeated Brava's GD Corôa, Boa Vista's Sal Rei and São Nicolau's Ribeira Brava. A goal draw with Académico do Aeroporto do Sal was made at round 4. The final match was a 3–0 loss to Sporting Praia, champion of Santiago South. Académica Fogo finished second with 10 points and 3 goals, sharing Académico do Aeroporto, Académica Fogo won 9, two more than the Sal-based club and headed into the playoff stage. Académica Fogo neither won two legs of the semis as they lost to São Vicente's FC Derby and was out from appearance at the finals.
Académica won two more straight Fogo Cup titles, first in 2008 after a 2–0 win over Valência, they did not head to the national cup as the competition was cancels, their recent one was in 2009 and got their national participation where they did not succeed in a round.
In special titles, the club won the title for Académicas of Cape Verde.
Académica went into a winning legacy at the regional championships where they got three straight titles in 2014 and three straight national appearances. Académica started with three consecutive wins, first 2–1 over Valėncia (there they were third), their results got bigger, a 1–5 win over Juventude, then a huge 7–0 win over Baxada, first th, as that club had fewer players, the match was finished at the 75th minute, also the club was first place at the third round for two rounds. A goal draw with Nô Pintcha was made on December 11, there they lost a position to second. Then three additional wins, the last two ended in two goals, at the sixth round, they regained first position. Another single goal draw was made, this one with Spartak at the eight round. Académica made two more wins before they suffered a loss to the less powerful Juventude. Three more wins were made before a loss in the Fogo Rivalry to Vulcânicos and lost two positions to third place, they still had a chance for a title. Académica won the last three matches, at the 16th round, they were second and their hopes for a title regained, at the last round, they regained first position and finished it. Académica had 44 points equaling to Vulcânicos, Académica scored 41, 11 more than the second placed club, they achieved the first of three national participation. Académica enjoyed the 2012 national season and played in group A, they defeated Académica da Brava in the Académica match of the west of Sotavento. A scoreless draw with Santiago North's Estrela dos Amadores was made, Académica Fogo suffered a loss to almighty Sporting Praia on May 19. A scoreless draw with Sal's Juventude was made, they made their last win of group stage with a 2–1 win over São Vicente's Batuque. Académica headed to the knockout stage after finishing second behind Sporting and challenged with São Nicolau's SC Atlético, Guy scored first at the 11th minute and remained the only goal scored for the club as they lost 1–2 in Fogo, another loss followed in Ribeira Brava and out from further competitions.
Académica Fogo's recent successful years On 18 November 2012 celebrated their 50th anniversary. In the 2012–13 season, Académica won their second straight and finished with 47 points, had 15 wins and made a club (probably a regional) record of 70 goals, two years later, Spartak scored more with 72 and overtook Académica Fogo's record. Académica Fogo enjoyed another national season and was placed in Group B. A draw with any goals scored was their first match and featured Solpontense from Santo Antão North. Surprisingly two wins were made, first over Académica do Porto Novo, then Scorpion Vermelho, champion of Santiago North. Another scoreless draw was made at the fourth round. Académica finished without losses as they made a win over Maio's Académico 83 and headed to group stage. They faced the top five of Cape Verde and Barlavento's powerful team CS Mindelense from São Vicente, played in Mindelo, Quinzinho tied the match at the 77th minute with a goal each and that became the final result. The second leg was played at home and Académica lost the whole match and was out from the appearance at the finals.
Académica started the 2013–14 season with four straight wins, the first was over Juventude and started second the second was a large 8–1 win over Grito Povo, then the last was a large 0–7 win over União São Lourenço. Académica suffered two losses, first to Nô Pintcha Mosteiros to Spartak at round 6, Académica underwent eight straight wins, after their second over Cutelinho, first place for the remainder of the season, their biggest was on February 23, 7–0 over União. Académica made a goal draw with Spartak at round 15, a win over Vulcânicos came next, then the last two matches ended in no other than draws, three each with Cutelinho and one apiece with Valência of As Hortas. Académica won their recent Premier Division title for Fogo and had 42 points.
Académica made their recent national appearance in 2014. Académica Fogo was placed in Group B, their first match which was on April 5 ended in a double goal draw with Sal's SC Verdun, based in Pedra de Lume. Académica Fogo made a win over Académica Operária before another draw was made with São Nicolau's SC Atlético. The last two matches ended in victories, over almighty CS Mindelense, then Maio's Académica da Calheta. Académica finished second behind Mindelense and appeared in the semis and faced almighty Sporting Praia, both legs ended in draws, first without goals at home field, then two apieceat Praia, the first was scored by Sy at the 16th minute and the last by Cláudio at the 81st minute and under away goals rule, qualified in the national finals for the only time in the 2013/14 season and challenged CS Mindelense. Their first match lost 2–1 to Mindelense, Victor would score the only goal in the finals at the 29th minute, their second match was scoreless and would achieve second place and would be their best appearance at the national level.«Campeonato Nacional: Mindelense Revalida O Título» . Criolosport, May 31, 2014 , retrieved on 5 October 2014. Sy was the player who scored the most goals in the nation numbering five.
Recent history Danilo became coach of Académica do Fogo around 2014. Académica started with a huge 7–0 win over Parque Real, Académica was to face Spartak on November 23, the eruption near Pico do Fogo at Pico Pequeno delayed the match until the volcanic clouds became less which was on December 14, it ended in a goal draw, up to that was first place. Académica made another goal draw with Vulcânico in the island rivalry on December 29, the club became third. Académica's match with Cutelinho was postponed due to a loss of a player that was in the boat Vicente. The match was rescheduled for January 13 and won 1–3. Académica made a surprising eight straight wins, the first a huge 6–0 win over Baxada, then 2–0 over Valencia and got first-place position back which was lastly held by Spartak. The largest result was a 2–8 win over the weakest Premier Division team in history, Parque Real. Académica met Cutelinho, instead of their 9th win, a loss the club suffered. Next came two more wins over Baxada, then a larger 1–7 over Valência, a club who took away first place from the club at the third round and was their revenge. Académica played with Botafogo on April 4 and not a single goal was scored which ended in a draw. A rare loss to Nô Pintcha came up and lost first position to Spartak, it was Académica's final chance for a regional title as they had 39 points, two less than Spartak's. Académica defeated União de São Lourenço 0–4 at the final round, Spartak's win over Baxada meant Académica lost a chance for a regional title and a national participation, the club finished second with 42 points, also they scored 52 goals, third behind third placed Botafogo's.
Académica Fogo finished second in the 2015/16 season with 43 points, 13 wins and four draws. The club had 57 goals, the season's highest and also had had the highest result with 1–12 over União de São Lourenço on April 3 in a Round 16 match and made the highest scoring match of the season and second time with 12 goals. Also the club scored 57 goals which was the most for the season.
In 2016, the club appeared at the Boavista's Champion's Cup in Praia on October 28 a friendly competition, the club lost in the semis and played a 3rd place match on October 29 against CS Mindelense.