The former club of Portuguese football stars Luis Figo and Christiano Ronaldo celebrates its 100th birthday on Saturday. The omnisport club, best known for its football team that reached the UEFA Cup final in 2005, is expecting 3,000 people to join in its centenary celebrations at the Jose Arvalade stadium in the evning.
A dinner will be held followed by a huge firework display.
"Sporting is in a phase of change," said president Filipe Soares Franco in the build up to the night of celebration.
"Competitiveness is increasing. Our determination must follow suit. We have to determine definite goals." The club, one of the big three in Portugal alongside Porto and Benfica, was formed by young Lisbon socialites in the Campo Grande district of the city at the beginning of the last century.
Throughout their history, Sporting have won four Portuguese titles, 13 Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1964.
Figo spent five seasons with the club before moving to Barcelona in the mid 1990s. "Sporting holds a very special place in my heart. I can't forget the happy years I spent there," he told newspaper Diario de Noticias.
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