After clubs like Alto Guimaries, Panjim Footballers, Godinho Bros, Sao Miguel de Taleigao, Merces Club and Crown Club faded out of active football, the people of Panjim joined hands to give birth to their new club Sporting Clube de Goa.

Sporting Clube de Goa was founded in the year 1999 when a group of football enthusiasts led by two young entrepreneurs Mr. Peter Vaz and Mr. Edgar Afonso took over the Goa First Division team which was being disbanded by its management, Hotel Cidade de Goa (Portuguese for City of Goa) and re-christened it to “Sporting Clube de Goa”. Thus, after Vasco Sports Club, Sporting became the second club of public shareholding. It’s a sports club based in the Indian state of Goa which is renowned for its football team built on the lines of Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal and adopting a similar club crest.

The lengthy and hectic procedure for the transformation was made easier, thanks to the untiring efforts of former GFA secretary Mr. Alberto Colaco. Since then there has been no looking back for Sporting, as the club is popularly known. Guided by a dynamic and visionary management the club has had a meteoric rise from the Goa First Division to find its destined place amongst the elite of Indian Football in a short span of less than 4 years.

Sporting's first assignment – Johnny Memorial Soccer Tournament, at Vasco turned out to be a memorable experience after emerging champions as they got the better of Pax of Nagoa by a comfortable two goal margin. The Governor's Cup was next on the list and this too was a fruitful journey – Losing out to National Football League champions, Salgaocar Sports Club by a solitary goal, but not before knocking out the staffing out of them in the quarterfinals. Surely a steady progress, but Sporting Clube shot to instant fame when they made it to the semi-finals of the Federation Cup in Chennai knocking out giants East Bengal on the way.

Sporting made its debut in the 2003-04 season of the Indian Nationall Football League Premier Division. In only their second appearance in NFL Premier Division, Sporting missed out on the top honours by a whisker when they secured second position behind champions Dempo. Their season was marred by a horrific bus accident which ruled out 4 key players for the whole season, while several others were injured. However, led by Nigerian import Dudu Omagbemi, they managed to complete their matches in a very short span of time after being given a few weeks off so that their players could recover, and heroically came second ahead of traditional powerhouses East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Salgaocar and Mahindra United.