Sport Club Angrense of Toronto
Dissolved
| Founding Date: | October 19, 1974 |
Brief History
Audio Version:
Sport Club Angrense of Toronto was founded in 1974 by supporters and former directors of Terceira’s Angrense. Mr. Adalberto Bettencourt was the major advocate of the project by not only influencing others to formally create the association but also by diligently finding its current home. Adalberto Bettencourt took over many responsibilities within the club throughout the years, including President and Secretary, among other duties.
In the beginning, Angrense did not have its own headquarters. Meetings were held in a travel agency’s basement, located on Dundas and Dovercourt, and larger events were organized at various halls in the community of which Casa do Alentejo seems to have been most frequently used.
The first activity to be created within the association was the folklore dance group that represented the island of Terceira with its traditional dances, costumes, and songs. However, the lack of interest from its members led to the extinction of the group during the mid-1990s. This decision weighed heavily on its leaders because the costumes had been graciously donated by the Government of Terceira.
Since the organization had taken the name of a soccer club, it made sense that this sport would become its major source of pride. Amongst many memorable moments, the visit to Toronto by Terceira’s Sport Club Angrense, which played the Greek Champions at Varsity Stadium, stands at the top. Sport Angrense unsurprisingly lost by a margin of 6-1 but the defeat did not stop them from holding a memorable party with Toronto’s supporters after the game.
The great late Eusebio was also a regular at Angrense’s gatherings in Toronto. In fact, he always made a point to visit every time he came to the city. This has a lot to do with the fact that Sport Club Angrense was formed by supporters of Sport Lisboa e Benfica and continues to be associated with the Portuguese giant.
Like many other organizations serving the Azorean community, the marchas are also a major component of Angrense. The association’s marchas have performed all over the Province of Ontario, Montreal and the United States of America.
Recently, Angrense became another inevitable victim of the growing disinterest from the younger generation of Luso-Canadians in our community organizations. It leaves behind close to half a century of a history of passion for our roots and for our people.
| With files from Luso-Ontario Magazine, 2008 |
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