Cristiano Ronaldo first played football at the youth club Andorinha in Madeira. The club, formally known as Clube de Futebol Andorinha de Santo António, is based in Santo António, Funchal, where Ronaldo grew up.
Ronaldo joined Andorinha as a child and played there from 1992 to 1995. His father, José Dinis Aveiro, worked part-time as the club's kit man, giving Ronaldo a close personal connection with the team. Andorinha was a small local club, but it provided the setting for his earliest organised football.
After Andorinha, Ronaldo spent two years with another Madeira club, Nacional. In 1997, aged 12, he moved to Lisbon after joining Sporting CP's youth system. That later step is why Sporting is sometimes incorrectly identified as his first club.
Andorinha remains an important part of Ronaldo's origin story. The club is widely associated with his earliest development and later honoured him, including by retiring the number 7 shirt in recognition of his career.