Vitória S.C.

Vitória de Guimarães

Full name	Vitória Sport Clube
Nickname(s)	Os Vimaranenses (The ones from Guimarães Os Conquistadores (The Conquerors)[1]
Founded	1922 (1922)
Ground	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques
Ground Capacity	30,165
Chairman	Júlio Mendes
Manager	Pedro Martins
League	Primeira Liga
2015–16	10th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, are a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal.

As a top contender to the title of fourth best supported club in Portugal, it has tried to match the dominance of the so-called "Big Three" (Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP), in the Primeira Liga, where it has finished third on four occasions, most recently in 2007–08.

As of recent years, Vitória de Guimarães has been battling for European places, trying to place fifth or above in the league. In its history, they have won one Taça de Portugal and one Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. Its main rivals are Braga, of the neighbouring northern city, with which Vitória disputes the "Derby of Minho" with. Vitória's crest, nickname and stadium honour Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal.

In addition to football, the club has other departments, such as volleyball (National Champion in 2007–08), basketball (League Champion in 2006–07 and Cup Champion in 2007–08), swimming, water polo, kickboxing, judo, beach soccer, table tennis, athletics, women's futsal, among others.

History

Vitória was formed in 1922. Its name seems to be a tribute to Vitória de Setúbal, which at the time was a top contender for the Campeonato de Portugal, though these days Guimarães supporters downplay the connection. After seasons of toiling in the Braga FA leagues, the Vimaranenses were first promoted to the Primeira Liga in 1941, and two seasons later battled the Sadinos from Setúbal for the first time in the League. Surprise package Guimarães, against all odds, reached their first Taça de Portugal final in their debut season, but fell to Belenenses 2–0.

Vitória's furthest progress in a European tournament was in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup, in which they were defeated 5–2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals by West German club Borussia Monchengladbach.^[2]

In the early 2000s, Vitória struggled in some years to retain its status in the top Portuguese division, then named the Superliga. Those years were marked by the decline of the leadership of Pimenta Machado, former club president. Machado was accused on charges of embezzlement. Despite this, in 2004–05, the club secured an impressive fifth-place finish in the league and qualified for European competition via the UEFA Cup. The next season (2005–06), however, they were relegated to the Segunda Liga (where they last played in 1958) after finishing 17th in the Superliga, despite reaching the Taça de Portugal semi-final, having beaten Benfica in the quarter-finals. The club also failed to progress from their UEFA Cup group, as eventual winners Sevilla, Premier League outfit Bolton Wanderers and Russian team Zenit Saint Petersburg progressed.

After the club's relegation, it was felt Vitória would return to the top-flight quite easily, despite the team itself not being strong. Vitória, by the middle of the season, was only around tenth place and lower, with seemingly little chance of promotion. During the winter break, however, there was a change in the club's direction, and a new coach was hired in Manuel Cajuda. Vitória improved their form and finally managed to reach second place in the 29th game of the season, thereby guaranteeing promotion.

In their first season back in the top-flight, they continued their winning form, achieving an impressive third-place finish in 2007–08, guaranteeing them a place in the third qualifying round of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League. There they fell to Swiss side Basel due to a controversial goal being disallowed by the referee in the last minutes of the second leg match; Vitória dropped into the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round as a result of their elimination. There they played Portsmouth of the Premier League over two legs, though Portsmouth progressed after winning 4–2 on aggregate.

In 2012–13, Vitória found themselves in financial problems, which caused them to lose many experienced players and bet on young players. However, they would go on to win their first Taça de Portugal title after previously losing five finals. Vitória beat rivals Braga en route to the final, where they recovered from 1–0 down against Benfica to win 2–1.

Stadium

The Estádio D. Afonso Henriques seen from the outside

The Estádio D. Afonso Henriques was expanded and refurbished for the UEFA Euro 2004 competition, and it seats 29,865 people. It held two group matches in the tournament, and has also been a venue on four occasions for the Portugal national team.

After Os Três Grandes , Vitória is the club which attracts most supporters to the stadium,^[3] with average attendances of 20,000 per game. Vitória usually has a higher average than all the other clubs, even when the club played in the Second Division/League.

Support and rivalry

Vitória play the derby of Minho Province against neighbours Braga. This derby is considered one of Portugal's most intense fixtures, as both clubs battle each year to reach a European competition. The derby also intensified during the run-up to the Euro 2004 tournament hosted by Portugal, as both clubs had new stadia built as tournament venues.

The biggest supporter group is the White Angels, who go by the motto "Somos únicos" ("We are unique"). A self-confessed Vitória fan is former Portuguese international Fernando Meira, who played at the club. Meira, when the captain of VfB Stuttgart, raised the 2007 Bundesliga trophy wearing a Vitória scarf.^[4]

Honours

• Taça de Portugal

• Winners (1): 2012–13
• Runners-up (5): 1941–42, 1962–63, 1975–76, 1987–88, 2010–11

• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

• Winners (1): 1988
• Runners-up (2): 2011, 2013

League and Cup history

The club's 70 seasons in the top level of Portuguese football make them the club with the joint-fourth longest time there, after Porto, Sporting CP, and Benfica (all with 81); and Belenenses with 74.

European matches

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1969–70	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	First round	Baník Ostrava	1–0	1–1	2–1
		Second round	Southampton	3–3	1–5	4–8
1970–71	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	First round	Angoulême	3–0	1–3	4–3
		Second round	Hibernian	2–1	0–2	2–3
1973–74	Intertoto Cup	Group 2	Djurgården	5–0	1–3	2nd
			Neuchâtel Xamax	5–2	1–0
			Hamburger	3–1	0–2
1975–76	Intertoto Cup	Group 7	Oostende	4–1	0–2	2nd
			Holbæk B&I	4–0	2–1
			Inter Bratislava	1–0	0–4
1983–84	UEFA Cup	First round	Aston Villa	1–0	0–5	1–5
1986–87	UEFA Cup	First round	Angoulême	2–1	1–1	3–2
		Second round	Atlético Madrid	2–0	0–1	2–1
		Third round	Groningen	3–0	0–1	3–1
		Quarter-finals	Borussia Mönchengladbach	2–2	0–3	2–5
1987–88	UEFA Cup	First round	Tatabánya	1–0	1–1	2–1
		Second round	Beveren	1–0	0–1	1–1 (5–4 p)
		Third round	TJ Vitkovice	2–0	0–2	2–2 (4–5 p)
1988–89	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Roda	1–0	0–2	1–2
1990–91	UEFA Cup	First round	Fenerbahçe	2–3	0–3	2–6
1992–93	UEFA Cup	First round	Real Sociedad	3–0	0–2	3–2
		Second round	Ajax	0–3	1–2	1–5
1995–96	UEFA Cup	First round	Standard Liège	3–1	0–0	3–1
		Second round	Barcelona	0–4	0–3	0–7
1996–97	UEFA Cup	First round	Parma	2–0	1–2	3–2
		Second round	Anderlecht	1–1	0–0	1–1 (a)
1997–98	UEFA Cup	First round	Lazio	0–4	1–2	1–6
1998–99	UEFA Cup	First round	Celtic	1–2	1–2	2–4
2005–06	UEFA Cup	First round	Wisła Kraków	3–0	1–0	4–0
		Group H	Zenit Saint Petersburg		1–2	5th
			Bolton Wanderers	1–1
			Sevilla		1–3
			Beşiktaş	1–3
2008–09	UEFA Champions League	Third qualifying round	Basel	0–0	1–2	1–2
2008–09	UEFA Cup	First round	Portsmouth	2–2	0–2	2–4
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Midtjylland	2–1	0–0	2–1
		Play-off round	Atlético Madrid	0–4	0–2	0–6
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	Group I	Lyon	1–2	1–1	3rd place
			Real Betis	0–1	0–1
			Rijeka	4–0	0–0
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Altach	1–4	1–2	2–6

Players

Current squad

As of 9 September 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Douglas 2 DF Pedro Henrique 3 DF Josué Sá 5 MF Rafael Miranda 6 DF Moreno 9 FW Hernâni (on loan from Porto) 10 MF Tozé 11 FW Alex Freitas 13 MF Bernard Mensah (on loan from Atlético Madrid) 16 MF Paolo Hurtado (on loan from Reading) 18 FW Francisco Soares 19 MF Nolan Mbemba 20 DF João Aurélio

No. Position Player 21 FW Moussa Marega (on loan from Porto) 23 FW João Vigário 25 FW Francis Júnior 26 DF Prince-Désir Gouano (on loan from Atalanta) 33 GK Georgemy (on loan from Cruzeiro) 37 FW Bruno Mendes 41 DF Rúben Ferreira 45 FW Xande Silva 56 GK Miguel Silva 58 MF João Pedro 76 DF Bruno Gaspar 81 FW Raphinha 91 FW David Texeira

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player — DF Alvin Arrondel (at Portimonense until 30 June 2017) — DF João Afonso (at Estoril Praia until 30 June 2017) — FW Inters Gui (at Chiasso until 30 June 2017) — FW Ricardo Valente (at Paços Ferreira until 30 June 2017)

Notable former players

Notable former managers

Basketball

Vitória S.C. men's basketball team plays in the LPB.

Volleyball

Vitória Sport Clube has a volleyball team which plays in the Portuguese Volleyball League A1.

References

External links

• Official website
• Guimaraes info at zerozero.pt