Vitória SC (Portugal)

Vitória SC

Ground: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques

Capacity: 30,029

Club Founded: 1922

League: Primeira Liga (current level)

Guimarães is often described as the birthplace of Portugal, and its football club carries a proud history everywhere it goes. Vitória SC may live in the shadow of Porto, Benfica and Sporting internationally, but few clubs in Portugal have a fan culture and identity quite like it.

Early Life

Vitória, from the historic Portuguese northern city of Guimarães, initially played their home games at Campo da Atouguia before the inauguration of Campo José Minotes on January 27th, 1924. 

They moved to Campo da Perdiz in June 1925, before Vitória relocated to Campo do Benlhevai in January 1932. Vitória spent several seasons competing in Braga FA leagues before securing a spot in 1941 in Primeira Divisão, Portugal's highest level.

A Cup Final Appearance and League Struggles

The team lost 2-0 to Belenenses at Estádio do Lumiar in the 1941-42 Taça de Portugal final (Portuguese FA Cup). ‘Os Vimaranenses’ finished towards the bottom of the table for several seasons in a row, before improving their standing in the late 1940s. By then, the club had moved into a new home. Campo da Amorosa was inaugurated in January 1946. 

Vitória were relegated before regaining their top-flight place in 1957-58. Edmur Ribeiro finished as the league top scorer in 1960-61. A couple of years later, the team lost 4-0 to Sporting CP in the Taça final. Estádio D. Afonso Henriques opened in 1965, originally as Estádio Municipal, with a match between Vitória and 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

UEFA Competitions

In 1975-76, Vitória lost 2-1 to Boavista at Porto’s Estádio das Antas in the Taça de Portugal final. The team qualified for the 1983-84 UEFA Cup, where they lost to Aston Villa. Three seasons later, Borussia Mönchengladbach ended Guimarães's UEFA Cup run in the quarter-finals. More UEFA Cup appearances followed.

Paulinho Cascavel finished a season as league top scorer. FC Porto defeated the side in the Taça final. Managers came and went before the top flight was retitled the Primeira Liga for the 1999-00 campaign. The turnover of coaches continued unabated. Manuel Machado led Guimarães to fifth place in the league in 2004-05.

Relegation and a Cup Win

Vítor Pontes took Vitória to the UEFA Cup group stages before the team was relegated a year later. They quickly regained their Primeira Liga status. Manuel Cajuda led the side to third in Primeira Liga as head coach. In the Champions League qualifying round, the team lost to FC Basel. 

Manuel Machado returned for a second spell for the 2010-11 campaign. He led the team to a fifth Taça de Portugal final, which ended in a 6-2 defeat to FC Porto. The aptly named Rui Vitória became head coach in August 2011. El Arabi Hillal Soudani and Ricardo Pereira's goals ended their Taça hoodoo as SL Benfica were beaten 2-1 in the 2012-13 final.

Recent Times

Sérgio Conceição took charge in September 2015, followed by Pedro Martins, who led his team to the Taça de Portugal final. Bongani Zungu scored a consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat to SL Benfica. Luís Castro led the team to fifth place before being replaced by Ivo Vieira. 

The quick turnover continued with Álvaro Pacheco in charge of the side that reached fifth place, with Bruno Varela starring in goal throughout the 2023-24 season. Tiago Margarido was appointed head coach in May 2026.

My visit

Vitória SC 1 Konyaspor 1

UEFA Europa League Group I - Thursday 7th December 2017

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 9,040 🎟️ €20

A Midweek Adventure in Porto

The fixtures had fallen beautifully for my planned two-night stay in Porto. Tom, a friend and site manager of Silver Jubilee Park, where I watched Hendon play, joined me. After a superb first day and night around the city, we went to the Champions League between FC Porto and AS Monaco. We were on the go again.

Our second day included a tasting session at Cockburn’s Port Warehouse, with plenty of walking to burn off calories from a tasty breakfast in the excellent Padaria e Pastelaria D. João IV. The apartment management recommended the local speciality, Francesinha, as a main meal, which we had on our walk back up the hill from the river.

The superb meal at Cervejaria Brasão consisted of bread, cheese, and several meats covered in spicy beer and tomato sauce. The establishment also served a good selection of beers. After resting, we headed to Porto–Campanhã railway station to take the busy commuter train to Guimarães for €3.95 each way. The journey took an hour.

We’d been told that Guimarães was the birthplace of Portugal and well worth a longer look. Even after dark, it was interesting. It took ten minutes to walk to the main square in the town centre, by Largo do Toural, featuring a well-decorated Christmas tree and fountains. It took another ten minutes to the ticket office of Estádio D. Afonso Henriques.

Tickets and Pre-Match Beers

Tom could speak Brazilian, which was useful, even though the young lady behind the counter was keen to practise her English. We were sold good tickets for €20. We had time to find somewhere for a pre-match beer, with Cafė Pastelaria F.M. busy with Vitória fans watching local rivals Braga on TV. 

It’s fair to say they weren’t too upset when opponents, İstanbul Başakşehir, conned the referee into giving them a penalty. After a glass of Super Bock, we headed round to the stadium as the rain began to fall. It was obvious the stadium wouldn't be full as the game was a dead rubber. Both sides were already eliminated from the competition.

An Impressive Stadium and Passionate Locals

Estádio D. Afonso Henriques was upgraded for Euro 2004. It had a three-sided continuous two-tier stand. The separate two-tiered affair behind the one goal completed the picture. Our seats were level with the penalty area near the sparse Turkish following. Even in a dead Europa League rubber, Vitória supporters created a superb atmosphere.

The locals made plenty of noise, despite the low turnout. Their patience was tested throughout the evening as the home side played at a low tempo, which gave the Konyaspor defenders plenty of time to regroup in wet conditions. The game was already drifting when the visiting ‘Anadolu Kartalı’, as they're nicknamed, scored out of nowhere after fifteen minutes. 

Mehdi Bourabia picked up the ball in midfield, carried on a few yards, and then unleashed a thunderbolt from nearly thirty yards, beating Vitória keeper Douglas, who got nowhere near it. The Konyaspor side sat on their lead and committed several niggly fouls. 

Referee Daniel Siebert became unpopular with the home fans, with an old fella along the row from us on the verge of exploding, offering better entertainment than the players. Rafael Martins huffed and puffed, and made little effort when a cross to the far post looked ideal to dive for a header. 

The teams come out for the match

Many more football videos on Rob’s Roving Sports Report

Our friend along the row went absolutely berserk. Tom translated for me. It wasn’t pretty. He described the referee as “the son of a whore” on several occasions. The game was poor, but we weren’t too upset. It was a good experience, with those serving behind the refreshment counters selling bottles of Sagres, taken from a fridge but poured under the counter. 

It was a blatant disregard of UEFA’s rulings, and it would have been rude for us not to join in. In a worrying incident soon after half-time, Guillermo Celis of Vitória Guimarães went down dramatically, with players of both sides frantically signalling for urgent medical assistance. It was a huge relief when the player left the pitch on his feet.

Raphinha and Martins had shots blocked as Vitória tried to pressurise the Turks. Konyaspor had sporadic breaks, but we couldn’t see another goal coming. Hosts' boss Pedro Martins rang the changes with substitutions, looking for a lifeline. His side eventually levelled in slightly fortunate circumstances when Ali Turan sliced a low cross into his own net. 

Vitória pushed forward. Oscar Estupiñan had an effort blocked. Wilfred Moke nearly secured an away win with four minutes left, when his glancing header from a corner hit the crossbar. Raphinha fired high and wide. João Aurélio missed a decent headed opportunity before full-time as Vitória continued to press.

The final fifteen minutes produced more excitement than in the rest of the match. We returned to the station, leaving plenty of time for the last train back to Porto. Many students boarded as we neared Porto. We hoped to find a bar still open near the stunning São Bento station. 

The streets were busy, but we could find a place anywhere until a crowd in a small pedestrian area led us to Praça dos Poveiros. The evening was perfectly ended with a Super Bock and then a Jameson’s whisky. We then decamped to our Porto D'Época II apartment for a sleep before the flight back to the freezing UK the following lunchtime. 

Despite the cold, we had spent time in a pleasant city. We went to two football matches and tried plenty of food and drink. Perfect activities when in the right company.