Belenenses
SAD, or B-SAD, was a Portuguese professional football club that was formed on June 30th, 2018, following a huge disagreement and then split from Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses. B-SAD was dissolved on the 25th October 2024.
SAD
was the football company formed at the Clube to run the professional football
side. The shares were sold on to investment company Codecity when both
organisations ran into financial trouble. Initially,
the agreement would allow Clube to buy back the shares at a later date and
remain in control of any decisions.
Codecity claimed that Clube violated their contract with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, agreeing with them. Estádio
do Restelo remained the property of the original club, which proceeded to bar SAD
from using the venue. Clube created a new team that started at the bottom of Associação
de Futebol de Lisboa, Lisbon FA football.
B-SAD
registered their club, who were awarded the place of Clube in Primeira Liga and
arranged to play their home games at Estádio Nacional. SAD was prohibited from
using the name, shield, and symbols of the original Belenenses.
Estádio
Nacional was briefly unavailable in February 2019, so B-SAD made alternative
arrangements. Their ‘home’ game at Estádio do Bonfim in Setúbal, sixty
kilometres away, attracted just 298 spectators, the lowest in the league’s
history.
Meanwhile, Clube’s membership and attendance increased to around 5,000 as they raced to
their league title. B-SAD appointed Silas as coach, who’d been in charge of the
old club before the split. He
led the side to ninth place in 2018-19 with Muriel starring in goal. Pedro
Ribeiro came in as coach in the 2019-20 campaign before being replaced by Petit
as B-SAD hovered near the drop zone in the disrupted season.
Filipe Cândido became head coach in October 2021, before being succeeded by Franclim Carvalho before the end of the season, as the team was relegated, with Zé Pedro being appointed to lead the team in Liga Portugal 2. B-SAD lost in the relegation playoffs in 2022-23 against Länk Vilaverdense to drop down to Liga 3.
At this point, a merger was agreed with CD Cova da Piedade, who had not played senior football in two years since being expelled for administrative reasons from the second tier. However, their place in Liga 3 was denied by the Portuguese Football Federation, and the merger was overturned.
B-SAD played in AF Setúbal 2ª Divisão in 2023-24, finishing fifth, before being dissolved.
Estádio Nacional
The Estádio Nacional, which is also known as Estádio do Jamor or Estádio Honra, forms part of the Jamor Sports Complex in Oeiras, which is located in the western extremities of the Portuguese capital. Construction began in 1939, with its inauguration taking place on Portugal Day, 10th June 1944.
From 1945, Estádio Nacional became the most used stadium for the Portuguese national football team until the new stadiums were all upgraded for Euro 2004. From 1946, with just a few exceptions, the stadium became the venue for the final of the Taça de Portugal. It was designed by Francisco Caldeira Cabral, with the outstanding feature being a vacant east side of an otherwise continuous bowl.
Estádio Nacional’s main claim to fame was when it staged the 1967 UEFA European Cup Final between Celtic and Internazionale. The Italians were the overwhelming favourites going into the game, but the Scots were roared on by a huge following and came back from a Sandro Mazzola opener to win the game with goals from Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers.
The kick-off was at 5.30pm local time as the stadium didn’t have floodlights at the time. Celtic fans invaded the pitch at full-time, meaning that skipper Billy McNeill couldn’t receive the trophy as intended on the pitch. He was ushered outside the stadium and taken to a podium halfway up the west side, where he was presented with the cup.
All of Celtic’s side were born within miles of Glasgow, but they became known as the Lisbon Lions, with a stand at Celtic Park later being named the Lisbon Lions Stand. Floodlights were later added to the stadium, as it also became a concert venue. SL Benfica completed their fixtures at Jamor in the 2003-04 season while their new Estádio da Luz was being built.
Estádio Nacional was also chosen as a proposed venue for Portuguese rugby union club Lusitanos XV from 2014. However, the team ended up playing their matches in the Amlin Challenge Cup at Estádio Universitário de Lisboa.
My visit
Sunday 14th February 2016
Although my Sunday morning had gone well with visits to the excellent stadiums of Atletico CP and Belenenses, the weather was a real pain. As I alighted from the train at Cruz Quebrada from Belem, yet another massive downpour landed on the station.
After sheltering on the opposite platform from the strong north wind and rain, I wandered round the corner to the main road, from where the route up the hill to the stadium was well signposted. I had read that it would be at least a twenty-minute walk.
Avenida Pierre de Coubertin took me first to a large sports hall, with the Parque Urbano de Jamor on the right. The area was well landscaped with trees and greenery. Several joggers were using the complex with its mixtures of terrain and undulations.
Eventually, the floodlights came into view, and before I knew it, I was at the open side of the stadium. I walked across the large square and got a look inside through the metal fences. Runners were using the track around the pitch, so I knew that there must have been some kind of access inside.
Just further along, I followed a road to a small courtyard with several buildings. A security guard came out to see what I was doing. I managed to communicate as best as I could, and he nodded and held his fingers up, which I took to mean that I had five minutes. I entered at the bottom of the north east corner and went up the steps to the first concourse to gain a better view.
The stadium was a continuous open tier of seating, save for the vacant east side. The pitch in the middle of the running track was marked out for football and was in pristine condition. The far side had a VIP section, with the podium where Billy McNeill lifted the European Cup easily picked out.
It must have been some expedition back in 1967. After travelling by any possible means of transport to Lisbon, the Celtic fans will then have been left with the task of reaching this remote venue. Did they put special buses on, or did they take the train and then have to trek up the hill? Just how did it work?
After savouring the feeling that I really was in a place of great football history, I went back to the office and said “obrigado” to the guard. I’d have loved to have engaged him in what I’d experienced and the history of the place, but he looked peaceful enough, having to work on a Sunday lunchtime.
There was plenty more to see at Jamor. I cut down the steps with a golf course to the left and rugby pitches in front, with the main one having some old raised concrete terracing. The tennis centre was ahead, but I cut along between a couple of hockey pitches and an athletic track and football pitch.
Yet another storm landed right on top. Those who’d parked up and were out for a stroll scattered. The girls awaiting the start of their hockey game were getting absolutely soaking. It was also very cold. Thank goodness it was at my back, but I could feel the rain drenching the back of my trousers. I was so relieved to make the café a hundred metres further up the path.
How I longed for a large mug of tea, but hot drinks mainly came in the form of espresso in Portugal. That was better than nothing. At least I was under cover along with several others who waited for the downpour to subside.
Passing a mini golf and pleasant scenery in the park, I wandered through and out of the bottom gate back to the station, where I looked back up the hill at the really pleasant complex. What a super facility it was for all members of the community. The skies were ever threatening as I caught the train further west towards my afternoon's entertainment by way of the Primeira Liga match between Estoril and Tondela.
