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 the pride of that history everywhere it goes. Vitória SC may live in the shadow of Porto, Benfica and Sporting internationally, but few clubs in Portugal possess 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.
A further move to Campo da Perdiz came
on June 6th, 1925, before Vitória relocated to Campo do Benlhevai on January
24th, 1932. Vitória spent several seasons playing in the leagues of the Braga FA before securing a spot in the top-tier national Primeira Divisão, as the league was titled at the time, in 1941.
A Portuguese Cup Final Appearance and League Struggles
The team
reached the final of the national cup, the Taça de Portugal in 1941-42, where they
were defeated 2-0 by Belenenses at Estádio do Lumiar. ‘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 on January 13th, 1946. Boavista were defeated 3-1, with Alexandre scoring the first goal on the
new turf. The early 1950s saw a dip in form with Vitória being relegated in bottom place, regaining their top-flight place at the end of the 1957-58 campaign.
Edmur
Ribeiro was among the goals for the team, finishing as
league top scorer in 1960-61. A couple of years later, the team finished as beaten finalists in the Taça, as they went down
4-0 to Sporting CP. Estádio D. Afonso Henriques opened in 1965, originally as Estádio
Municipal, with a match between Vitória and 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Guimarães
were inspired to finish well in the league, going on to play in the European Inter City Fairs Cup in 1969-70 and
then the following season, going out in the second round to Southampton and
then Hibernian.
More Appearances in UEFA Competitions
The 1975-76
season saw another Taça de Portugal final appearance, going down 2-1 to
Boavista at Porto’s Estádio das Antas. The team qualified to play in the 1983-84 UEFA Cup, where Aston Villa
were victorious in the first round tie.
In 1985-86, a
fourth-place league ending led to a place in the UEFA Cup the following season.
Borussia Mönchengladbach ended Guimarães's run at the quarter-final stage after
victories against AC Sparta Praha, Atlético Madrid, and Groningen. The UEFA Cup
campaign was followed up in the same competition in 1987-88 after another third-place finish.
It had seen Paulinho Cascavel finish as league top scorer, ending
in a third round defeat to Czech side TJ Vitkovice. Another Taça final defeat
in the same season; this time it was a 1-0 loss to FC Porto. Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori led Vitória, followed by Pedro Rocha at the end of the decade.
They were followed by many managerial appointments, none of which lasted for too long. João Resende Alves, Marinho Peres Bernardino Pedroto, Quinito and then Vítor Oliveira had spells, with the latter leading the team to fourth place in 1995-96.
Jaime Pacheco, Zoran Filipovic, António Valença and a returning Quinito then led the side, as the top flight was retitled the Primeira Liga for the 1999-00 campaign.
The turnover of coaches continued unabated. Next in line in the dugout were a returning Paulo Autuori, Álvaro
Magalhães, Augusto Inácio and then Jorge Jesus. Manuel Machado arrived to lead Guimarães to fifth place in the league 2004-05.
Relegation and a Quick Recovery
Vítor
Pontes took Vitória to the
group stages of the UEFA Cup before they were relegated a year later. They quickly regained their Primeira Liga status. With Manuel Cajuda in charge, the club continued its ascendency with a third-place finish to win a place in the qualifying round of the Champions League,
going out to FC Basel.
Two more coaches had turns in charge of the team before 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.
A First Taça de Portugal Cup Final Win
The aptly named
Rui Vitória became head coach in August 2011, taking charge, as the
team, captained by Alex, finally laid their Taça hoodoo to rest as SL Benfica
were beaten 2-1 in the 2012-13 final thanks to goals from El Arabi Hillal
Soudani and Ricardo Pereira.
Sérgio Conceição
arrived to take charge of the team in September 2015, followed by Pedro Martins as head coach, who led his team to the final of the Taça de Portugal. Bongani Zungu scored a consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat to SL Benfica.
Recent Times
Head coach Luís Castro led
the team to fifth place before being replaced by Ivo Vieira. The changes of coaches continued, as is accepted in Portuguese football, with Álvaro Pacheco being in charge of the side that reached fifth place, with Bruno Varela starring in goal throughout the 2023-24 season.
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 Stockman, 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, going to the Champions League between FC Porto
and AS Monaco, we were on the go again.
Our second day had already included a tasting session at the Cockburn’s Port Warehouse, along with plenty of
walking to rid the calories from a tasty breakfast in the excellent Padaria e
Pastelaria D. João IV. The management of our apartment 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 contained bread, cheese, and several meats covered in a spicy
beer and tomato sauce at Cervejaria Brasão, which also
served a good selection of beers. After resting, it was time to head to Porto–Campanha railway station, to take the busy
commuter train to Guimarães for €3.95 each
way. The journey took an hour.
Travel to the Match
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, which featured a well-decorated Christmas tree and fountains. It was a further ten minutes to the
ticket office of Estádio D. Afonso Henriques.
Tickets and Pre-Match Beers
Tom could speak Brazilian, which continued to be useful, even though the young lady behind
the counter was keen to practise her English. We were sold good tickets for €20. There was time
to find somewhere for a pre-match beer, with Cafė Pastelaria F.M. busy with Vitória
fans watching local rivals Braga on the TVs.
It’s fair to say that 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 that it wasn’t going to be a full house as the game was a dead rubber, with
both sides already eliminated from the competition.
An Impressive Stadium and Passionate Locals
Estádio D.
Afonso Henriques was upgraded for Euro 2004. It contained a three-sided continuous stand of two tiers. 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 not being many of them. Their patience was to be tested throughout the evening, as the home side played at a low tempo, allowing 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, took the lead out of nowhere in fifteen
minutes.
The Match
Mehdi Bourabia picked the ball up in midfield, progressed a few yards, and then unleashed a thunderbolt from nearly thirty yards, beating Vitória
keeper Douglas all ends up.
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 then made little effort when a cross to the far post
looked to be perfect for a diving header. 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.
Late Action
There was a
worrying incident soon after half-time when 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
then Martins had shots blocked as Vitória tried to press. 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. Pressure of sorts had
been asserted when Ali Turan sliced a low cross into his own net. Vitória carried
on going forward with Oscar Estupiñan having an effort blocked. Wilfred Moke
nearly secured an away win with four minutes remaining, when his glancing
header from a corner came back off the crossbar.
Raphinha fired high and wide
at the other end. The home side continued attacking with João Aurélio missing a
decent opportunity with his head before full-time. There had been
more excitement in the final fifteen minutes than in the rest of the match.
The Train Back and a Nightcap
We returned to the station in plenty of time for the last train back to Porto, which got busy with students as we got closer to the city, with the pair of us hoping to
find a bar still open near the stunning Porto São Bento station.
Despite the
streets being busy with people, we could find a place anywhere until a crowd along a small pedestrian area alerted us to possibilities by 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 in readiness for 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.