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	22 September 1922 (22 September 1922)
Ground	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques
Capacity	30,000[2]
Chairman	Júlio Mendes
Manager	Luís Castro
League	Primeira Liga
2017–18	Primeira Liga, 9th
Website	Club website
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.

Vitória de Guimarães have 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.

They have won one Taça de Portugal and one Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

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 lost 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 Mönchengladbach.^[3]

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.

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.

In September 2017 Vitória left their mark in UEFA Competitions, being the team starting a game without a european player in the field.^[4]

Stadium

They play in the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, which has a capacity of 30,000.^[2]

The Estádio D. Afonso Henriques seen from the outside

After Os Três Grandes, Vitória is the club which attracts most supporters to the stadium,^[5] 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.

Honours

• Taça de Portugal

• Winners (1): 2012–13
• Runners-up (6): 1941–42, 1962–63, 1975–76, 1987–88, 2010–11, 2016–17

• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

• Winners (1): 1988
• Runners-up (3): 2011, 2013, 2017

League and Cup history

The club's 72 seasons in the top level of Portuguese football make them the club with the joint-fourth longest time there, after Benfica, Porto, and Sporting CP (all with 83); and Belenenses with 76.

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 SV	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	Sparta Prague	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
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	Group I	RB Salzburg	1–1	0–3	4th place
			Marseille	1–0	1–2
			Konyaspor	1–1	1–2

Players

Current squad

As of 04 July 2018

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 5 DF Rafa Soares 6 DF João Afonso 7 FW Welthon 8 MF Pêpê (on loan from Benfica) 9 FW Alexandre Guedes 10 MF João Carlos Teixeira 11 MF André André 15 DF Víctor García 19 FW Sebastián Rincón 20 MF Tozé 21 DF Florent Hanin 22 FW Hélder Ferreira

No. Position Player 23 FW Tyler Boyd 24 DF Yordan Osorio (on loan from Porto) 25 MF Alhassan Wakaso 26 FW Óscar Estupiñán 30 MF Ola John 43 MF Joseph Amoah 46 DF Frederico Venâncio 49 FW Junior Tallo 56 GK Miguel Silva 67 DF Huang Wei 91 MF Davidson 93 MF Guillermo Celis 98 DF Dodô (on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk) -- MF Mattheus (on loan from Sporting)

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 João Vigário (at Estoril until 1 July 2019)

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