João Martins (footballer, born 1927)

João Baptista Martins (3 September 1927 – 16 November 1993) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He was famous for scoring the first ever goal in European Cup history in 1955.

João Martins
Personal information
Full name João Baptista Martins[1]
Date of birth (1927-09-03)3 September 1927[1]
Place of birth Sines, Portugal[1]
Date of death 16 November 1993(1993-11-16) (aged 66)[1]
Place of death France[1]
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Striker
Youth career
1935-? Sport Lisboa e Sines
?-1946 CUF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1946–1959 Sporting CP 204 (131)
National team
1952–1957 Portugal 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Sines, Setúbal District, Martins signed with Sporting CP at the age of 19 for 100 escudos, after leaving G.D. CUF as the works team did not find him an occupation as originally promised.[1] During his 13-year tenure in Lisbon, he would win seven Primeira Liga championships and the 1954 Taça de Portugal.[2]

In the 1953–54 season, Martins scored 31 times in 23 matches for the champions.[3] On 4 September 1955, he scored the first-ever goal in the history of the European Cup, opening a 3–3 home draw against FK Partizan at the Estádio Nacional.[4]

Martins was deployed in every attacking position during his spell with Sporting. The scorer of 258 competitive goals, he was also used as a makeshift goalkeeeper in a game against Clube Oriental de Lisboa.[1]

International career

Martins won 11 caps for Portugal, over four and a half years. His first came on 23 November 1952, in a 1–1 friendly with Austria.[1]

Later life and death

Martins settled in France after retiring, and worked in a factory. He died in that country in November 1993 aged 66, due to heart failure.[2][1]

See also

References
  1. "João Martins" (in Portuguese). Sines Município. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  2. Roseiro, Bruno (3 June 2017). "Liga dos Campeões. João Martins, o corticeiro alentejano que marcou o primeiro golo da prova em 1955" [Champions League. João Martins, the cork-stripper from Alentejo who scored the competition's first goal in 1955]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  3. Claro, Paulo; Preston, Simon; Nunes, João; Di Maggio, Roberto. "Portugal – List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  4. Pimentel, José Nuno (4 September 2019). "O dia em que Sporting e Partizan fizeram história" [The day Sporting and Partizan made history] (in Portuguese). UEFA. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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