The Liga ZON Sagres logo (since 2010) |
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Countries | Portugal |
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Confederation | UEFA |
Founded | 1934 |
Number of teams | 16 |
Levels on pyramid | 1 |
Relegation to | Liga de Honra |
Domestic cup(s) | Taça de Portugal Taça da Liga Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira |
International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League |
Current champions | Porto (25th title) (2010–11) |
Most championships | Benfica (32 titles) |
TV partners | SportTV TVI |
Website | LPFP.pt |
2011–12 Primeira Liga |
The Primeira Liga (Portuguese pronunciation: [pɾiˈmejɾɐ ˈliɣɐ]), formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system. It has a European ranking of 6th by UEFA's ranking of 2011[1], a World ranking of 8th by IFFHS's ranking of 2011 and a European ranking of 6th by IFFHS's ranking of 2011. The Liga ZON Sagres is presently contested by 16 clubs each season, but only five of them have won the title. Currently going into its 78th edition (counting four provisional championships in the 1930s), the competition is dominated by the nicknamed "Big Three" (Futebol Clube do Porto, Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Sporting Clube de Portugal), who have a total of 75 titles, with Clube de Futebol "Os Belenenses" and Boavista Futebol Clube winning the other two. The current champions are Futebol Clube do Porto.
Before the Portuguese football reform of 1938, an experimental competition on a round-basis was already being held — the Primeira Liga (Premier League) and the winners of that competition were named "League champions". Despite that, a Portuguese Championship in a knock-out cup format was the most popular and defined the Portuguese champion.
Then, with the reform, a round-robin basis competition was implemented as the most important of the calendar and began defining the Portuguese champion. From 1938–2000, the name Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Divisão (National Championship of the First Division), or just Primeira Divisão (First Division), was used. When the Portuguese League for Professional Football took control of the two nationwide leagues in 1999, it was renamed Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Liga (Premier League National Championship), or simply Primeira Liga (Premier League).
Season | BE | PO | SP |
---|---|---|---|
1999–00 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
2000–01 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
2001–02 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
2002–03 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
2003–04 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
2004–05 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2005–06 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
2006–07 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
2007–08 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
2008–09 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
2009–10 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
2010–11 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
The Big Three (Portuguese: Os Três Grandes) is the nickname of the three most powerful sports clubs in Portugal. The football teams of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Futebol Clube do Porto and Sporting Clube de Portugal have a great rivalry, and are usually the main contenders for the title. Between them they share all but two of the Portuguese Football Championships ever played and generally end up sharing the top three positions. The two clubs outside the big three to have won the Portuguese league are Belenenses in the 1945-46 season and Boavista in the 2000-01 season.
These clubs dominate Portuguese football so it's normal to support any of these teams as a "first club". The majority of the fans support one of "The Big Three", with a local team probably coming afterwards (or in some cases not coming at all). The big three have the highest average attendance ratings every season in Portugal, while the other teams, lacking support from the locals (with the exception of Vitória de Guimarães and Braga, which are the 4th or 5th team with the most support), have suffered from weak attendances due in part to the big three's monopoly. The lack of support for local teams is considered to be one of the main reasons why Portuguese Football registers one of the worst attendance ratings in European Football's best championships, alongside the price of game tickets and the broadcast of almost all the games in television. In other sports, the rivalry between the big clubs is also considerable and it usually leads to arguments between the fans and players.
Benfica is the team with most Championship titles won, but Porto has been the dominating force in the last three decades, having more titles than any Portuguese team and also being the team with the most National Super Cups won. Sporting holds the third place when it comes to the most Cup titles, as well as League Titles. Benfica has two consecutive European Cup titles won and Porto is the only Portuguese team to have won any European Competition (excluding the European Cup Winner's Cup and the Intertoto Cup) in the last twenty five years, gathering, since 1987, a total of 2 European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, 2 UEFA Cup/Europa League Cup, 1 European Super Cup and 2 Intercontinental Cups. Sporting won, for one time, the extinct European Cup Winner´s Cup, back in the sixties. Apart from the big three, Braga has won the last Intertoto Cup in 2008 and was runners-up in the 2010-2011 Europa League, losing against Porto.
Galp Energia acquired the naming rights to the league in 2002, titling the division SuperLiga Galp Energia. A four year deal with the Austrian sports betting web portal bwin was announced on 18 August 2005 amid questioning by the other gambling authorities in Portugal (the Santa Casa da Misericórdia and the Portuguese Casinos Association), who claimed to hold the exclusive rights to legal gambling games in Portuguese national territory. After holding the name Liga betandwin.com for the 2005–06 season,[2] the name was changed to BWINLIGA in July 2006.[3] From the 2008–09 season, the league has been be named Liga Sagres due to sponsorship from Sagres beer. In 2010, they renewed the sponsorship from Sagres, but also got the sponsorship from ZON Multimédia, the leading pay-tv services provider.
From the 2006–07 season on, there are 16 clubs in the Portuguese Liga, down from 18 in the previous seasons. During the course of a season, each club plays all teams twice — once at their home stadium and once at their opponent's — for a total of 30 games. At the end of each season, the two lowest placed teams are relegated to the Liga de Honra, and the top two teams from Liga de Honra are promoted to the Primeira Liga.
Names in bold are the colloquial names of the clubs.
Within Portugal, SportTV holds rights to broadcast both first and second division matches, through their Premium Channels, SportTV 1, SportTV 2, SportTV 4 and in HD on the respctive HD simulcast of each channel. All clubs negotiate individually with the channel. One game a week is broadcasted on free-to-air television in a contract deal between SportTV and TVI.
National league ranking for the 2011–12 season of the European Cups. (Previous season (2010–11) rank in italics)
(see UEFA coefficients full list for more information)
2011 A FIFA considerou a liga portuguesa a 4ª melhor da Europa
Since the beginning of the league, there are three clubs with an attendance much higher than the others: Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP. They have also the biggest stadiums in Portugal, with more than 50,000 seats. Other clubs, such as Vitória de Guimarães and Sporting de Braga, also have good attendances. Académica de Coimbra, Vitória de Setúbal, Boavista, Belenenses, and Marítimo are historical clubs, from the biggest Portuguese cities, and have also many supporters. However, they do not have big attendances nowadays. Their stadiums have between 10,000 and 30,000 seats.
The 2010–11 season saw an average attendance by club:[9]
Club | Average | Stadium capacity |
Attendance(%) | Acumulated | Stadium | |
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1 | Benfica | 38,146 | 65,647 | 58,69% | 572,197 | Estádio da Luz (Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica) |
2 | Porto | 36,986 | 50,399 | 73,39% | 554,800 | Estádio do Dragão |
3 | Sporting CP | 24,857 | 50,049 | 49,67% | 372,864 | Estádio José Alvalade – Século XXI |
4 | Sporting de Braga | 14,508 | 30,154 | 47,91% | 217,630 | Estádio AXA (Estádio Municipal de Braga) |
5 | Vitória de Guimarães | 13,949 | 30,000 | 46,71% | 209,235 | Estádio D. Afonso Henriques |
6 | Académica Coimbra | 4,558 | 30,000 | 15,39% | 68,375 | Estádio Cidade de Coimbra |
7 | Beira-Mar | 4,028 | 30,127 | 12,95% | 60,433 | Estádio Municipal de Aveiro |
8 | Vitória de Setúbal | 3,920 | 18,694 | 25,30% | 58,813 | Estádio do Bonfim |
9 | Marítimo | 3,439 | 9,177 | 77,58% | 51,586 | Estádio dos Barreiros |
10 | Portimonense | 3,307 | 9,544 | 28,33% | 49,607 | Estádio Municipal de Portimão |
11 | Olhanense | 3,194 | 10,080 | 27,48% | 47,914 | Estádio José Arcanjo |
12 | Leiria | 2,407 | 30,000 | 10,39% | 36,108 | Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa |
13 | Rio Ave | 2,391 | 12,820 | 22,11% | 35,865 | Estádio do Rio Ave FC |
14 | Nacional | 2,083 | 5,132 | 40,52% | 31,251 | Estádio da Madeira |
15 | Paços de Ferreira | 2,040 | 5,172 | 44,68% | 28,952 | Estádio da Mata Real |
16 | Naval 1º de Maio | 1,063 | 10,000 | 16,93% | 24,053 | Estádio Municipal José Bento Pessoa |
Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Years and Runner-Up Years |
Benfica | 32 | 25 | 1936, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011 |
Porto | 25 | 24 | 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1951, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 |
Sporting CP | 18 | 19 | 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 |
Belenenses | 1 | 3 | 1937, 1946, 1955, 1973 |
Boavista | 1 | 3 | 1976, 1999, 2001, 2002 |
Académica de Coimbra | – | 1 | 1967 |
Vitória de Setúbal | – | 1 | 1972 |
Braga | – | 1 | 2010 |
# | Club | Seasons | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points | Goals for | Goals against | Goal difference | First season | Last season | Best classification | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Benfica | 78 | 2138 | 1438 | 412 | 288 | 4726 | 5179 | 1940 | 3239 | 1935 | 2012 | 1st (32 titles) | |
2 | Porto | 78 | 2138 | 1401 | 390 | 347 | 4592 | 4751 | 1974 | 2777 | 1935 | 2012 | 1st (25 titles) | |
3 | Sporting CP | 78 | 2138 | 1317 | 448 | 373 | 4399 | 4759 | 2060 | 2699 | 1935 | 2012 | 1st (18 titles) | |
4 | Belenenses | 72 | 1980 | 831 | 475 | 674 | 2968 | 3195 | 2520 | 675 | 1935 | 2010 | 1st (1 title) | |
5 | Vitória de Guimarães | 67 | 1928 | 745 | 462 | 721 | 2697 | 2741 | 2757 | -16 | 1942 | 2012 | 3rd | |
6 | Vitória de Setúbal | 64 | 1778 | 624 | 423 | 731 | 2295 | 2513 | 2675 | -162 | 1935 | 2012 | 2nd | |
7 | Braga | 56 | 1662 | 599 | 408 | 655 | 2205 | 2147 | 2392 | -245 | 1948 | 2012 | 2nd | |
8 | Boavista | 51 | 1534 | 603 | 385 | 546 | 2194 | 2084 | 2131 | -47 | 1936 | 2008 | 1st (1 title) | |
9 | Académica de Coimbra | 60 | 1546 | 485 | 332 | 729 | 1787 | 2204 | 2768 | -574 | 1935 | 2012 | 2nd | |
10 | Marítimo | 32 | 1018 | 343 | 288 | 387 | 1315 | 1139 | 1249 | -110 | 1978 | 2012 | 5th | |
11 | Farense | 23 | 754 | 222 | 191 | 341 | 857 | 796 | 1093 | -297 | 1971 | 2002 | 5th | |
12 | Beira-Mar | 26 | 798 | 205 | 229 | 364 | 844 | 822 | 1129 | -307 | 1962 | 2012 | 6th | |
13 | Salgueiros | 24 | 740 | 197 | 183 | 360 | 774 | 804 | 1377 | -573 | 1944 | 2002 | 5th | Ended football team in 2005. Revived as Salgueiros 08. |
14 | CUF | 23 | 610 | 207 | 148 | 255 | 769 | 829 | 1004 | -175 | 1943 | 1976 | 3rd | Changed its name to GD Fabril in 2000. |
15 | Leixões | 25 | 670 | 183 | 164 | 323 | 713 | 750 | 1186 | -436 | 1937 | 2010 | 5th | |
16 | Atlético CP | 24 | 632 | 192 | 134 | 306 | 710 | 976 | 1285 | -309 | 1944 | 1977 | 3rd | |
17 | União de Leiria | 18 | 554 | 179 | 155 | 220 | 692 | 595 | 715 | -120 | 1980 | 2012 | 5th | |
18 | Varzim | 21 | 618 | 169 | 176 | 273 | 683 | 638 | 913 | -275 | 1964 | 2003 | 5th | |
19 | Estoril-Praia | 20 | 576 | 171 | 145 | 260 | 658 | 812 | 968 | -156 | 1945 | 2005 | 4th | |
20 | Rio Ave | 18 | 546 | 154 | 150 | 234 | 622 | 541 | 734 | -193 | 1980 | 2012 | 5th | |
21 | Barreirense | 24 | 592 | 166 | 119 | 307 | 617 | 758 | 1195 | -437 | 1938 | 1979 | 4th | |
22 | Estrela da Amadora | 16 | 540 | 144 | 176 | 220 | 608 | 521 | 680 | -159 | 1989 | 2009 | 7th | Ended football team in 2010. |
23 | Gil Vicente | 15 | 480 | 142 | 123 | 215 | 549 | 489 | 637 | -148 | 1991 | 2012 | 5th | |
24 | Portimonense | 14 | 440 | 140 | 108 | 192 | 528 | 460 | 576 | -116 | 1977 | 2011 | 5th | |
25 | Chaves | 13 | 446 | 131 | 123 | 192 | 516 | 492 | 619 | -127 | 1986 | 1999 | 5th | |
26 | Nacional | 13 | 396 | 135 | 109 | 152 | 514 | 464 | 491 | -24 | 1989 | 2012 | 4th | |
27 | Paços de Ferreira | 14 | 422 | 125 | 124 | 173 | 499 | 424 | 539 | -115 | 1992 | 2012 | 6th | |
28 | Olhanense | 18 | 426 | 127 | 96 | 203 | 479 | 717 | 928 | -211 | 1942 | 2012 | 4th | |
29 | Sporting da Covilhã | 15 | 406 | 126 | 79 | 201 | 457 | 585 | 834 | -249 | 1949 | 1988 | 5th | |
30 | Penafiel | 12 | 400 | 101 | 110 | 189 | 413 | 322 | 556 | -234 | 1981 | 2006 | 10th | |
31 | Lusitano de Évora | 14 | 364 | 116 | 64 | 184 | 412 | 494 | 722 | -228 | 1953 | 1966 | 5th | Ended football team in 2011. |
32 | Sporting de Espinho | 11 | 354 | 96 | 91 | 167 | 379 | 336 | 523 | -187 | 1975 | 1997 | 7th | |
33 | Tirsense | 8 | 256 | 65 | 73 | 118 | 268 | 219 | 370 | -151 | 1968 | 1996 | 8th | |
34 | Famalicão | 6 | 196 | 54 | 45 | 97 | 207 | 207 | 355 | -148 | 1947 | 1994 | 13th | |
35 | Naval | 6 | 184 | 49 | 46 | 89 | 193 | 160 | 255 | -95 | 2006 | 2011 | 8th | |
36 | Oriental | 7 | 190 | 51 | 37 | 102 | 190 | 229 | 433 | -204 | 1951 | 1975 | 5th | |
37 | Alverca | 5 | 170 | 48 | 37 | 85 | 181 | 192 | 266 | -74 | 1999 | 2004 | 11th | |
38 | Campomaiorense | 5 | 170 | 48 | 34 | 88 | 178 | 186 | 287 | -101 | 1996 | 2001 | 11th | |
39 | União da Madeira | 5 | 174 | 41 | 54 | 79 | 177 | 150 | 250 | -100 | 1990 | 1995 | 10th | |
40 | Torreense | 6 | 164 | 44 | 31 | 89 | 163 | 183 | 316 | -133 | 1956 | 1992 | 7th | |
41 | União de Tomar | 6 | 172 | 43 | 33 | 96 | 162 | 178 | 331 | -153 | 1969 | 1976 | 10th | |
42 | O Elvas | 5 | 146 | 37 | 37 | 72 | 148 | 211 | 183 | -35 | 1948 | 1988 | 8th | |
43 | Leça | 4 | 124 | 33 | 25 | 66 | 124 | 120 | 231 | -11 | 1942 | 1998 | 12th | |
44 | Moreirense | 3 | 102 | 28 | 35 | 39 | 119 | 105 | 122 | -17 | 2003 | 2005 | 9th | |
45 | Académico de Viseu | 4 | 128 | 27 | 24 | 77 | 105 | 81 | 237 | -156 | 1979 | 1989 | 13th | |
46 | Caldas | 4 | 104 | 26 | 25 | 53 | 103 | 124 | 235 | -111 | 1956 | 1959 | 10th | |
47 | Santa Clara | 3 | 102 | 24 | 31 | 47 | 103 | 106 | 150 | -44 | 2000 | 2003 | 14th | |
48 | Montijo | 3 | 90 | 23 | 20 | 47 | 89 | 91 | 155 | -64 | 1973 | 1977 | 13th | Folded in 2007. |
49 | Amora | 3 | 90 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 89 | 90 | 143 | -53 | 1981 | 1983 | 12th | |
50 | Desportivo de Aves | 3 | 90 | 16 | 25 | 53 | 73 | 78 | 152 | -74 | 1986 | 2007 | 13th | |
51 | Lusitano VRSA | 3 | 78 | 21 | 9 | 48 | 72 | 94 | 210 | -116 | 1948 | 1950 | 12th | |
52 | Sanjoanense | 4 | 104 | 16 | 22 | 66 | 70 | 86 | 249 | -163 | 1947 | 1969 | 10th | |
53 | Carcavelinhos | 5 | 82 | 19 | 12 | 51 | 69 | 103 | 223 | -120 | 1936 | 1942 | 4th | Merged to form Atlético CP in 1942. |
54 | Unidos de Lisboa | 3 | 54 | 18 | 8 | 28 | 62 | 135 | 158 | -23 | 1941 | 1943 | 5th | |
55 | Académico do Porto | 5 | 82 | 18 | 6 | 56 | 60 | 137 | 300 | -163 | 1935 | 1942 | 7th | Ended football team in 1964. |
56 | Elvas | 2 | 48 | 17 | 3 | 28 | 54 | 108 | 167 | -59 | 1946 | 1947 | 9th | Merged to form O Elvas in 1947. |
57 | Feirense | 4 | 90 | 13 | 13 | 64 | 52 | 70 | 197 | -127 | 1963 | 2012 | 14th | |
58 | Fafe | 1 | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 41 | 29 | 47 | -18 | 1989 | 1989 | 16th | |
59 | Felgueiras | 1 | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 33 | 29 | 47 | -18 | 1996 | 1996 | 16th | Folded in 2005. |
60 | Seixal | 2 | 52 | 7 | 8 | 37 | 29 | 44 | 150 | -106 | 1964 | 1965 | 12th | Ended football team in 2007. |
61 | Riopele | 1 | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 27 | 23 | 51 | -28 | 1978 | 1978 | 15th | Folded in 1984. |
62 | Águeda | 1 | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 26 | 25 | 55 | -30 | 1984 | 1984 | 15th | |
63 | Trofense | 1 | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 23 | 25 | 42 | -17 | 2009 | 2009 | 16th | |
64 | União de Coimbra | 1 | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 22 | 22 | 54 | -32 | 1973 | 1973 | 15th | |
65 | Alcobaça | 1 | 30 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 56 | -36 | 1983 | 1983 | 16th | |
66 | Vizela | 1 | 30 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 19 | 31 | 71 | -40 | 1985 | 1985 | 16th | |
67 | União de Lisboa | 1 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 30 | 49 | -19 | 1935 | 1935 | 6th | Merged to form Atlético CP in 1942. |
68 | Oliveirense | 1 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 22 | 73 | -51 | 1946 | 1946 | 12th | |
69 | Casa Pia | 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 56 | -44 | 1935 | 1935 | 8th |
The clubs highlighted in green play in the Liga in the 2010/11 season. The clubs highlighted in red play in the Liga de Honra in the 2010/11 season. The clubs highlighted in grey no longer exist because they have been disestablished or have been merged into another club. Remaining clubs play in lower competitions. A win is worth three points for all clubs.
Top Ten Highest Goalscorers |
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Player | Period | Club | Goals | ||
1 | Fernando Peyroteo | 1937–1950 | Sporting CP, Belenenses | 331 (1.68/game) | |
2 | Eusébio | 1960–1977 | Benfica, Beira-Mar | 319 (1.02/game) | |
3 | Fernando Gomes | 1974–1991 | Porto, Sporting CP | 318 (0.79/game) | |
4 | José Águas | 1950–1963 | Benfica | 290 (1.03/game) | |
5 | Néné | 1968–1986 | Benfica | 262 (0.62/game) | |
6 | Manuel Fernandes | 1970–1988 | CUF, Sporting CP, Vitória de Setúbal | 243 (0.50/game) | |
7 | Matateu | 1951–1967 | Belenenses, Atlético de Lisboa | 218 (0.75/game) | |
8 | José Torres | 1959–1980 | Benfica, Vitória de Setúbal, Estoril-Praia | 217 (0.57/game) | |
9 | Rui Jordão | 1971–1989 | Benfica, Sporting CP, Vitória de Setúbal | 215 (0.60/game) | |
10 | Arsénio Duarte | 1943–1959 | Benfica, CUF | 211 (0.67/game) |
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