Vitória S.C.

The Vitória Sport Clube, also known as Vitória de Guimarães, or by the acronym VSC, is a sports club based in Guimarães, Portugal.

It is a club that has big objectives such as the 5th place as a minimum in the Primeira Liga, and the presence in the UEFA Europa League. Over the years it has managed to maintain good positions in the Primeira Liga, achieving the 3rd place in the 2007-2008 season. It is a club that has tried to end the favoritism of the so-called "Big Three" (Futebol Clube do Porto, Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Sporting Clube de Portugal,) always going to fighting for the top spots in the ranking. Its main rivals are SC Braga, its neighbor city, with whom he disputes the "Derby of Minho", Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting. The club holds the distinction of being the club with the most Portuguese Cup final appearances without ever winning it, being five time runners-up.

Besides football, the Club has been creating other modalities, especially the volleyball (National Champion in 2007/2008), but also basketball (Champion of the Portuguese League in 2006/2007 and Champion of the Portuguese Basketball Cup in 2007/2008), swimming, water polo, kickboxing, judo, beach soccer, table tennis, athletics, women's futsal, among others.

Recent history

Although Vitória de Guimarães have never won the Portuguese Football Championship or the Portuguese Football Cup, it is one of the most respected clubs in Portugal, playing in the top division for the last few decades, usually challenging for a UEFA Cup place. However, in the 2005–06 season, the team was relegated to the Segunda Liga (Second League) after its worst championship performance in decades.

In the early 2000s, Vitória struggled to keep itself in the top Portuguese division (Superliga). Those years were marked by the decline of the leadership of Pimenta Machado, former president of the club. Machado was accused on charges of embezzlement. Despite this, Vitória had an impressive season. Progress continued in 2004–05, when they secured an impressive league fifth-place finish and qualified for European competition (the UEFA Cup). Vitoria's recent renaissance fell apart in 2005–06, as they finished 17th in the Superliga, despite reaching the cup semi-final, having beaten Benfica in the quarter-finals. They 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.

After the fall, everyone thought, that Vitória would get back in the First Division quite easily, even though the team itself wasn't that great. Then, what happened was almost a bad nightmare for the fans. Vitória, in the middle of the season, was rounding the 10th place and lower, with very few chances of getting promoted. During the winter break, there was a change in the club's direction and a new coach was hired, Manuel Cajuda. What followed next was a dream. Vitória started winning game after game and in the end managed to get to second place in the 29th game of the season; their promotion was guaranteed.

The promotion was crowned with a third place in the 2007–08 season, guaranteeing them a place in the third qualifying round of the Champion's League. They lost to Swiss team Basel due to a clean goal disallowed by the referee in the last minutes of the second leg match (Platini himself referred this) and dropped into the UEFA Cup first round. They played Portsmouth of the English Premier League over two legs. Portsmouth progressed, winning 4–2 on aggregate.

New stadium

Estádio D. Afonso Henriques is a football (soccer) stadium in Guimarães, Portugal. It was expanded and refurbished for the UEFA Euro 2004 competition, and it seats 29,865 people. In 2004, a new leadership era began with Vítor Magalhães (former President of Moreirense, another team from Guimarães municipality) and the team finished the championship in fifth place. In 2006, the team was relegated. After Os Três Grandes (Benfica, FC Porto, and Sporting CP), Vitória is the club which attracts most supporters to the stadium, 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).

Minho rivalry

There is a hooligan side, which often give the club a bad name. The city of Guimarães is often referred to as the "birthplace of the Portuguese nationality" and was the birthplace of Afonso I of Portugal (or Afonso Henriques), the first Portuguese king. This only adds fuel to the ever growing derby of Minho province with neighbours Sporting Clube de Braga. This derby is considered one of Portugal's most intense matches, as both clubs battle each year to reach a European competition. Both clubs have even tested each other in Europe where in the 1990s, Vitória were one of Portugal's best in Europe after the Big Three and Boavista, beating sides like Parma, Atlético Madrid, Real Sociedad, and Sparta Prague. The derby also intensified during the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament, hosted by Portugal, where both clubs were involved in new stadium reconstruction. Furthermore, both clubs looked for UEFA qualification but, despite reaching the 2005–06 Portuguese Cup semi-finals and having a decent UEFA Cup participation, Vitória got relegated to Second League. It didn't take much for Vitória to get back on top, and after just one year in the Portuguese Second Division, they earned the promotion. In 2007–08, the "duels" were exciting as always, providing great games, and lots of supporters from both sides, both in Braga and in Guimarães. With Vitória back in the top flight, the emotion of one of the biggest derbies also got back, which pleased countless football fans.,

Fans

Vitória de Guimarães possibly have the most different fans in Portugal. The biggest supporter group is the White Angels, who go by the motto Somos únicos (We are unique). A self confessed Vitória fan is Fernando Meira, who played at the club and now plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg in Russia. Meira, as the captain of VfB Stuttgart, raised the trophy of German champions in 2006–07, all the while holding a scarf of Vitória Sport Clube.[1]

Europe

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Notable former players

Notable Former Managers

Honours

• Cup of Portugal; Runners-up 1941–42, 1962–63, 1975–76, 1987–88, 2010–11
• Portuguese Supercup: 1988
• Liga de Honra: Runners-up 2006–07 (2nd Tier)
• Portuguese Second Division: Runners-up 1955–56, 1957–58 (2nd Tier)

League and Cup history

The club's 66 presences at the top level of Portuguese football make the fifth club with most presences, after FC Porto, Sporting CP, and Benfica (all with 76); and Belenenses also with 66.

Colours

Home kit: white shirt and black shorts.

Away kit: black shirt and white shorts.

Third kit: light grey shirt and light grey shorts.

Basketball

Vitória S.C. men's basketball team has playing in the Proliga.

Volleyball

Vitória Sport Clube has a volleyball team which plays in the Portuguese Volleyball League A1.

References

External links

• Official homepage
• Detailed up-to-date Vitoria Guimaraes news (in English)
• Vitória Sempre Unofficial website
• SempreVitoria Unofficial blog
• Portuguesefutebol.com Your source for Portuguese football in English.
• Vitoria Guimaraes the website of polish fan
• Guimaraes info at PSNL Soccer
• Virtual museum made by a fan with scarfs and game tickets Click 'Exposição' to see a list of scarfs and tickets