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	1922 (1922)
Ground	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques
Ground Capacity	30,165
Chairman	Júlio Mendes
Manager	Sergio Conceiçao
League	Primeira Liga
2014–15	5th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a football club based in Guimarães, Portugal.

As a top contender to the title of fourth best supported club in Portugal, it has tried to end the favoritism of the so-called "Big Three" (Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP), maintaining good positions in the Primeira Liga, where it has finished third on four occasions, the last one in 2007–08 season.

As a rule in recent years, Vitória de Guimarães has been battling for European places, trying to place 5th or above in the league. In its history, they have won one Portuguese Cup and one Super Cup. Its main rivals are SC Braga, of the neighbouring city, with whom the club disputes the "Derby of Minho". Vitória's crest, nickname, and stadium honour Afonso Henriques, first King of Portugal and possibly a Guimarães native.

Besides football, the club has other sports sections, such as volleyball (National Champion in 2007–08), basketball (League Champion in 2006–07 and Cup Champion in 2007–08), swimming, water polo, kickboxing, judo, beach soccer, table tennis, athletics, women's futsal, among others.

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 Cup final in their debut season, but fell 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 Borussia Monchengladbach of West Germany.^[2]

In the early 2000s, Vitória struggled in some years to retain its status 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, in 2004-2005 they secured an impressive fifth-place finish in the league and qualified for European competition (the UEFA Cup). However the renaissance ended quickly and the very next season (2005–06) they were relegated to the Segunda Liga where they last played in 1958, finishing 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 club's relegation, it was felt Vitória would return to the First Division quite easily, even though the team itself wasn't that strong. Vitória, by the middle of the season, was only around 10th place and lower, with seemingly little chance of promotion. However during the winter break, there was a change in the club's direction and a new coach was hired, Manuel Cajuda. Vitória improved their form and finally managed to reach second place in the 29th game of the season; promotion was guaranteed.

In their first season back in the top flight they continued their winning form, achieving an impressive third place in 2007–08, guaranteeing them a place in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. They lost there 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 to this) and dropped into the UEFA Cup first round. There they played Portsmouth of the Premier League over two legs however Portsmouth progressed, 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 Portuguese Football Cup, 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 2013–14, VSC became the first Portuguese club to offer free tickets to a European competition's game.^[3]

Stadium

The Estádio D. Afonso Henriques seen from the outside

The Estádio D. Afonso Henriques was expanded and refurbished for the UEFA Euro 2004 competition, and it seats 29,865 people. It held two group matches in the tournament, and has also been a venue on four occasions for the Portugal national football team.

After Os Três Grandes , Vitória is the club which attracts most supporters to the stadium,^[4] 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 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. The derby also intensified during the run-up to the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament hosted by Portugal, as both clubs had new stadia built as tournament venues.

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. Meira, as the captain of VfB Stuttgart, raised 2007 Bundesliga trophy wearing a Vitória scarf.^[5]

Honours

• Portuguese Cup

• Winners (1): 2012–13
• Runners-up (5): 1941–42, 1962–63, 1975–76, 1987–88, 2010–11

• Supertaça de Portugal

• Winners (1): 1988
• Runners-up (2): 2011, 2013

League and Cup history

The club's 70 seasons in the top level of Portuguese football make them the club with the joint-fourth longest time there, after FC Porto, Sporting CP, and Benfica (all with 81); and Belenenses with 74.

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	Djurgårdens	5–0	1–3	2nd
			Neuchâtel Xamax	5–2	1–0
			Hamburguer	3–1	0–2
1975–76	Intertoto Cup	Group 7	KV Oostende	4–1	0–2	2nd
			Holbæk B&I	4–0	2–1
			FK 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	Angoulême	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 St. Petersburg		1–2	5th
			Bolton Wanderers	1–1
			Sevilla		1–3
			Beşiktaş	1–3
2008–09	UEFA Champions League	Third qualifying round	FC 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

Players

Current squad

As of 2 February 2016

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 Jesus (vice-captain) 2 DF Pedro Henrique 3 DF Josué Sá 5 DF Luís Rocha 6 DF Moreno (captain) 7 FW Ricardo Valente 10 MF Santiago Montoya 11 FW Licá (on loan from Porto) 13 GK Assis Giovanaz 15 DF João Afonso 16 FW Paolo Hurtado (on loan from Reading) 23 DF Pedro Correia 24 MF João Teixeira (on loan from Benfica) 25 MF Oriol Rosell (on loan from Sporting CP) 26 MF Cafú 28 MF Victor Andrade (on loan from Benfica)

No. Position Player 29 DF Alvin Arrondel 32 FW Tyler Boyd 35 DF Dénis Duarte 38 FW Bruno Mendes 45 MF Alexandre Silva 48 MF Bruno Alves 52 MF Otávio (on loan from Porto) 55 MF Joseph Amoah 56 GK Miguel Silva 70 MF Tozé 76 DF Bruno Gaspar 89 FW Henrique Dourado 93 DF Dalbert 94 MF Thibang Phete 99 MF Bakary Saré

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 — FW Cláudio (at Porto until 30 June 2016)

Notable former players

Notable former Managers

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