F.C. Porto

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FC Porto

Full name	Futebol Clube do Porto
Nickname(s)	Dragões (Dragons) Azuis e brancos (Blue and white) Tripeiros
Short name	FC Porto
Founded	28 September 1893 as Football Club do Porto
Ground	Estádio do Dragão Porto, Portugal (Capacity: 50,399[1])
Chairman	Pinto da Costa
Head Coach	Jesualdo Ferreira
League	Portuguese Liga
2008–09	Portuguese Liga, 1st
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Futebol Clube do Porto (Portuguese pronunciation: [futɨˈbɔɫ ˈklub(ɨ) du ˈpoɾtu]) (Euronext: FCP), or FC Porto, Porto, or FCP for short, is one of the top Portuguese sports clubs. It was founded in Porto in 1893.

FC Porto is an internationally lauded team in the world, with a national record of six international titles, becoming European and World Champions twice each in the 1987 and 2004 seasons. In 1987, FC Porto also gained the UEFA Supercup (another first for Portugal) and, in 2004, it brought Portugal's first UEFA Champions League trophy, making FC Porto the most successful club internationally in Portugal. In 1987, FC Porto became one of a few teams in the World to hold in possession three major international titles simultaneously (the only one in Portugal). Domestically they hold the best record of five titles in a row, having won the Portuguese Liga 24 times. Other titles won by the club include the Portuguese Cup 18 times and Portuguese Supercup 16 times (58 national titles).

The football home ground is the Estádio do Dragão, which replaced the previous home, Estádio das Antas, in 2003. A new multi-sport arena near the stadium was recently completed to harbour FC Porto's other sports such as the handball and basketball teams, which are regular contenders for the national titles and the roller hockey section, amongst the best in the sport worldwide. Supporters and players of the club are nicknamed Portistas.

FC Porto was founded in the northern city of Porto on 28 September 1893 by wine-salesman António Nicolau de Almeida, who had his first contact with the game of football on one of his trips to England. The club was revived in 1906 by Monteiro da Costa.

Commercially, the club has several stores called Loja Azul (Blue Store) scattered around the city, including two used with official supplier Nike. Since 1994, a merchandising goods fair called Portomania is organized during the pre-season. FC Porto publishes one of the older club-related publications in Europe: a monthly 60-page full-colour magazine called Dragões (Dragons) that has existed since the early 1980s.

FC Porto played in the Portuguese championship 74 times, playing 2048 games, winning 1333, drawing 375, losing 340, scoring 4542 goals, and conceding 1909, having 3342 points as of the end of the 2007–08 season. They were also one of the founding members of the now disbanded G-14.

[edit] The public company

After going public in 1998, FC Porto created several satellite companies around the club to improve its efficiency.

• FCPorto - youth football, handball, ring hockey, athletics, club's magazine, etc.
• FCPorto - Futebol SAD and FCPorto - Basquetebol SAD (professional football and basketball companies)
• PortoEstádio (Estádio do Dragão stadium)
• PortoMultimédia (official site and multimedia products)
• PortoComercial (Merchandising)
• PortoSeguro (Insurance)

The FCPorto SAD is listed in the Euronext Lisbon stock exchange.

[edit] Presidents

Nicolau de Almeida (first), Monteiro da Costa, Dummond Villares, Carmo Pacheco, Borges de Avelar, Henrique da Mesquita, Pinto de Faria, Neves Reis, Urgel Horta, Carlos Costa, Angelo César, Ferreira Alves, Júlio Ribeiro, Cesario Bonito, Paulo Pombo, Nascimento Cordeiro, Pinto Magalhães, Américo de Sá, Pinto da Costa (current).

[edit] History

FC Porto's first official trophy, the Union of the North Cup, was won in 1911. In the following years, it became one of the biggest clubs in Portugal and went on to win the first national competition in the history of Portuguese football, the Campeonato da Liga 1934-35. Porto were always a struggling team after that championship, and went on to win only five championships in 41 years . But slightly before the new president Pinto da Costa took office, the history of Portuguese soccer saw a new title contestant, and a new European team. In the following years, Porto won 18 titles, 10 Portuguese cups, 15 Portuguese supercups, 1 European Champions Cup, and the new Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 European Super Cup, and 2 Intercontinental Cup.

Two of the biggest reasons for this change of fortunes were Pinto da Costa, who took control of Porto in 1982 and José Maria Pedroto whom he had brought back with him to manage the team. The duo quickly caused the team damage, with Pinto da Costa as football director and Pedroto as manager, winning two titles previously, and making controversial remarks about the centralization of Portuguese football, which caused them problems with the directing board, and consequently they left. After quitting, in 1982, Pinto da Costa ran for presidency and won, bringing back Pedroto. The following decades turned what was the third team in the overall history of Portuguese football into the biggest title winner of the past 30 years. Since 1982, Porto has won 17 titles, achieving the record Penta (five leagues in a row) in 1999 and since 1976 never finished below 3rd place, 11 Portuguese cups, and has a majority of Supercups, having won 15 out of a possible 30.

[edit] Honours

[edit] National

Portuguese Liga :

• Winners (24 titles) - 1934–35, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09

Portuguese Cup :

• Winners (14 titles) - 1955–56, 1957–58, 1967–68, 1976–77, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2008–09

Portuguese SuperCup

• Winners (16 titles) (Record) - 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009

[edit] International

European Cup/Champions' League :

• Winners (2 titles) - 1986–87, 2003–04

European Super Cup

• Winners (1 title) - 1986–87

Intercontinental Cup

• Winners (2 titles) - 1987, 2004

UEFA Cup

• Winners (1 title) - 2002–03

[edit] League and Cup performances

[edit] Recent seasons

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe	Coach(es)
1999–00	1D	2	34	22	7	5	66	26	73	Winner	UEFA Champions League - Quarter-Finals	Fernando Santos
2000–01	1D	2	34	24	4	6	73	27	76	Winner	UEFA Cup - Quarter-Finals	Fernando Santos
2001–02	1D	3	34	21	5	8	66	34	68	Quarter-finals	UEFA Champions League - 2nd Group Stage	Octávio Machado, José Mourinho
2002–03	1D	1	34	27	5	2	73	26	86	Winner	UEFA Cup - Winner	José Mourinho
2003–04	1D	1	34	25	7	2	63	19	82	Final	UEFA Champions League - Winner UEFA Super Cup - Runner Up	José Mourinho
2004–05	1D	2	34	17	11	6	39	26	62	Last 32	UEFA Champions League - Last 16 UEFA Super Cup - Runner-up Intercontinental Cup - Winner	Luigi del Neri, Víctor Fernández, José Couceiro
2005–06	1D	1	34	24	7	3	54	16	79	Winner	UEFA Champions League - Group Stage	Co Adriaanse
2006–07	1D	1	30	22	3	5	65	20	69	4th Round	UEFA Champions League - Last 16	Jesualdo Ferreira
2007–08	1D	1	30	24	3	3	60	13	69*	Final	UEFA Champions League - Last 16	Jesualdo Ferreira
2008–09	1D	1	30	21	7	2	61	18	70	Winner	UEFA Champions League - Quarter-Finals	Jesualdo Ferreira

• 1D: Portuguese Liga and its predecessors (1st level)

*Porto were deducted six points due to suspicion on attempted bribery of referees in the 2003–04 season (Pinto da Costa denied it and investigation proved that the club was innocent.)^[2]

[edit] Records

• Participations in the Portuguese main division: 72
  • Games played: 1988
  • Games won: 1287
  • Games drawn: 369
  • Games lost: 332
  • Goals scored: 4427 (average 2.23 per game)
  • Goals conceded: 1876 (average 0.94 per game)
  • Best position: Champion (24times)
  • Worst position: 9th (1969-70)
  • Season with more points: 67 in 1990-91 (2 points per win) and 86 in 2002-03 (3 points per win)
  • Player with most games: João Domingos Pinto with 407
  • Player with most goals: Fernando Gomes with 288
  • Manager with most games: Pedroto with 236

[edit] International titles

[edit] 1984 - Cup Winners'Cup

[edit] 1987 - European Champions Cup

When Pinto da Costa joined as president, FC Porto was the only club from the "Big Three" without European honours, but that quickly changed. The first final was played against Juventus for the 1984 Cup Winners' Cup, but Porto lost. Three years later, the team led by Artur Jorge, the name hand-picked by Pedroto, won its first European honour in a thrilling 2–1 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup 1986–87.

The following year, Porto won the European Super Cup against AFC Ajax, and the Intercontinental Cup against Peñarol, making them the first Portuguese winners of the two cups.

[edit] 1988–2002

The following 16 years saw Porto as a midrange team - often in the final 16, but not progressing much further. The exception was in 1994, when Porto reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. The semi-final, decided on a single game, resulted in a heavy loss (3–0) at the hands of Johann Cruyff's FC Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

[edit] 2003 - UEFA Cup

In 2003, under the guidance of José Mourinho, Porto made a UEFA Cup run, concluding with a victory in the final against Celtic in Seville, Spain.

[edit] 2004 - Champions League

FC Porto supporters at the Gelsenkirchen Arena AufSchalke.

The following season set a greater challenge, but despite a slow start which included a 1–3 loss against Real Madrid, Porto never lost again in the Champions League, relegating Olympique de Marseille to the UEFA Cup (where they reached the final), drawing with Manchester United at Old Trafford in the dying minutes of play to go through on aggregate, and beating Olympique Lyonnais and Deportivo La Coruña. Porto beat AS Monaco 3–0 in the Final, played in Arena AufSchalke in Germany. Porto's UEFA Champions League winning line-up for their spectacular cup-run was: Vítor Baía, Nuno Valente, Ricardo Carvalho, Jorge Costa(c), Paulo Ferreira, Costinha, Maniche, Pedro Mendes, Deco (Pedro Emanuel), Derlei (Benni McCarthy), and Carlos Alberto (Dmitri Alenichev).

After the victory, Porto became the Portuguese side with the most European cups won - 2 CL/ECC, UEFA Super Cup plus a UEFA Cup, compared with the two ECC by SL Benfica and the one CWC by Sporting CP.

Even after the departure of José Mourinho to Chelsea, the club kept winning at the international level. On 12 December 2004, Porto won the last-held Intercontinental Cup, by beating Once Caldas from Colombia 8–7 in a penalty shoot-out.

[edit] Stadium

Main Entrance

Porto's home games are played at Estádio do Dragão (English: Dragon's Stadium) in Porto. Built as a replacement for FC Porto's old ground, Estadio das Antas, and as a venue for UEFA Euro 2004, Estádio do Dragão has an all-seated capacity of 50,399. The stadium's name is derived from the presence of a dragon on the crest of Porto, which is also the nickname of Porto fans.

Designed by Manuel Salgado and built by the Grupo Amorim, it cost €97.755.318, of which €18.430.956 was supported by the Portuguese taxpayers. To support costs, each stand carries one or two sponsor names, EDP for the south end, TMN and SAPO ADSL in the east stands, PT and Meo for the west stands, and finally Coca-Cola in the north stands. Away fans are placed in the left corner of the North stand, while Porto supporter groups ("SuperDragões" and "Colectivo Ultras 95") are at each end, although initially both groups were in the South stand. Sony's IP cameras enable around-the-clock surveillance at FC Porto [1]as a security measure.

[edit] Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Helton 2 DF Bruno Alves (captain) 3 MF Raul Meireles (vice-captain) 6 MF Freddy Guarín 7 MF Fernando Belluschi 8 MF Diego Valeri 9 FW Radamel Falcao 10 MF Cristian Rodríguez 11 FW Mariano González 12 FW Hulk 13 DF Jorge Fucile 14 DF Rolando 15 DF Álvaro Pereira

No. Position Player 16 DF Maicon 17 FW Silvestre Varela 18 DF Nuno André Coelho 19 FW Ernesto Farías 20 MF Tomás Costa 21 DF Cristian Săpunaru 22 DF Miguel Lopes 24 GK Beto 25 MF Fernando 26 MF Sebastián Prediguer 29 FW Orlando Sá 33 GK Nuno

[edit] Out on loan

Liga Sagres:

• Bruno Vale - Belenenses
• Hélder Barbosa - Vitória de Setúbal
• Bruno Moraes - Vitória de Setúbal
• Hugo Ventura - Olhanense
• Tengarrinha - Olhanense
• Castro - Olhanense
• Ukra - Olhanense
• Rabiola - Olhanense
• Pitbull - Marítimo

Liga Vitalis:

• João Pedro - Penafiel
• Rui Pedro - Gil Vicente
• Josué - Covilhã

Other countries:

• Candeias - Recreativo Huelva
• Pelé - Valladolid
• Leandro Lima - Cruzeiro
• Wason Rentería - Atlético Mineiro
• Milan Stepanov - Málaga CF
• Mario Bolatti - Huracán
• Benítez - San Lorenzo

[edit] Superleague Formula

F.C. Porto has a team in the Superleague Formula race car series where football teams lend their name to cars. Alan Docking Racing and Hitech Racing have operated the car. Ex Champ Car World Series driver Tristan Gommendy has drove the Porto car for most of the races, gaining 2 wins. Álvaro Parente drove the F.C. Porto car at 1 round at the Estoril Circuit, gaining 1 home win for the club.

[edit] Other sports

• Athletics
• Basketball
• Handball
• Rink Hockey

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Official website (Portuguese) (also available in English)
• Super Dragões, official fansite (Portuguese)
• Portal dos Dragões, unofficial website (Portuguese)