Rio Ave F.C.

Rio Ave F.C.

File:Rio Ave FC.gif
Full name	Rio Ave Futebol Clube
Nickname(s)	Rio Grande (Big River)
Founded	1939
Ground	Estádio do Rio Ave Futebol Clube (Estádio dos Arcos), Vila do Conde
Capacity	12,815
Chairman	Paulo Carvalho
Manager	João Eusébio
League	Liga de Honra
2007-08	Liga de Honra, 2nd (promoted)
Home colours Away colours

Rio Ave Futebol Clube founded in 1939, is a Portuguese football club that plays in Vila do Conde, northern Portugal. Rio Ave play at Estadio do Rio Ave FC is a multi-use stadium in Vila do Conde,Portugal. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium is able to hold 12,815 people and was built in 1985 and the current home of Rio Ave since 1985. The clubs colours are a striped green and white shirt with white shorts and socks.The away kit is a striped red and white shirt and white shorts with yellow socks. Their best classification ever was in the 1981/82 season were they finished 5th and just narrowly missed out on europe with great players such as portuguese international goalkeeper Alfredo Castro who was in the Portugal Squad for UEFA Euro 1996 were Portugal went out in the Quarter Finals having a good campaign. Other notably players in the clubs history is Paulinho Santos who turned out to be one of Portugal's finest ever players, playing for FC Porto were he nearly won every title around in the world of football and for Portugal where he participated in many international games and tournaments. Rui Jorge was also a great player and not also a great player he was also a youth product and one of many youth products that went on to become one of the finest footballers of Portugal and also to play many international games and tournaments. Niquinha who is still at the club after being at Rio Ave since 1997 after 320 games and many highs and lows like Portuguese Liga relegations and many promotions from the Liga de Honra. Another great player is Evandro who still plays for the club after signing for in 2000. He made a great impression to the club and fans because in his first four seasons he scored an impressive 52 goals which is good for a forward of playing in a league like the Portuguese Liga and is one of the players with most appearances and goals for the club with over 240 games and over 70 goals.

History

Rio Ave was founded in 1939 in Vila do Conde northern Portugal and were nicknamed Rio Grande which means Big River. The club has had great success in youth products like Alfredo, Paulinho Santos and Rui Jorge who became one of the finest players in portuguese football history. The current stadium was built in 1985 replacing the old one which now is the current home called Estádio do Rio Ave FC were it has an capacity of 12,815 seats. The club has had many honours and great achievements like many promotions with two Segunda Divisão in 1981 and 1986 were they made there best ever finish in the next season finishing 5th place. Other achievements include in the Portuguese Cup final were they ended up to lose to FC Porto 4-1 but the 80s showed many good things for the club. The next years were hard because they were eventually facing many relegations but bounced back with two Liga de Honra's in 1999 and 2003 and in the 20078/08 were promoted again to the First Divsion are batting well in the First Division with fantastic results against Benfica in a 1-1 draw and FC Porto in a 0-0 draw.

Current Squad

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	POR	César
2	DF	POR	Gaspar
3	DF	POR	Rogério Matias
4	FW	BRA	Evandro
5	MF	BRA	Niquinha
6	MF	BRA	Delson
7	DF	POR	Miguel Lopes
8	MF	POR	Livramento
10	MF	POR	Vitor Gomes
11	FW	BRA	Henrique
12	FW	CPV	Mateus
14	MF	POR	André Vilas Boas
17	DF	POR	Pedro Coentrão
18	FW	POR	Semedo

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	FW	POR	André Carvalhas
20	DF	POR	Bruno Mendes
21	DF	POR	Pedro Ribeiro
22	DF	POR	Bruno Novo Ribeiro
23	DF	POR	Fábio Faria
25	DF	POR	Silvio
29	MF	POR	Ricardo Martins
30	MF	BRA	Wíres
31	FW	BRA	Ronaldo
35	FW	NGA	Chidi
51	GK	POR	Paiva
74	GK	ESP	Mora
78	DF	POR	Jorge Humberto
83	MF	POR	Tarantini

Youth Squad

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	POR	Fábio
2	DF	POR	Terroso
3	DF	VEN	Júnior
4	DF	POR	Helder
5	DF	POR	Rubén
6	MF	POR	Edú
7	FW	POR	Nuninho
8	MF	POR	Mickael
9	FW	HON	Cristian Martinez
10	MF	VEN	Kuki
11	FW	POR	Edú
12	GK	POR	Filipe Cunha
13	MF	POR	João
14	MF	POR	Marcelo

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	MF	POR	Quim
16	MF	POR	Pedrinho
17	FW	POR	Estrela
18	FW	POR	Capela
19	FW	POR	Aymeric
20	MF	POR	Perú
21	FW	POR	Fábio Correia
22	DF	POR	Joãozinho
23	DF	POR	Silva
24	DF	POR	Guilherme
25	DF	BRA	Hudson
26	MF	BRA	Rodrigo
27	DF	POR	Tiago
28	MF	POR	Alex
29	FW	POR	Frasco
30	FW	POR	Coentrão
31	GK	POR	Ricardo
32	GK	POR	Marcos

Famous Players

• Alfredo
• Paulinho Santos
• Rogério Matias
• Rui Jorge
• Fábio Coentrão
• Miguelito
• Alipio
• Evandro
• Niquinha
• Paulo César
• Vandinho
• Emmanuel Maboang
• Mateus
• Armando Sá
• Junas Naciri
• Mora

Honours

• Segunda Divisão 1981,1986
• Liga de Honra 1996,2003

League And Cup History

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Notes
1979-1980	1D	16	30	5	3	22	22	61	13		relegated
1980-1981	2DN	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		promoted
1981-1982	1D	5	30	13	8	9	26	31	34		best classification ever
1982-1983	1D	8	30	13	3	14	43	45	29
1983-1984	1D	9	30	11	7	12	35	35	29
1984-1985	1D	13	30	7	9	14	27	43	23		relegated
1985-1986	2DN	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		promoted
1986-1987	1D	13	30	8	9	13	33	40	25
1987-1988	1D	18	38	7	14	17	29	67	28		relegated
1991-1992	2H	4	34	16	7	11	47	30	39
1992-1993	2H	5	34	14	10	10	39	36	38
1993-1994	2H	4	34	18	8	8	43	23	44
1994-1995	2H	11	34	12	8	14	47	46	32
1995-1996	2D	1	34	21	5	8	58	42	68		promoted
1996-1997	1D	15	34	8	11	15	35	42	35
1997-1998	1D	9	34	12	10	12	43	43	46
1998-1999	1D	14	34	8	11	15	26	47	35
1999-2000	1D	17	34	8	9	17	34	54	33		relegated
2000-2001	2H	5	34	17	9	8	68	35	60
2001-2002	2H	8	34	12	10	12	45	36	46
2002-2003	2H	1	34	19	6	9	49	36	63		promoted
2003-2004	1D	7	34	12	12	10	42	37	48
2004-2005	1D	8	34	10	17	7	35	35	47	Last 32
2005-2006	1D	16	34	8	10	16	34	53	34	Last 64	relegated
2006-2007	2H	3	30	?	?	?	?	?	?	4th round
2007-2008	2H	2	30	13	12	5	38	26	51	Last 16

External links

• Rio Ave Official Website (Portuguese)