Leça F.C.

Leça FC

Full name	Leça Futebol Clube
Founded	1912
Ground	Estádio do Leça FC, Leça da Palmeira, Matosinhos
Capacity	12,000
Chairman	António Pinho
Manager	Domingos Barros
League	Campeonato de Portugal
2021–22	3rd, Promotion North Zone
Home colours Away colours

Leça Futebol Clube, better known as Leça FC or simply Leça, is a Portuguese football club located in the town of Leça da Palmeira, Matosinhos. Founded in 1912, it had a spell in the top-flight Primeira Liga between 1995 and 1998, when it was relegated for financial irregularities. They currently play in the Campeonato de Portugal. The club currently play their home games at the Estádio do Leça FC, which holds a capacity of 12,000 spectators. The current chairman is António Pinho and their current manager is João Crespo. The club's shirt and socks are white while their shorts are green.

History

Founded in 1912, Leca participated in the Portuguese Liga from 1995 to 1998 but a decision taken by the Portuguese Football Federation based on past acts of corruption decided to relegate Leça to the Liga de Honra for 1998–99 season. The team was expected to fight for promotion but the efforts were not enough to bring the team to the top level again. In the upcoming years, the club was affected by financial problems that cut some of the desire of wanting the team back to the top. Because of the team's lower budget, new goals were set. The main goal was now to make the club financially secure and then try to put the team back on the first division.

However, after a series of events of bad management of the financial status by the presidents, it has been related that some of the presidents stole money from the club to use for their own benefit, which was unpaid wages to the team professionals, unqualified team coaches and other sporting factors. Since then, they've been dubbed as strong candidates to promotion but never confirmed the expectations, finishing in mid-table and surprisingly sometimes near the bottom of the table.

Badge

The club's badge is in green and white, the club colours. The castle on top of it represents Leça da Palmeira, the city which the club was in on its foundation in 1912.

Stadium

Leça play their games at the Estádio do Leça FC. The current stadium has played host to many matches down the years in the Portuguese Liga or in the Liga de Honra. It currently has a capacity of 12,000 spectators and has two big stands in green and white which symbolizes the club's colours. The stands also feature the name of the club on both sides of the pitch. The club built the stadium in 1992 as Leça were ready to go into the top flight of Portuguese football.

Honours

• Segunda Liga

• Winners (1): 1994–95

• Segunda Divisão

• Winners (1): 1940–41

• Terceira Divisão

• Winners (1): 2006–07

League Cup and History

As of April 14, 2009

Season	Division	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	Pts	Portuguese Cup	Notes
1968–69	II Divisão	7th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1969–70	II Divisão	14th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1970–71	II Divisão	7th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1971–72	II Divisão	5th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1972–73	II Divisão	8th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1973–74	III Divisão	9th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1974–75	III Divisão	12th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1975–76	III Divisão	9th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1976–77	III Divisão	14th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1977–78	1º Escalão Dist.	1st	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Promoted
1978–79	III Divisão	4th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1979–80	III Divisão	10th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1980–81	III Divisão	1st	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Promoted
1981–82	II Divisão	10th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1982–83	II Divisão	14th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1983–84	III Divisão	15th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1984–85	Distritais – 1ª Divisão	8th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1985–86	Distritais – 1ª Divisão	2nd	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Promoted
1986–87	III Div.	6th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1987–88	III Div.	6th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1988–89	III Div.	7th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1989–90	III Div.	4th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1990–91	II Divisão B	17th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–
1991–92	II Divisão B	2nd	??	??	??	??	??	??	–
1992–93	II Divisão B	1st	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Promoted
1993–94	Liga de Honra	8th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–
1994–95	Liga de Honra	1st	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Promoted
1995–96	Primeira Liga	14th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
1996–97	Primeira Liga	14th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1997–98	Primeira Liga	12th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
1998–99	Liga de Honra	6th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–
1999–2000	Liga de Honra	11th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–
2000–01	Liga de Honra	13th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–
2001–02	Liga de Honra	11th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–
2002–03	Liga de Honra	17th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
2003–04	II Div.	19th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
2004–05	III Div.	5th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
2005–06	III Div.	9th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
2006–07	III Div.	1st	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Promoted
2007–08	III Div.	13th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	Relegated
??	??	??	??	??	??	–
2008–09	III Div.	7th	??	??	??	??	??	??	–	–
??	??	??	??	??	??	–

Current squad

As of 22 April 2020

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	POR	Joel Mateus
3	DF	POR	Manuel Lopes (on loan from Gil Vicente)
4	DF	POR	Cláudio Borges
5	DF	POR	João Pedro
7	FW	CPV	João Paulino
8	MF	POR	Nelsinho
9	FW	POR	Adilson Silva
10	MF	CPV	João Paulo Fernandes
11	FW	POR	João Van Zeller
12	MF	BRA	Jair
13	MF	POR	Samuel Teles
14	FW	CIV	Isaac Cissé

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	DF	CAN	Ishwar Bhatti
17	FW	GHA	Isaac Boakye
19	DF	UKR	Maksym Lapushenko
20	MF	POR	Bruno Simões
21	FW	BRA	Guilherme Henrique
22	GK	BRA	Gustavo Galil
25	DF	CPV	Pecks
37	DF	POR	Paulo Lopes
70	FW	POR	Pedro Prazeres
77	FW	POR	Rafael Cardoso
88	GK	POR	Cristiano Magalhães
—	GK	POR	Afonso Saldanha

Former players

• Wesley John – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines international who played in Portugal for 23 years, including for clubs Ribeira Brava and Porto da Cruz, both below the Portuguese fourth tier)

External links

• Squad at Zerozero