Boavista F.C.

Boavista Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Boavista, is a Portuguese professional sports club from the of Porto that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Estádio do Bessa. It is one of the oldest clubs in the country, having been founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers.

Boavista grew to become an important sports club in Portugal, with sections dedicated to several sports including football, chess, gymnastics, bicycle racing, futsal, volleyball, rink hockey, and boxing, among others, with the most notable being the football section with their trademark chequered white and black shirts.

With 9 major domestic trophies won (1 Championship, 5 Portuguese Cups and 3 domestic Super Cups, all during the presidencies of Valentim Loureiro or João Loureiro, of the Loureiro family), Boavista is the most decorated Portuguese football club after the " Big Three" ( Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP). Boavista spent 39 consecutive seasons in the Primeira Liga (50 in total) and, together with Belenenses, is the only team outside the "Big Three" to have won the Portuguese Championship, in the 2000–01 season. Boavista has a rivalry with fellow city club Porto; the matches between the clubs are sometimes called ''Invicta derby''.

Its stadium, Estádio do Bessa, was built in 1973, although football had been played there at the former Campo do Bessa since the 1910s, and revamped for use in Euro 2004.

History

Foundation and the chequered shirts (1903–1933)

The club was founded on 1 August 1903, in the Boavista area of the western part of the city of Porto, by two English brothers, Harry and Dick Lowe. Having received an imported football from their father in England, they founded The Boavista Footballers, and an early rival was another English club in the city, the Oporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club. The team had an early schism as its British contingent refused to play on Sundays due to their Anglican faith, while the Catholic locals could only play on Sundays due to work commitments; the locals won, drastically changing the demographics of the club. In 1910 the current name was adopted, and on 11 April that year the ground now occupied by the Estádio do Bessa was inaugurated with a match against Leixões SC. In 1913–14, the team won the inaugural Porto Football Association.

In the 1920s the club increased the number of sports practiced. The team boasted "the best defensive trio of the North": goalkeeper Casoto and defenders Lúzia and Óscar Vasques de Carvalho. In the following decade, the club lobbied for the legalisation of professionalism after being sanctioned, having been investigated after complaining that FC Porto had paid Boavista's Nova to join them. In 1933, the club adopted its black-and-white shirts, based on a French team that club president Artur Oliveira Valença had watched.

League entry and golden 1970s (1934–1980)

Boavista's first decades in league football saw the club bounce between the Primeira and the Segunda Divisão, winning the latter's title in 1937 and 1950. In 1966, they fell to the Terceira Divisão, and stayed there for two years.

The team bounced back to the top flight by 1970 with two consecutive promotions, finished renovation of its stadium two years later and in 1974 hired manager José Maria Pedroto and president Valentim Loureiro. In their first year, Boavista achieved their best classification of fourth in the 1974-1975 championship, and won the Taça de Portugal for the first time after defeating Benfica 2–1 in the final. A year later, the club finished as runners-up to S.L. Benfica by two points, and defended their cup title by defeating Vitória de Guimarães 2–1 in the 1976 final at rival Porto's Estádio das Antas; Pedroto left for Porto at the end of the season.

Experienced English manager Jimmy Hagan led the club to its third Taça de Portugal win in five years after defeating Sporting CP 1–0 in the replay of the 1979 final, after a 1–1 draw occurred the day prior. At the beginning of the following season, Porto and Boavista organised the first edition of the Portuguese Supercup, a season-opening match between the league and cup holders. The match was contested at the Estádio das Antas, and Boavista (with new manager Mário Lino) beat Pedroto's Porto 2–1 in a violent match where Boavista had two men sent off.

From contenders to champions and European forays (1980–2003)

In 1997, Valentim Loureiro was succeeded as president by his son João, who at 34 was the youngest in the whole league. Also, former Portugal international Jaime Pacheco was appointed manager, and led the club to runners-up in 1999 and fourth place in 2000. In 2000–01, they won the derby in the second half of the season against Porto and went on to win the league with a 3–0 win over C.D. Aves on 18 May. This was only the second time that a team from outside the Big Three won the league, after C.F. Os Belenenses in 1946. Pacheco's team conceded just 22 goals in 34 games and lost at home only once. The team featured Ricardo in goal, academy product Petit in midfield, Bolivian free-kick specialist Erwin Sánchez and Martelinho on the wings, and Brazilian striker Elpídio Silva was the club's top scorer with 11 goals.

After finishing runners-up to Sporting a year later, the squad began to break up, with Petit heading to Benfica and fellow midfielder Pedro Emanuel going to Porto; both skippered their new teams. The club rebuilt the Estádio do Bessa for UEFA Euro 2004, contributing to their financial problems. Pacheco left for Spain's RCD Mallorca in 2003, returning soon to replace Sánchez briefly as manager the following year, and came back again in October 2006.

Boavista were regulars in UEFA competitions in the 1990 and early 2000s. In the 2002–03 UEFA Cup, they reached the semi-finals before a 2–1 aggregate loss to Celtic due to a late Henrik Larsson strike; they would have faced Porto in the final.

Downfall and return (2008–present)

In June 2008, Boavista was sentenced to relegation for its part in the '' Apito Dourado'' (Golden Whistle) matchfixing scandal, for three games in the 2003–04 season. A year later the club was relegated again: originally saved by promoted club F.C. Vizela being sanctioned for corruption, the team withdrew from the second division for financial reasons.

In January 2013, João Loureiro, pressed by thousands of members of the club to return to the presidency, was elected president once again. After a long legal battle, in June 2013, Boavista was entitled the right to come back to the Primeira Liga. Also, after a negotiation with the creditors of the club, the €65 million debt was cut in half. After a six-year absence, Boavista returned to the Primeira Liga in the 2014–15 season, coached by Petit, a member of the title-winning side of 2001.

In October 2020, Boavista's members approved of investment from Spanish-Luxembourgish businessman Gérard Lopez, owner of Ligue 1 club Lille OSC. Petit returned as manager, leading the club to the Taça da Liga semi-finals for the first time in 2021–22.

Honours

*Primeira Liga
** Winners (1): 2000–01
**''2nd place (3):'' 1975–76, 1998–99, 2001–02
*Taça de Portugal
** Winners (5): 1974–75, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1991–92, 1996–97
**''Runners-up (1):'' 1992–93
* Supertaça de Portugal
** Winners (3): 1979, 1992, 1997
**''Runners-up (1):'' 2001
*Segunda Divisão
** Winners (2): 1936–37, 1949–50
* Campeonato do Porto
** Winners (1): 1913–14
* 1.ª Divisão da AF Porto
** Winners (1): 1967–68

League and cup history

The club has made 55 appearances at the top level of Portuguese football and has won the Portuguese cup five times. In 1979, it also won the first edition of the national supercup.

: Top scorer
: Champions
: Promoted
: Promoted in court
: Relegated
: Relegated in court

''As of 19 May 2024''

Sources: Soccer Library, Fora de Jogo.

European record

Overview

* Biggest win: Boavista 8–0 Sliema Wanderers, 05/10/1979, Estádio do Bessa, Porto
* Biggest defeat: Lazio 5–0 Boavista, 28/09/1977, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
* Players with most UEFA appearances: Erwin Sánchez