Duarte António Borges Coutinho, 4th Marquess of Praia and of Monforte (18 November 1921 – 19 May 1981), commonly known simply as Borges Coutinho, was the 26th president of Portuguese sports club

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

. Born in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

and educated both in England and Portugal, Borges Coutinho became a member of Benfica in 1959, aged 37. Ten years later, he became president of the club after defeating candidates Fernando Martins and Romão Martins in the elections of 12 April 1969, with 58 percent of the votes. During his eight-year presidency (four consecutive biennal terms), the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team won seven

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

titles (personal record) – one of them without defeat, in the 1972–73 campaign – and three

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

trophies. This allowed Benfica to consolidate their hegemony in

Portuguese football Association football (), the most popular sport in Portugal, has a long and storied history in the country, following its introduction in 1875 in cities such as Funchal, Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra by English merchants and Portuguese students a ...

. Under Borges Coutinho's term, in 1969, Benfica took possession of lands near their stadium,

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...

, to create three football pitches, one synthetic athletics track, and eight tennis courts. He was awarded with the (Golden Eagle) by the club in 1973. After deciding not to contest the elections of 26 May 1977, he was succeeded by

José Ferreira Queimado José Ferreira Queimado (23 December 1913 – 23 December 2007) was the 25th president of Portuguese sports club S.L. Benfica. Born in Olhalvo, Ferreira Queimado served as president of Benfica on two occasions: between 17 June 1966 and 3 July ...

. Borges Coutinho died at the age of 59 in

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, England.

References

1921 births 1981 deaths Businesspeople from Lisbon Portuguese nobility Portuguese expatriates in the United Kingdom S.L. Benfica presidents Portuguese football chairmen and investors {{Portugal-sport-bio-stub