Contents

Vitória S.C.

Vitória de Guimarães

Full name	Vitória Sport Clube
Nickname(s)	Os Conquistadores (The Conquerors)[1] Os Vimaranenses (The ones from Guimarães) Os Branquinhos (The little whites)
Founded	22 September 1922; 101 years ago (22 September 1922)
Ground	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques
Capacity	30 029[2]
Owner	Vitória Sport Clube (majority) V Sports (Nassef Sawiris & Wes Edens)
Chairman	António Miguel Cardoso
Manager	Vacant
League	Primeira Liga
2023–24	Primeira Liga, 5th of 18
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Vitória Sport Clube, popularly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal.

Vitória de Guimarães have finished third in the Primeira Liga on four occasions, most recently in 2007/08. They have won one Taça de Portugal (2012/13) and one Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (1988), while also being runners-up of the former on six occasions.

The club have competed regularly in European competitions, where their best finish was the quarter-finals of the 1986/87 UEFA Cup.

History[edit]

Vitória was formed in 1922. Its name seems to be a tribute to Vitória de Setúbal, which at the time was a top contender for the Campeonato de Portugal, though these days Guimarães supporters downplay the connection. After seasons of hard work, which culminated in winning several titles in Braga's AF league, the Conquistadores were promoted to the Primeira Ligain1941, and two seasons later battled the Sadinos from Setúbal for the first time in the League. Against all odds, reached their first Taça de Portugal final in their debut season, but lost to Belenenses 2–0.^[3]

Vitória's furthest progress in a European tournament was in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup, in which they were defeated 5–2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals by West German club Borussia Mönchengladbach.^[4]

In the early 2000s, Vitória struggled in some years to retain its status in the top Portuguese division, then named the Superliga. Those years were marked by the decline of the leadership of Pimenta Machado, former club president, who was accused on charges of embezzlement. In February 2008 he was sentenced to four years and three months of prison on a suspended sentence,^[5] though a year later he was cleared of this charge and instead ordered to pay a €4,000 fine for falsifying a document.^[6]

Despite this, in 2004–05, the club secured a fifth-place finish in the league and qualified for European competition via the UEFA Cup. The next season (2005–06), however, they were relegated to the Segunda Liga (where they last played in 1958) after finishing 17th in the Superliga,^[7] despite reaching the Taça de Portugal semi-final, having beaten Benfica in the quarter-finals. The club also failed to progress from their UEFA Cup group, as eventual winners Sevilla, Premier League outfit Bolton Wanderers and Russian team Zenit Saint Petersburg progressed.

Vitória bounced back immediately to the top-flight as runners-up to Leixões S.C. under the management of Manuel Cajuda.^[8] A joint-best third-place finish in 2007–08, guaranteeing them a place in the third qualifying round of the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, their first such campaign. There they fell to Swiss side FC Basel 2–1 on aggregate, with a potential away goal winner by Roberto Calmon Félix being ruled out late on for offside, despite being a bad call from the referee.^[9] Vitória dropped into the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round as a result of their elimination, and lost 4–2 on aggregate after extra time to England's Portsmouth.^[10]

Led by Rui Vitóriain2012–13, Vitória found themselves in financial problems, which caused them to lose many experienced players and bet on young players. However, they would go on to win their first Taça de Portugal title after previously losing five finals. Vitória beat rivals Braga en route to the final, where they recovered from 1–0 down against Benficatowin 2–1.^[11]

In2017, Vitória made the cup final again, losing 2–1 to double winners S.L. Benfica.^[12] That September, the team left their mark in UEFA competitions, being the first team to start a game without a European player on the field.^[13]In2020–21, the club went through four managers – Tiago, João Henriques, Bino and Moreno – before finishing seventh, missing Europe by one place.^[14]

In February 2023, Vitória announced an agreement to sell 46% of the club's shares in a deal worth €5m to football club holding company V Sports, led by billionaires Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens: owners of Premier League club Aston Villa. V Sports would additionally offer a credit line of up to €20m, and invest an additional €2m into sporting infrastructure.^[15] The agreement was approved at a vote of Vitória's members on 4 March 2023: approximately 88% voted in favour of the deal.^[16] However, due to UEFA rules, VSports participation had to be reduced to 29%. [1]

Vitória SC Sports Activities v t e
Active Departments
Football	Team B	Women's Football	Volleyball	Basketball
Water Polo	Swimming	Athletics	Triathlon	Handball
Adapted Sports	Gymnastics	Boxing	Kickboxing	Muay Thai
Table Tennis	Chess	Judo	Taekwondo	Jiu-jitsu
Motorsport	Karting	Mountain Biking	Cycling	eSports
Non Active Departments
Roller Hockey	Futsal	Beach Football	Rugby	Karate
Sport Fishing	Golf	Beach Volleyball

Sports venues[edit]

D. Afonso Henriques Stadium[edit]

They play in the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, which has a capacity of just over 30,029.^[2] After Os Três Grandes, Vitória is the club which attracts most supporters to the stadium,^[17] with average attendances of 20,000 per game. Vitória usually has a higher average than all the other clubs, even when the club played in the Second Division/League.

Other Infrastructures[edit]

Vitória SC Sports Complex[edit]

It was opened in 1997 under the name "Complexo Desportivo Dr. Alberto Pimenta Machado", when the club had Dr. Alberto Pimenta Machado himself as president. The idea came up when, at the time, the president visited Milanello, AC Milan's sports complex.

The Sports Complex hosts the club's administrative services, the training of the senior football team and the training and games of the club's youth teams. It includes 3 natural grass fields, 3 synthetic fields (one of them for Football 7), a gym, two dozen changing rooms, a mini stadium and a sports hall, where the club's teams train and play.^[18]

Mini stadium[edit]

Occupying Field 5 of the Victorian Academy and with capacity for 2,500 spectators, the home of the B team and the under-19s will appear. It will also have a presidential tribune, three bars, six changing rooms and a technical support area.

Vimaranense Unity Pavilion[edit]

Inserted in the Sports Complex, the Pavilion, opened in 1997 with capacity for 2,500 spectators, is the home of Vitória SC sports, where it hosts around 600 athletes weekly between training and competitions.

Guimarães Sports City[edit]

The Sports City is made up of a set of equipment existing in the municipality of Guimarães intended for sports and allows the reception of major events of national and international dimensions. These facilities, such as the swimming pool complex and the athletics track, are frequently used by athletes and teams from Vitória SC's training and modalities.

Honours[edit]

National Competitions
Competition		Titles	Seasons	Runners-up
	Taça de Portugal	1	2012/13	1941/42, 1962/63, 1975/76, 1987/88, 2010/11, 2016/17
	Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira	1	1988	2011, 2013, 2017
	Total Trophies	2	2 Nationals	9 Runner-up

League and Cup history[edit]

Updated: November 2023.^[19] The club's 79 seasons (as in 2023) in the top level of Portuguese football make them the club with the joint-fourth longest time there, after Benfica, Porto, and Sporting CP (all with 90).^[20]

European matches[edit]

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1969–70	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	First round	Baník Ostrava	1–0	1–1	2–1
		Second round	Southampton	3–3	1–5	4–8
1970–71	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	First round	Angoulême	3–0	1–3	4–3
		Second round	Hibernian	2–1	0–2	2–3
1973–74	Intertoto Cup	Group 2	Djurgården	5–0	1–3	2nd
			Neuchâtel Xamax	5–2	1–0
			Hamburger SV	3–1	0–2
1975–76	Intertoto Cup	Group 7	Oostende	4–1	0–2	2nd
			Holbæk B&I	4–0	2–1
			Inter Bratislava	1–0	0–4
1983–84	UEFA Cup	First round	Aston Villa	1–0	0–5	1–5
1986–87	UEFA Cup	First round	Sparta Prague	2–1	1–1	3–2
		Second round	Atlético Madrid	2–0	0–1	2–1
		Third round	Groningen	3–0	0–1	3–1
		Quarter-finals	Borussia Mönchengladbach	2–2	0–3	2–5
1987–88	UEFA Cup	First round	Tatabánya	1–0	1–1	2–1
		Second round	Beveren	1–0	0–1	1–1 (5–4 p)
		Third round	TJ Vitkovice	2–0	0–2	2–2 (4–5 p)
1988–89	European Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Roda	1–0	0–2	1–2
1990–91	UEFA Cup	First round	Fenerbahçe	2–3	0–3	2–6
1992–93	UEFA Cup	First round	Real Sociedad	3–0	0–2	3–2
		Second round	Ajax	0–3	1–2	1–5
1995–96	UEFA Cup	First round	Standard Liège	3–1	0–0	3–1
		Second round	Barcelona	0–4	0–3	0–7
1996–97	UEFA Cup	First round	Parma	2–0	1–2	3–2
		Second round	Anderlecht	1–1	0–0	1–1 (a)
1997–98	UEFA Cup	First round	Lazio	0–4	1–2	1–6
1998–99	UEFA Cup	First round	Celtic	1–2	1–2	2–4
2005–06	UEFA Cup	First round	Wisła Kraków	3–0	1–0	4–0
		Group H	Zenit Saint Petersburg		1–2	5th
			Bolton Wanderers	1–1
			Sevilla		1–3
			Beşiktaş	1–3
2008–09	UEFA Champions League	Third qualifying round	Basel	0–0	1–2	1–2
2008–09	UEFA Cup	First round	Portsmouth	2–2	0–2	2–4
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Midtjylland	2–1	0–0	2–1
		Play-off round	Atlético Madrid	0–4	0–2	0–6
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	Group I	Lyon	1–2	1–1	3rd place
			Real Betis	0–1	0–1
			Rijeka	4–0	0–0
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	Altach	1–4	1–2	2–6
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	Group I	RB Salzburg	1–1	0–3	4th place
			Marseille	1–0	1–2
			Konyaspor	1–1	1–2
2019–20	UEFA Europa League	Second qualifying round	Jeunesse Esch	4–0	1–0	5–0
		Third qualifying round	FK Ventspils	6–0	3–0	9–0
		Play-off round	FCSB	1–0	0–0	1–0
		Group F	Arsenal	1–1	2–3	4th place
			Eintracht Frankfurt	0–1	3–2
			Standard Liège	1–1	0–2
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	Second qualifying round	Puskás Akadémia	3–0	0–0	3–0
		Third qualifying round	Hajduk Split	1–0	1–3	2–3
2023–24	UEFA Europa Conference League	Second qualifying round	Celje	0–1 (a.e.t.)	4–3	4–4 (2–4 p)
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	Second qualifying round	Florianaor Tre Penne

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

As of 21 June 2024^[21]

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 Miguel Maga 3 DF  VEN Mikel Villanueva 4 DF  POR Tomás Ribeiro 6 MF  POR Manu Silva 8 MF  POR Tomás Händel 9 FW  VEN Jesús Ramírez 10 MF  POR Tiago Silva 11 FW  POR Jota Silva 14 GK  CPV Bruno Varela (Vice-captain) 17 MF  POR João Mendes 18 FW  CPV Telmo Arcanjo 19 DF  POR Ricardo Mangas 20 MF  POR Samu 21 MF  POR André André (Captain) 22 FW  ESP Adrián Butzke 24 DF  CRO Toni Borevković 27 GK  BRA Charles

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 MF  POR Zé Carlos 29 DF  FRA Mamadou Tounkara 37 FW  BRA Kaio César (on loan from Coritiba) 44 DF  POR Jorge Fernandes 52 DF  POR Alberto Costa 53 GK  POR Rafa Oliveira 64 MF  POR Gonçalo Nogueira 72 DF  POR Afonso Freitas 76 DF  ANG Bruno Gaspar 77 MF  POR Nuno Santos 79 FW  POR Nélson Oliveira 87 FW  POR Jota Pereira 91 GK  POR José Ribeiro 92 MF  POR Diogo Sousa 98 MF  POR Rodrigo Duarte

Out on loan[edit]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  ANG Nélson da Luz (atQingdao West Coast until 31 December 2024) 54 DF  POR Gabriel Rodrigues (atVianense until 30 June 2024)

Club staff[edit]

Position	Staff
President	António Miguel Cardoso
Technical Director	Carlos Campos
Sporting Director	Rogério Matias
Director of Football	Flávio Meireles
Manager	Álvaro Pacheco
Assistant Manager	TBA
First-Team Coach	TBA
Goalkeeper Coach	Douglas Jesus
Head of Scouting	TBA
Physiotherapist	Pedro Figueiredo Frederico Neto
Team Manager	Rui Carvalho

Basketball[edit]

Vitória S.C. men's basketball team plays in the LPB.

Volleyball[edit]

Vitória Sport Clube has a volleyball team which plays in the Portuguese Volleyball League A1.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vitória Sport Clube.

• Official website
• Guimaraes info at zerozero.pt