F.C. Porto

Infobox Football club
clubname = F.C. Porto


fullname = Futebol Clube do Porto
short name = Porto
nickname = "Dragões" (Dragons) "Azuis e brancos" (Blue and white) "Os Tripeiros" (The Gutters) "Os Andrades" (The Andrades- archaic nickname)
founded = September 28, 1893 as "Football Club do Porto"
ground = Estádio do Dragão Porto, Portugal
capacity = 51,000 [cite web |url=http://www.fcporto.pt/Info/NovoEstadio/InfoEstadio_Estadio.asp |title=Estádio |publisher=FC Porto.pt |language=Portuguese]
chairman = flagicon|Portugal Pinto da Costa
mgrtitle = Head Coach
manager = flagicon|Portugal Jesualdo Ferreira
league = Liga Sagres
season = 2007-08
position = BWINLIGA, 1st
pattern_la1=_white_stripes
pattern_b1=_3whitestripes
pattern_ra1=_white_stripes
pattern_so1=_bluetop
leftarm1=003399
body1=003399
rightarm1=003399
shorts1=003399
socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=_thinblackborder
pattern_b2=_vneckblack
pattern_ra2=_thinblackborder
pattern_so2=_blacktop
leftarm2=00CCFF
body2=00CCFF
rightarm2=00CCFF
shorts2=00CCFF
socks2=00CCFF
shirtsupplier = Nike
shirtsponsors = Portugal Telecom

Futebol Clube do Porto (pron. IPA2|futɨ'bɔɫ 'klub(ɨ) du 'poɾtu) - short: FC Porto or FCP - is a Portuguese sports club best known for its footballing endeavors. It was founded in Porto in 1893. It holds the best International record by a Portuguese team (6 international titles), having won the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup twice each. In 2003, it brought Portugal's first UEFA Cup and in 1987 it brought Portugal's first UEFA Supercup. Domestically they hold the best record of five titles in a row, having won the Portuguese Liga 23 times, the Portuguese Cup 17 times and Portuguese Supercup 15 times (55 national titles).

The football home ground is the Estádio do Dragão, which replaced the previous home, Estádio das Antas, in 2003. FC Porto is also a leading force in other sports: the handball and basketball teams are regular contenders for the national titles and the roller hockey section is amongst the best in the sport worldwide. The new multi-sport arena near the stadium will be completed soon; in past years the non-professional home grounds were scattered around neighbouring cities (such as Gondomar, Matosinhos and Santo Tirso). Supporters and players of the club are nicknamed "portistas".

It was founded in the northern city of Porto on September 28, 1893, by wine-salesman António Nicolau de Almeida' who had his first contact with the game of football on one of his trips to England. The club was revived in 1906 by Monteiro da Costa.

Commercially, the club has several stores called "Loja Azul" (English: "Blue Store") scattered around the city, including two used with official supplier Nike. Since 1994, a merchandising goods fair called "Portomania" is organized during the pre-season. FC Porto publishes one of the older club-related publications in Europe: a monthly 60-page full-colour magazine called "Dragões" ("Dragons") that has existed since the early 1980s.

FC Porto played in the Portuguese championship 74 times, playing 2048 games, winning 1333, drawing 375, losing 340, scoring 4542 goals and conceding 1909, having 3342 points as of the end of the 2007-08 season. They were also one of the founding members of the now disbanded G-14.

The public company

After going public in 1998, FC Porto created several satellite companies around the club to improve its efficiency.
*"FCPorto" - Junior football, handball, rink hockey, atletism, magazine, etc.
*"FCPorto - Futebol SAD" and "FCPorto - Basquetebol SAD" (professional football and basketball)
*"PortoEstádio" (Estádio do Dragão)
*"PortoMultimédia" (official site and multimedia products)
*"PortoComercial" (Merchandising)
*"PortoSeguro" (Insurances)The "FCPorto SAD" is rated in the Euronext Lisbon

Presidents

Nicolau d`Almeida, Monteiro da Costa, Dummond Villares, Carmo Pacheco, Borges de Avelar, Henrique da Mesquita, Pinto de Faria, Neves Reis, Urgel Horta, Carlos Costa, Angelo César, Ferreira Alves, Júlio Ribeiro, Cesario Bonito, Paulo Pombo, Nascimento Cordeiro, Pinto Magalhães, Américo de Sá, Pinto da Costa.

History

Its first official trophy, the "Union of the North cup", was won in 1911. In the following years it became one of the biggest clubs in Portugal and went on to win the first national competition in the history of Portuguese football, the Campeonato da Liga 1934/35.Porto were always a struggling team after that championship, so they went to win only 6 championships in 41 years of dictatorship. But after the Carnation Revolution, the history of Portuguese soccer saw a new title contestant, and a new European team. In the following years, Porto won 16 titles,10 Portuguese cups, 1 European Champions Cup and the new Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 European Super Cup, and 2 Intercontinental Cup. A wonderful rise for a team that was used to, as was said at the time, starting away games 1-0 down.

Two of the biggest reasons for this change of fortunes were Pinto da Costa who took control of Porto in 1982 and José Maria Pedroto whom he had brought back with him to manage the team. The duo quickly caused the team damage, with Pinto da Costa as football director and Pedroto as manager, winning two titles previously, and making controversial remarks about the centralization of Portuguese football, which caused them problems with the directing board, and consequently they left. After quitting, in 1982 Pinto da Costa ran for presidency and won bringing back Pedroto. The following decades turned what was the third team in the overall history of Portuguese football into the biggest title winner of the past 20 years. Since 1982, Porto has won 15 titles, achieving the record "Penta" (five leagues in a row) in 1999 and since 1976 never finished below 3rd place, nine Portuguese cups, and has a majority of Supercups, having won 15 out of a possible 27.

Honours

Portuguese Liga :
*Winners - 1934/35, 1938/39, 1939/40, 1955/56, 1958/59, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1984/85, 1985/86, 1987/88, 1989/90, 1991/92, 1992/93, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08 "(23 titles)"
*Runners-up - 1935/36, 1937/38, 1940/41, 1950/51, 1953/54, 1956/57, 1957/58, 1961/62, 1962/63, 1963/64, 1964/65, 1968/69, 1974/75, 1979/80, 1980/81, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1986/87, 1988/89, 1990/91, 1993/94, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2004/05 "(24 times)"

Portuguese Cup :
*Winners - 1921/22, 1924/25, 1934/35, 1936/37, 1955/56, 1957/58, 1967/68, 1976/77, 1983/84, 1987/88, 1990/91, 1993/94, 1997/98, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2005/06 "(17 titles)"
*Runners-up - 1923/24, 1930/31, 1952/53, 1958/59, 1960/61, 1962/63, 1977/78, 1979/80, 1980/81, 1982/83, 1984/85, 1991/92, 2003/04, 2007/08 "(14 times)"

SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira
*Winners - 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006 "(15 titles)"
*Runners-up - 1979, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2008 "(9 times)"European Cup/Champions' League
*Winners - 1986–87, 2003–04

European Super Cup
*Winners - 1986–87
*Runners-up - 2003, 2004

Intercontinental Cup
*Winners - 1987, 2004

UEFA Cup
*Winners - 2002–03

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
*Runners-up 1983–84

Joan Gamper Trophy
*Winners - 1987

Viareggio Tournament
*Winners - 1989

Teresa Herrera Cup
*Winners - 1991

Ciudad de Sevilla Tournament
*Winners - 1992

Porto Centennial Cup
*Winners - 1993

Thailand Premier Cup
*Winners - 1997

League and Cup performances

:

2004 - Champions League

The following season set a greater challenge, but despite a slow start which included a 1-3 loss against Real Madrid, Porto never lost again in the Champions League, relegating Olympique Marseille to the UEFA Cup (where they reached the final), beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in the dying minutes of play, Olympique Lyon and Deportivo. Porto beat Monaco 3-0 in the Final played in Arena AufSchalke. Porto's UEFA Champions League winning line-up: Vitor Baia, Nuno Valente, Ricardo Carvalho, Jorge Costa(c), Paulo Ferreira, Costinha, Nuno Maniche, Pedro Mendes, Deco (Pedro Emanuel), Derlei (Benni McCarthy), Carlos Alberto Gomes (Dmitri Alenichev)

After the victory, Porto became the Portuguese side with the most European cups won - 2 CL/ECC, UEFA Super Cup plus a UEFA Cup, compared with the two ECC by Benfica and the one CWC by Sporting.

Even after the departure of José Mourinho to Chelsea FC, the club kept winning at the international level. On December 12 2004, FC Porto won the last-held Intercontinental Cup, by beating Once Caldas from Colombia 8-7 in a penalty shoot-out, after a goalless draw.

Golden Whistle affair

Under the presidency of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, FC Porto was involved in the Golden Whistle affair (caso Apito Dourado) that first arose in 2004.

tadium

F.C. Porto's home games are played at Estádio do Dragão ( _en. Dragon's Stadium) in Porto. Built as a replacement for FC Porto's old ground, "Estadio das Antas", and as a venue for EURO 2004, Estádio do Dragão has an all-seated capacity of 50,948. The stadium's name is derived from the presence of a dragon on the crest of FC Porto, which is also the nickname of FC Porto fans.

Designed by Manuel Salgado and built by the Grupo Amorim, it cost €97.755.318, of which €18.430.956 was supported by the Portuguese taxpayers. To support costs, each stand carries one or two sponsor names, edp for the South ("Sul") end, tmn and Sapo adsl in the East ("Nascente") stand, PT and meo for the West ("Poente") stand and finally Coca-Cola in the North ("Norte") Stand. Away fans are placed in the left corner of the North stand, while FC Porto supporter groups (SuperDragões and Colectivo Ultras 95) are at each end, although initially both groups were in the South stand.

Current squad

Players out on loan

Liga Sagres:
* Diogo Valente - Leixões S.C.
* Bruno Gama - Vitória Setúbal
* Bruno Moraes - Vitória Setúbal
* Bruno Vale - Vitória Setúbal
* Leandro Lima - Vitória Setúbal
* Helder Barbosa - Trofense
* Wason Renteria - S.C. Braga

Liga Vitalis:
* Nuno André Coelho - Portimonense SC
* Stéphane - SC Olhanense
* André Castro - SC Olhanense
* Paulo Ribeiro - SC Olhanense
* Steven Vitória - SC Olhanense
* Zéquinha - FC Penafiel
* João Pedro - FC Penafiel
* Ivanildo - FC Gil Vicente

Other countries:
* Ibson - Flamengo
* Paulo Machado - AS Saint-Etienne
* Vieirinha - PAOK FC
* Claúdio Pitbull - FC Rapid Bucureşti
* Joao Paulo - FC Rapid Bucureşti
* Edgar - FC Red Star Belgrade
* Ezequias - FC Braşov
* Przemyslaw Kazmierczak - Derby County

Famous players

1930-1979
* Pinga
* Barrigana
* Hernâni
* Pavão
* Pedroto
* Virgílio
* Seninho
* Octávio Machado
* António Oliveira
* Costa
* Fernando Gomes
* Frasco
* Teofilo Cubillas1980s
* Jaime Magalhães
* Vermelhinho
* Eduardo Luís
* António André
* António Lima
* Eurico Gomes
* Augusto Inácio
* Jaime Pacheco
* João Pinto
* António Sousa
* Bandeirinha
* Paulo Futre
* António Morato
* Rui Águas
* Madjer
* Stéphane Demol
* Juary
* Casagrande
* Celso
* Branco
* Mickey Walsh
* Józef Młynarczyk1990s
* Fernando Couto
* Rui Barros
* Domingos
* Carlos Secretário
* Paulinho Santos
* Capucho
* Sérgio Conceição
* Rui Jorge
* Jorge Costa
* António Folha
* Emílio Peixe
* Hilário
* Vítor Baía
* Arnold Wetl
* Jardel
* Aloísio
* Doriva
* Emerson
* Emil Kostadinov
* Stéphane Paille
* Miklós Fehér
* Péter Lipcsei
* Ivica Kralj
* Grzegorz Mielcarski
* Ion Timofte
* Sergei Yuran
* Ljubinko Drulović
* Zlatko Zahovič
* Lars Eriksson
* Russell Latapy

2000s
* Jorge Andrade
* Ricardo Carvalho
* Bruno Alves
* Pedro Mendes
* Bosingwa
* Costinha
* Nuno Valente
* Paulo Ferreira
* Maniche
* Deco
* Peter Franco
* Raul Meireles
* Pepe
* Ricardo Quaresma
* Hélder Postiga
* Hugo Almeida
* Nuno
* Lisandro Lopéz
* Lucho González
* Derlei
* Helton
* Diego
* Ibson
* Carlos Alberto
* Anderson
* Yourkas Seitaridis
* Tarik Sektioui
* Carlos Paredes
* Alenitchev
* Benni McCarthy
* Marek Čech
* Miran Pavlin

Notes and references

External links

*Official website:
** [http://www.fcporto.pt/ FC Porto - Official Website]

*Official supporters websites:
** [http://www.superdragoes.com/ Super Dragões 1986 / FC Porto Supporters]

*Unofficial websites:
** [http://www.fcporto.ws/ Portal dos Dragões]

*Portuguese football links:
** [http://www.pfutebol.com Portuguesefutebol.com] Your source for Portuguese football (in English)
** [http://www.portugoal.net www.PortuGOAL.net|The definitive Portuguese football site] (in English)
** [http://www.soccerpulse.com/forum/index.php?showforum=24| Soccerpulse - FC Porto Information and Discussion Forum] (in English)
** [http://www.kickabola.com/22 Kickabola.com FC Porto and soccer forum]