Boavista F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Boavista F.C.


fullname = Boavista Futebol Clube
nickname = "As Panteras"
(The Panthers)
"Os Axadrezados"
(The Checkereds)
founded = 1 August, 1903
ground = Estádio do Bessa, Porto
("Bessa Stadium")
capacity = 28,263
chairman =
manager = flagicon|Portugal Rui Bento
league = Liga de Honra
season = 2007-08
position = BWINLIGA, 9th (relegated)
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Boavista Futebol Clube (pron. IPA2|boɐ'viʃtɐ), often simply known as Boavista, is a sports club from Porto, Portugal that was founded in 1903. Boavista grew to become Porto's second greatest club with sections dedicated to several sports, such as volleyball, chess, gymnastics, bicycle racing and futsal (among others), the most notable being the football section. The trademark of the team are the checkered white and black shirts. Estádio do Bessa, their stadium, was built in 1973 and remodeled in time for the Euro 2004, but plans for renewal already existed.

Internally, Boavista grew from a minor team in the 70's to a regular fixture in Europe since then. The first "threat" to the The Big Three title domination was in 1975-76 under guidance of José Maria Pedroto, when Boavista finished second, achieving the same position later in 1998-99. Finally, in 2000-01 Boavista won the SuperLiga (on 18 May 2001, after beating Desportivo das Aves 3-0), finishing second to Sporting in 2002.

In Europe, Boavista was commonly known as "the club with the strange shirts", and achieved moderate success. The highlight is still the brilliant UEFA Cup run in 2003, when they were knocked out by Celtic F.C. in the semi-finals, in a year which saw FC Porto lift the trophy. In the same competition: In 1981-82 Boavista FC eliminated Atlético Madrid 5-4 in the first round. In 1986-87, Boavista beat ACF Fiorentina but lost to Rangers FC in a tense second round game at the Ibrox Stadium. In 1991-1992, they managed to knock out Inter Milan 2-1 in the first round, making it to the quarterfinals in 1993-1994, after knocking out Greece's OFI Crete and S.S. Lazio of Italy.

Boavista has played twice in the UEFA Champions League. After a first, modest, participation in 1999, Boavista surprised Europe in 2001 by beating and knocking out German giants Borussia Dortmund in the first group stages. "The panthers" went through to the second phase where they met stronger challenges like Manchester United and Bayern Munich. With their financial objective more than complete, new horizons were rising for the team, as they started their group by surprising FC Nantes at home winning by 1-0, and reaching the top of the group after the draw between Manchester and Bayern. The team eventually finished a respectable third.

The football side has reputation in Portugal and, to some extent, abroad, as a result of its aggressive style, resulting always in hard-fought matches for their opponent team, even in defeats. One shining example of this is the 2001 Portuguese title, where the team finished first in goals conceded, with one of the best attacks. This style was mainly the brainchild of coach Jaime Pacheco. With his departure for RCD Mallorca in 2003-04, the team started to play a less attractive football, which kept for the next two years. This image started to change when Pacheco was replaced by Carlos Brito for the 2005-06 season, but, ironically, Pacheco came back to replaced sacked Željko Petrović in October 2006 (who in turn was a late replacement for FC Porto-bound Jesualdo Ferreira (who departed before the first matchday)) and that reputation caught back with the club.

The women's team is one of the strongest in Portugal, having won several titles in a row during the 90's.

Estádio do Bessa

The Estádio do Bessa (now "Estádio do Bessa XXI") is a football stadium located in the Boavista area of Porto, Portugal, used by Boavista FC.

Like other stadiums used in Euro 2004, the Bessa Stadium is a new ground, but built on top of the old stands, and each one of them was built at a different time, allowing Boavista to continue playing there. It cost €45.164.726 to build, from which €7.785.735 were supported from the Portuguese state, and has an all-seater capacity of 28.263. Plans for improvement actually existed before the organization of the Euro 2004 was given to Portugal in 1999, and by then the first works were already underway. It was designed by "Grupo3 Arquitectura".

The Sánchez years

Erwin Sánchez is considered to be "Boavista F.C."s most influential player of the last 15 years, after captaining the team to the semi-finals of the 2003 UEFA Cup. He is also one of Bolivia's football living legends. A midfielder with an accurate and powerful long-range shot who was a free-kick specialist, he was a leading player for Bolivia both in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifyings and finals. He was also part of the Boavista squad that became 2000-01 Portuguese Superliga champions. Sánchez left the club in March 2004, after a brief and unsuccessful spell as manager.

Later years and major difficulties

2003 marked the latest appearance on the spotlight by the club. The construction of the "Estádio do Bessa XXI" left a deep hole on the club's finances, and the inability to hire quality players, together with internal turmoil contributed to the fall of the club. Today, after three consecutive failures to achieve European competition, Boavista is living through a deep crisis. Talisman coach Jaime Pacheco returned for a third stint as Boavista manager, but the club did not manage to leave the second half of the table. Also, a financial crisis prompted the club to a "back-to-basics" attitude, betting on younger players and resurrecting the club's youth academy, in a club that launched the careers of well-known players as João Vieira Pinto, Petit and Nuno Gomes.

Despite finishing 9th in the 2007-08 season, Boavista was relegated to the "Liga de Honra", due to bribery of referees in 2003-04, through their involvement in the "Apito Dourado" corruption scandal.

Current squad

Notable former players

*flagicon|Portugal Alfredo
*flagicon|Portugal Carlos Manuel
*flagicon|Portugal Diamantino
*flagicon|Portugal João Vieira Pinto
*flagicon|Portugal Martelinho
*flagicon|Portugal Frederico
*flagicon|Portugal Litos
*flagicon|Portugal Almani Moreira
*flagicon|Portugal Nuno Frechaut
*flagicon|Portugal Nuno Gomes
*flagicon|Portugal Pedro Emanuel
*flagicon|Portugal Ricardo
*flagicon|Portugal Petit
*flagicon|Portugal Bosingwa
*flagicon|Portugal Carlos
*flagicon|Portugal Raul Meireles
*flagicon|Angola Zé Kalanga
*flagicon|Angola Mateus
*flagicon|Argentina Fernando Avalos
*flagicon|Austria Roland Linz
*flagicon|Bolivia Erwin Sánchez
*flagicon|Cameroon William
*flagicon|Cameroon Roudolphe Douala
*flagicon|England Phil Walker
*flagicon|Ghana Kwame Ayew
*flagicon|Liechtenstein Peter Jehle
*flagicon|Mali Mourtala Diakité
*flagicon|Morocco Ali El-Omari
*flagicon|Netherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
*flagicon|Nigeria Richard Daddy Owobokiri
*flagicon|Poland Przemysław Kaźmierczak
*flagicon|Poland Rafał Grzelak
*flagicon|Qatar Hussain Yasser
*flagicon|Romania Ion Timofte
*flagicon|Senegal Faye Fary
*flagicon|Slovakia Tomáš Oravec
*flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago Leonson Lewis
*flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago Russell Latapy
*flagicon|Ukraine Serhiy Atelkin

Honours

*Portuguese Liga 2001
*Portuguese Cup 1975, 1976, 1979, 1992, 1997
*Portuguese Supercup 1979, 1992, 1997

League and cup history

The club has 50 presences at the top level of Portuguese football, including all seasons since 1969/1970. It also won 5 Portuguese Cups (1975, 76, 79, 92 and 97) and was runner-up once, also winning 3 SuperCups (1978-1979 (unofficial), 1991-1992 and 1996-1997), including the very first edition of the tournament.

Official anthem

"Boavista, Boavista,

É do Porto muito amado; (Very beloved in Porto)

Tem distintivo bairrista (with a strong attachment)

Preto e branco axadrezado. (checkered black and white)

E no estádio a multidão, (In the stadium the crowd)

Quando ele entra na pista, (when it enters the pitch)

Rompe nesta saudação: (bursts this salute)

Boavista! ... Boavista! ...

Luta sempre com vigor, (always fighting hard)

É brioso e é leal; (punchy and loyal)

No prélio põe todo o ardor (leaving its skin in the fight)

De princípio até final; (from start to end)

No seu vibrar sempre amigo, (always with friendly energy)

No seu porte sem igual, (with unmatched allure)

Ama o estandarte querido, (loves its beloved banner)

Prestígio de Portugal! (Portugal's prestige)

Vamos em frente (Straight ahead)

Pela bandeira (for the banner)

Vê-la fulgente (to watch it sparkle)

E altaneira, (and proud)

Ser desportista (To be a sportsman)

Puro ideal, (the ideal pure)

P'lo Boavista! ... (FOR BOAVISTA!!!)

Arraial, arraial, arraial!

See also

*Boavista (cycling team)
*Boavista (futsal)

External links

* [http://www.boavistafc.pt Official site] es icon
* [http://bfchistoria.no.sapo.pt Unofficial site - HdBFC] es icon