Vitória de Guimarães

Vitória de Guimarães



Full name
Vitória Sport Club

Nickname(s)
White Angels

Founded
1922

Stadium
Estádio D. Afonso Henriques (Capacity 30,165)


League
BWINLIGA

Vitória Sport Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in the city of Guimarães, located 40 km northeast of Porto in Portugal. The club is reported to have been established in 1922. In Portugal it is usually called Vitória de Guimarães to distinguish itself from Vitória FC, a club from Setúbal, known as Vitória de Setúbal.

History

Although Vitória de Guimarães have never won the Portuguese Football Championship or the Portuguese Football Cup, it is one of the most respected clubs in Portugal, playing in the top division for the last few decades, usually challenging for a UEFA Cup place. However, in 2005/2006 season, the team was relegated to Segunda Liga after its worst championship performance in decades.

In the early 2000s, Vitória struggled to keep itself in the top Portuguese division (Superliga). Those years were marked by the decline of the leadership of Pimenta Machado, former president of the club. Machado was accused on charges of embezzlement. Despite this, Vitória had an impressive season. Progress continued in 2004-05, when they secured an impressive league fifth-place finish and qualified for European competition (the UEFA Cup). Vitoria's recent renaissance fell apart in 2005-06, as they finished 17th in the Superliga despite reaching the cup semi-final, having beaten SL Benfica in the quarter-final where Flávio Meireles scored a goal with his hand. They also failed to progress from their UEFA cup group, as eventual winners Sevilla FC, Premier League outfit Bolton Wanderers and Russian team Zenit progressed.

After the fall, everyone thought that Vitória would get back in the 1st Division quite easily, even though the team itself wasn't that great. Then, what happened was almost a bad nightmare for the fans. Vitória, in the middle of the season, was rounding the 10th place and lower, with very few chances of getting promoted. During the Winter stop, there was a change in the club's Direction and a new coach was hired (Manuel Cajuda). What followed next, was a dream. Vitória started winning game, after game, and in the end managed to get the 2nd place in the 29th game of the 2nd Division. Their promotion was guaranteed.

The promotion was crowned with a 3rd place in the 2007-2008 season, guaranteeing a place in qualifying state of the Champions' League.

Honours
SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira 1988
Qualifying for Champions League 08/09