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Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It also fields various youth teams and a veterans team in football, as well as teams in basketball.
Located in Algarve's second largest city, its stadium, the Estádio Municipal de Portimão, has a capacity of 9,544 spectators after undergoing renovation in early 2011. The club has never won any major trophies, but it participated in the Primeira Liga for several seasons.
Portimonense's zenith was in the 1980s, a decade in which the club only played its football in the top division, also competing in the UEFA Cup in 1985–86. They have reached the semifinals of the Taça de Portugal three times, in 1983, 1987 and 1988.
In the 1990s and 2000s, however, the club primarily played in the Segunda Liga, while also having a brief spell in the third level. In 2009–10, Portimonense started with Angolan Lito Vidigal at the helm, but when he left for União de Leiria, former Sporting midfielder Litos took charge, and led the team to a final second place, behind S.C. Beira-Mar, thus returning it to the top flight after exactly 20 years of absence; substitute Wilson Eduardo scored the only goal away to U.D. Oliveirense to guarantee the promotion.[2]
Midway through the 2010–11 campaign, Litos was fired due to bad results,[3] as Portimonense eventually ranked second from bottom and was relegated back.[4] The team met the same fate in the following season, even managing to rank in a worse position; however, after Varzim S.C. was not allowed to promote from division three due to financial irregularities, Portimonense was reinstated.[5]
Portimonense won the 2016–17 LigaPro to return to the top flight after six years; the campaign was managed by Vítor Oliveira, who had begun his coaching career with the club three decades earlier and had won promotion for the fifth consecutive time.[6] The team went down on the last day of the 2019–20 season, as competitors C.D. Tondela and Vitória de Setúbal also won their games,[7] however, Portimonense remained in the division due to issues off the pitch at both Vitória de Setúbal and C.D. Aves meaning these two were relegated and the Algarve side would stay up.[8]
A. ^A Best league classification finish in the club's history.
B. ^B Despite finishing in a position which would relegate the club to the third division, Portimonense were reinstated in the Liga de Honra due to Varzim not meeting the financial requirements to play in the league.
On 13 July 2011, Portimonense elected its body of officials, for a three-year term.[10]
President: José Fernando Teixeira da Rocha
Deputy president: António Alexandre Soares Rocha da Silveira
Vice-presidents: Luís Manuel de Andrade Rodrigues Batalau, José Cândido Rebelo Rodrigues, Nuno Miguel Lopes da Silva, João Carlos Pinhota Martins Santana, Francisco José de Matos Viegas Gouveia Coutinho, Luís Carlos da Costa Paiva
Portimonense has its own club song: "Portimonense, expoente algarvio".[12] Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Portimonense, although this is more common in Iberia than in much of Europe.
^Saint-Maxent, Sarah (19 July 2012). "Portimonense substitui Varzim" [Portimonense replaced Varzim]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2020.
