C.F. Os Belenenses

Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Belenenses (Portuguese pronunciation: [bɨlɨˈnẽsɨʃ]), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Restelo in the Belém parish of Lisbon, hence the club name, which translates as "The ones from Belém". Among its fanbase, the club is commonly nicknamed O Belém, in reference to the neighborhood; Os Pastéis (The Pastries), in reference to a traditional Portuguese pastry originated in the parish; Azuis (Blues) or Azuis do Restelo (The Blues from Restelo), in reference to the club's color and its home stadium; and A Cruz de Cristo (The Order of Christ Cross), for its emblem, or also "Os Rapazes da Praia" (The Boys of the Beach), a reference to the zone of Belém in the earlier 20 Century.

This article is about the original club Belenenses formed in 1919. For new club Os Belenenses SAD, founded in 2018, see Belenenses SAD.

Belenenses

Full name	Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses
Nickname(s)	O Belém (The Bethlehem) Os Azuis do Restelo (The Blues from Restelo) Pastéis (Pastries) A Cruz de Cristo (The Order of Christ Cross)
Founded	23 September 1919 (23 September 1919)
Ground	Estádio do Restelo
Capacity	19,856[1]
President	Patrick Morais de Carvalho
Head coach	Nuno Oliveira
League	Lisbon FA 1ª Divisão Série 2
2018–19	Lisbon FA 1ª Divisão, Champion
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Belenenses won the 1945–46 Primeira Liga, making them the first club other than the Big Three to win the league title. Belenenses has also won six Championship of Portugal/Portuguese Cup trophies, and is the fifth most decorated team in Portuguese football.

Until 1982, Belenenses was one of four teams that had never been relegated from the first division. Nowadays, it is the team with the fourth most seasons in the Primeira Liga as well as the team with the fourth most points in the championship's history.

Belenenses was the first Portuguese team with a turf pitch and artificial lighting, and was also the first Portuguese club to participate in the UEFA Europa League.

The main sports of the club are football, handball, basketball, futsal, athletics, and rugby union. The club has won national championships in all these sports, but it remains best known for football, its original activity. In the club's history, Belenenses has won more than 10,000 trophies, including the first divisions of football, handball, basketball, rugby, and the Portuguese Cup in football and futsal, among other sports.

History

Early years

Founded in 1919, it reached its first Campeonato final in 1926, losing 2–0 to Marítimo, and won the title the next season with a 3–0 win over Vitória de Setúbal and winning a second championship in 1929. The club lost the 1932 title to Porto 2–1 in a replay after a 4–4 draw. The club won its third and final Campeonato in 1933 after defeating Sporting CP 3–1.[2] With three Campeonato wins, Belenenses was one of Portugal's "Big Four". Since the advent of the Primeira Liga, Os Belenenses has failed to keep up with the other three clubs (Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting CP).

League champions

The club won its only Primeira Liga title in 1945–46, edging Benfica by one point,[3] the first time that a club outside the Big Three won the title. On 14 December 1947, they were the first team to face Real Madrid at their newly inaugurated Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (then called the Nuevo Estadio Chamartín) in a friendly match won 3–1 by Madrid.[4] The club were runners-up in the league for the first time in the 1954–55 season, level on 39 points with Benfica.[5] It was not until 1973 that Belenenses finished runner-up again, 18 points behind Benfica, and they never have since.[6]

European forays

Belenenses were the first club to compete in the UEFA Cup in a two-legged 3–3 draw with Hibernian at the Estádio do Restelo in Belém.

The club has also played in the European Cup Winners' Cup. In the 1987–88 UEFA Cup, the club played Barcelona. In the first leg, they lost 2–0 in the Camp Nou, winning 1–0 at the Estádio do Restelo with Mapuata scoring. Belenenses won their sixth (and to date last) Taça de Portugal on 28 May 1989, defeating Benfica 2–1.[7] Also that season, they knocked out the holders Bayer Leverkusen from the Cup Winners' Cup.

Downfall and recovery

Belenenses were relegated from the Primeira Liga for the first time in 1981–82, and have been relegated three other times since then.

21st century

The 2005–06 season saw Belenenses finishing fourth from bottom, which would mean relegation for the team. However, the club won a subsequent appeal which sent Gil Vicente down instead. With this reprieve, the club played in the top level of Portuguese football once again. On 27 May 2007, Belenenses reached their first Taça de Portugal final since their 1989 triumph, but were defeated 1–0 by Sporting CP.[8]

Cabral Ferreira, who served as club president of Belenenses from 2005 until 2008, died on 26 February 2008 after a long illness.[9] Belenenses were relegated in 2010 to the Segunda Liga, but secured promotion back to the Primeira Liga in March 2013, their longest stint out of the top division.

During the 2014–15 season, Belenenses finished the championship in sixth place, thereby returning to European competition, qualifying for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

They reached the group stage of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League after eliminating IFK Göteborg (2–1 on aggregate) and Rheindorf Altach (1–0 on aggregate). They finished fourth and last in their group, recording a surprising 2–1 away win against Basel, but drawing 0–0 twice against Lech Poznań, losing the return match against Basel, and losing both matches to Fiorentina.

Club split

At the end of 2017–18 season, CF os Belenenses (Club) and Belenenses SAD went their separate ways, as the "Protocol on the use of Estádio do Restelo" ended and the SAD refused to negotiate a new contract with the Club. So from the 2018–19 season, Belenenses SAD (the professional team) play their Primeira Liga home games at Estádio Nacional, whereas CF os Belenenses registered an amateur team in 1ª Divisão Distrital de Lisboa, the equivalent to the Sixth Division (lowest Portuguese division), with the support of the majority of fans and club members.

As a consequence, Belenenses SAD was legally forbidden from using Belenenses' Logo and name and now uses a new logo.[10] In the first games of the season, the professional team saw home attendances of only a few hundred, whereas the new, amateur team saw home attendances of approximately 5,000, reversing a long decline in attendance figures.[11]

Honours

Domestic

• Primeira Liga

Winners (1): 1945–46

• Taça de Portugal

Winners (3): 1941–42, 1959–60, 1988–89

Runners-up (5): 1939–40, 1940–41, 1947–48, 1985–86, 2006–07

• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Runners-up (1): 1989

• Campeonato de Portugal[12]

Winners (3): 1926–27, 1928–29, 1932–33

Runners-up (3): 1925–26, 1931–32, 1935–36

• Segunda Divisão / Segunda Liga

Winners (2): 1983–84, 2012–13

• Lisbon FA 2ª Divisão

Winners (1): 2018–19

• Lisbon Championship

Winners (6): 1925–26, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1931–32, 1943–44, 1945–46

European

• Intertoto Cup

Winners (1): 1975

League and cup history

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe		Notes
1934–35	CL	4	14	8	2	4	45	20	18	quarter-final
1935–36	CL	4	14	7	3	4	28	22	17	final
1936–37	CL	2	14	11	1	2	46	17	23	quarter-final
1937–38	CL	5	14	5	0	9	29	28	10
1938–39	1D	4	14	6	1	7	38	29	13	quarter-final
1939–40	1D	3	18	11	3	4	58	21	25	final
1940–41	1D	3	14	9	1	4	59	22	19	final
1941–42	1D	3	22	12	6	4	66	32	30	winner
1942–43	1D	3	18	14	0	4	78	20	28	quarter-final
1943–44	1D	6	18	9	3	6	41	32	21	quarter-final
1944–45	1D	3	18	13	1	4	72	29	27	quarter-final
1945–46	1D	1	22	18	2	2	74	24	38	last 16			Only League title
1946–47	1D	4	26	14	5	7	66	31	33	not held
1947–48	1D	3	26	16	5	5	76	30	37	final
1948–49	1D	3	26	16	3	7	68	36	35	last 16
1949–50	1D	4	26	10	7	9	36	41	27	not held
1950–51	1D	9	26	10	4	12	45	48	24	semi-final
1951–52	1D	4	26	14	8	4	60	28	36
1952–53	1D	3	26	15	6	5	60	29	36
1953–54	1D	4	26	13	5	8	43	39	31	semi-final
1954–55	1D	2	26	17	5	4	63	28	39		LAT	4th place
1955–56	1D	3	26	16	5	5	67	25	37	semi-final
1956–57	1D	3	26	13	7	6	74	50	33
1957–58	1D	4	26	12	4	10	54	42	28
1958–59	1D	3	26	16	6	4	65	27	38
1959–60	1D	3	26	15	6	5	58	25	36	winner
1960–61	1D	5	26	12	4	10	45	37	28	semi-final
1961–62	1D	5	26	12	7	7	51	35	31	semi-final	FC	1st round
1962–63	1D	4	26	16	4	6	47	30	36	semi-final	FC	1st round
1963–64	1D	6	26	12	6	8	46	36	30		FC	2nd round
1964–65	1D	8	26	12	2	12	39	40	26		FC	1st round
1965–66	1D	7	26	9	7	10	28	29	25
1966–67	1D	11	26	7	6	13	26	34	20
1967–68	1D	7	26	10	5	11	38	40	25
1968–69	1D	8	26	8	10	8	31	33	26
1969–70	1D	7	26	9	5	12	23	34	23	semi-final
1970–71	1D	7	26	7	8	11	20	27	22
1971–72	1D	7	30	11	7	12	35	33	29	semi-final
1972–73	1D	2	30	14	12	4	53	30	40
1973–74	1D	5	30	17	6	7	56	34	40		UC	1st round
1974–75	1D	6	30	14	7	9	45	37	35	semi-final
1975–76	1D	3	30	16	8	6	45	28	40		IC	GC
1976–77	1D	10	30	7	12	11	29	40	26		IC UC	2nd Gr 1st round
1977–78	1D	5	30	14	8	8	25	21	36
1978–79	1D	8	30	10	9	11	47	43	29
1979–80	1D	5	30	13	8	9	33	38	34
1980–81	1D	11	30	8	10	12	24	39	26	semi-final
1981–82	1D	15	30	5	10	15	28	48	20				relegated
1982–83	2D.S	4	30	12	10	8	35	19	34
1983–84	2D.S	1	30	18	8	4	49	13	44				promoted
1984–85	1D	6	30	11	8	11	40	46	30
1985–86	1D	8	30	7	14	9	27	30	28	final
1986–87	1D	6	30	13	4	13	52	40	30
1987–88	1D	3	38	18	12	8	52	38	48		UC	1st round
1988–89	1D	7	38	13	14	11	44	35	40	winner	UC	2nd round
1989–90	1D	6	34	16	4	14	32	33	36	semi-final	CWC	1st round
1990–91	1D	19	38	10	9	19	27	38	29				relegated
1991–92	2H	2	34	19	10	5	53	25	48				promoted
1992–93	1D	7	34	11	12	11	42	40	34
1993–94	1D	13	34	12	6	16	39	51	30
1994–95	1D	12	34	10	7	17	30	39	27
1995–96	1D	6	34	14	9	1	53	33	51
1996–97	1D	13	34	10	10	14	37	50	40	last 32
1997–98	1D	18	34	5	9	20	22	52	24	last 64			relegated
1998–99	2H	2	34	17	10	7	55	28	61				promoted
1999–2000	1D	12	34	9	13	12	36	38	40	last 64
2000–01	1D	7	34	14	10	10	43	36	52	last 32
2001–02	1D	5	34	17	6	11	54	44	57	last 16
2002–03	1D	9	34	11	10	13	47	48	43	last 32	IC	2nd round
2003–04	1D	15	34	8	11	15	35	54	35	semi-final
2004–05	1D	9	34	13	7	14	38	34	46	quarter-final
2005–06	1D	15	34	11	6	17	40	42	39	last 64
2006–07	1D	5	30	15	4	11	36	29	49	final
2007–08	1D	8	30	11	10	9	35	33	40	last 64	UC	1st round	3 points deducted
2008–09	1D	15	30	5	9	16	28	52	24	last 32
2009–10	1D	15	30	4	11	15	23	44	23	last 16			relegated
2010–11	2H	13	30	8	11	11	33	36	35	last 64
2011–12	2H	5	30	10	11	9	34	32	41	last 16
2012–13	2H	1	42	29	7	6	75	41	94	semi-final			promoted
2013–14	1D	14	30	6	10	14	19	33	28	last 64
2014–15	1D	6	34	12	12	10	34	35	48	quarter final
2015–16	1D	9	34	10	11	13	44	66	41	last 32	EL	Group stage
2016–17	1D	14	34	9	9	16	27	45	36	last 64

CL=Campeonato da Liga (winners weren't considered Portuguese champions); 1D=First Division/League
2D=Second Division/League; 2H=Liga de Honra
CWC=Cup Winners' Cup; UC=UEFA Cup
FC=Fairs Cup; LAT=Latin Cup; IC=Intertoto Cup

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1961–62	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Hibernian	1–3	3–3	4–6
1962–63	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Barcelona	1–1	1–1	2–2^1
1963–64	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Tresnjevka Zagreb	2–0	2–1	4–1
		2R	Roma	0–1	1–2	1–3
1964–65	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Shelbourne	1–1	0–0	1–1^2
1973–74	UEFA Cup	1R	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–2	1–2	1–4
1976–77	UEFA Cup	1R	Barcelona	2–2	2–3	4–5
1987–88	UEFA Cup	1R	Barcelona	1–0	0–2	1–2
1988–89	UEFA Cup	1R	Bayer Leverkusen	1–0	1–0	2–0
		2R	Velež Mostar	0–0	0–0	0–0^3
1989–90	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Monaco	1–1	0–3	1–4
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1R	Bayern Munich	0–2	0–1	0–3
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	3Q	IFK Göteborg	2–1	0–0	2–1
		PO	Rheindorf Altach	0–0	1–0	1–0
		Group I	Basel	0–2	2–1	4th place
			Fiorentina	0–4	0–1
			Lech Poznań	0–0	0–0

Notes

• 1R: First round
• 2R: Second round
• 3Q: Third qualifying round
• PO: Play-off round

¹ Barcelona progressed to the Second round after winning a play-off match 3–2.
² Shelbourne progressed to the Second round after winning a play-off match 2–1.
³ Velež Mostar progressed to the Third round after winning a penalty shoot-out 4–3.

Former coaches

Cândido de Oliveira (1937–38) Lippo Hertzka (1939–40) Alejandro Scopelli (1939–41) Sándor Peics (1943–44) Alejandro Scopelli (1947–48) Artur Quaresma (1948–49) Sándor Peics (1950–51) Fernando Vaz (1951–53) Fernando Riera (1954–57) Helenio Herrera (1957–58) Fernando Vaz (1958–59) Otto Glória (1959–61) Fernando Vaz (1962–64) Ángel Zubieta (1964) Franz Fuchs (July 1, 1964 – June 30, 1965) Ángel Zubieta (1968–69) Mário Wilson (1968–70) Alejandro Scopelli (1972–74) Juca (July 1, 1979 – June 30, 1980) Jimmy Hagan (1980–81) Artur Jorge (1981)

Nelo Vingada (July 1, 1981 – June 30, 1982) José Mourinho Félix (1982–83) Jimmy Melia (1983–86) Marinho Peres (1988–89) John Mortimore (1988–89) Hristo Mladenov (1989) Antônio Lopes (1990) Henri Depireux (1990–1991) Abel Braga (1992–93) José Romão (1993–94) João Alves (1994–96) Quinito (1996) Stoycho Mladenov (1997) Manuel Cajuda (July 1, 1997–98) Vítor Oliveira (1998–00) Marinho Peres (2000–03) Manuel José (Feb 11, 2003 – Nov 22, 2003) Vladislav Bogićević (Nov 26, 2003 – Jan 20, 2004) Augusto Inácio (Jan 20, 2004 – May 12, 2004) Carlos Carvalhal (May 21, 2004 – Oct 27, 2005) José Couceiro (Oct 28, 2005 – May 7, 2006)

Jorge Jesus (May 12, 2006 – May 19, 2008) Casemiro Mior (July 1, 2008 – Oct 8, 2008) Jaime Pacheco (Oct 9, 2008 – May 11, 2009) Rui Jorge (May 12, 2009 – May 25, 2009) João Carlos Pereira (June 4, 2009 – Dec 21, 2009) António Conceição (Dec 23, 2009 – May 9, 2010) Baltemar Brito (June 5, 2010 – July 6, 2010) Rui Gregório (July 8, 2010 – Oct 26, 2010) Filgueira (interim) (Oct 27, 2010 – Nov 1, 2010) José Mota (Nov 2, 2010 – Feb 14, 2012) Marco Paulo (Feb 15, 2012 – May 14, 2012) Mitchell van der Gaag (July 1, 2012 – Sept 26, 2013) Marco Paulo (interim) (Sept 26, 2013 – March 18, 2014) Lito Vidigal (March 20, 2014 – March 17, 2015) Milos Dukic (March 18, 2015 – June 30, 2015) Ricardo Sá Pinto (July 1, 2015 – December 15, 2015) Julio Velázquez (December 17, 2015 – October 6, 2016) Domingos Paciência (April 20, 2017 – January 16, 2018) Silas (January 19, 2018 – June 30, 2018) Nuno Oliveira (July 20, 2018 – )

See also

• CF Belenenses (basketball)
• CF Belenenses (futsal)
• CF Belenenses (handball)
• C.F. Os Belenenses (rugby)
• Belenenses SAD

References

1. http://www.ligaportugal.pt/oou/clube/20152016/liganos/106
2. Portugal – List of Champions
3. Portugal 1945–46
4. Real Madrid C.F. – Official Web Site – Real Madrid play 1,500th official clash at the Santiago Bernabeu
5. Portugal 1954–55
6. Portugal 1972–73
7. Portugal Cup Full Results 1938–1990
8. Portugal Cup 2006/07
9. "Passings: Morreu Cabral Ferreira". Jornal de Notícias. 28 February 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
10. https://ionline.sapo.pt/638547
12. From 1922 to 1938, the Portuguese champion was determined in a knock-out competition called Campeonato de Portugal (Portuguese Championship). With the formation of the league, this competition later became the national cup.

External links

• Official website (in Portuguese)