Boavista Futebol Clube[a] (Portuguese pronunciation:[boɐˈviʃtɐ]), commonly known asBoavista, is a Portuguese professionalsports club from the Boavista neighborhood ofPorto that competes in thePorto Football Association, the district leagues ofPortuguese football, at theEstádio do Bessa. It is one of the oldest clubs in the country, having been founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers.[1]
Boavista grew to become an important sports club in Portugal, with sections dedicated to several sports includingfootball,chess,gymnastics,bicycle racing,futsal,volleyball,rink hockey, andboxing, among others, with the most notable being the football section with their trademark chequered white and black shirts.
With 9 major domestic trophies won (1 Championship, 5 Portuguese Cups and 3 domestic Super Cups, all during the presidencies ofValentim Loureiro orJoão Loureiro), Boavista is the most decorated Portuguese football club after the "Big Three" (Benfica,Porto andSporting CP). Boavista spent 39 consecutive seasons in thePrimeira Liga (50 in total) and, together withBelenenses, is the only team outside the "Big Three" to have won the Portuguese Championship, in the2000–01 season. Boavista has a rivalry with fellow city clubPorto;[2] the matches between the clubs are sometimes calledInvicta derby.
Its stadium,Estádio do Bessa, was built in 1973, although football had been played there at the former Campo do Bessa since the 1910s, and revamped for use inEuro 2004.
Boavista in June 1923, in their previous all-black shirts.
The club was founded on 1 August 1903, in the Boavista area of the western part of the city of Porto, by two English brothers, Harry and Dick Lowe.[3] Having received an imported football from their father in England, they foundedThe Boavista Footballers, and an early rival was another English club in the city, theOporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club.[4] The team had an early schism as its British contingent refused to play on Sundays due to their Anglican faith, while the Catholic locals could only play on Sundays due to work commitments; the locals won, drastically changing the demographics of the club.[4] In 1910 the current name was adopted, and on 11 April that year the ground now occupied by theEstádio do Bessa was inaugurated with a match againstLeixões.[3] In 1913–14, the team won the inauguralPorto Football Association.[3]
In the 1920s, the club increased the number of sports practiced.[4] The team boasted "the best defensive trio of the North": goalkeeperCasoto and defenders Lúzia andÓscar Vasques de Carvalho.[4] In the following decade, the club lobbied for the legalisation of professionalism after being sanctioned, having been investigated after complaining thatPorto had paid Boavista's Nova to join them.[4] In 1933, the club adopted its black-and-white shirts, based on a French team that club president Artur Oliveira Valença had watched.[4]
Boavista's first decades in league football saw the club bounce between thePrimeira and theSegunda Divisão, winning the latter's title in 1937 and 1950. In 1966, they fell to theTerceira Divisão, and stayed there for two years.[5]
The team bounced back to the top flight by 1970 with two consecutive promotions, finished renovation of its stadium two years later and in 1974 hired managerJosé Maria Pedroto and presidentValentim Loureiro. In their first year, Boavista achieved their best classification of fourth in the1974-1975 championship, and won theTaça de Portugal for the first time after defeating Benfica 2–1 in thefinal.[4] A year later, the clubfinished as runners-up toBenfica by two points,[6] and defended their cup title by defeatingVitória de Guimarães 2–1 in the1976 final at rival Porto'sEstádio das Antas; Pedroto left for Porto at the end of the season.
Experienced English managerJimmy Hagan led the club to its third Taça de Portugal win in five years after defeatingSporting CP 1–0 in the replay of the1979 final, after a 1–1 draw occurred the day prior.[7] At the beginning of the following season, Porto and Boavista organised the first edition of thePortuguese Supercup, a season-opening match between the league and cup holders. The match was contested at the Estádio das Antas, and Boavista (with new managerMário Lino) beat Pedroto's Porto 2–1 in aviolent match where Boavista had two men sent off.[8]
From contenders to champions and European forays (1980–2003)
In 1997, Valentim Loureiro was succeeded as president by his sonJoão, who at 34 was the youngest in the whole league.[6] Also, former Portugal internationalJaime Pacheco was appointed manager, and led the club to runners-up in 1999 and fourth place in 2000. In 2000–01, they won the derby in the second half of the season against Porto and went on to win the league with a 3–0 win overAves on 18 May.[9] This was only the second time that a team from outside theBig Three won the league, afterBelenenses in 1946. Pacheco's team conceded just 22 goals in 34 games and lost at home only once.[9] The team featuredRicardo in goal, academy productPetit in midfield, Bolivian free-kick specialistErwin Sánchez in attacking midfield,Duda andMartelinho on the wings, and Brazilian strikerElpídio Silva was the club's top scorer with 11 goals.[9]
After finishing runners-up to Sporting a year later, the squad began to break up, with Petit heading to Benfica and fellow midfielderPedro Emanuel going to Porto; both skippered their new teams.[9] The club rebuilt the Estádio do Bessa forUEFA Euro 2004, contributing to their financial problems.[9] Pacheco left for Spain'sMallorca in 2003, returning soon to replace Sánchez briefly as manager the following year, and came back again in October 2006.[10]
Boavista were regulars in UEFA competitions in the 1990 and early 2000s. In the2002–03 UEFA Cup, they reached the semi-finals before a 2–1 aggregate loss toCeltic due to a lateHenrik Larsson strike; they would have faced Porto in the final.[11]
In June 2008, Boavista was sentenced to relegation for its part in theApito Dourado (Golden Whistle) matchfixing scandal, for three games in the 2003–04 season.[12] A year later, the club was relegated again: originally saved by promoted clubVizela being sanctioned for corruption, the team withdrew from the second division for financial reasons.[13]
In January 2013,João Loureiro, pressed by thousands of members of the club to return to the presidency, was elected president once again. After a long legal battle, in June 2013, Boavista was entitled the right to come back to the Primeira Liga.[14][15] Also, after a negotiation with the creditors of the club, the €65 million debt was cut in half.[16] After a six-year absence, Boavista returned to the Primeira Liga in the2014–15 season, coached by Petit, a member of the title-winning side of 2001.[17]
In October 2020, Boavista's members approved of investment from Spanish-Luxembourgish businessmanGérard Lopez, owner ofLigue 1 clubLille.[18] Petit returned as manager, leading the club to theTaça da Liga semi-finals for the first time in2021–22.[19]
After being prohibited from signing players in fivetransfer windows byFIFA, Boavista signed nine players in one day in February 2025.[20] In2024–25, the team were relegated in last place after a 4–1 loss away toArouca on the final day, prompting a pitch invasion by some of the 2,000 travelling fans.[21] The club were barred from playing inLiga Portugal 2 by theLiga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional, resulting in relegated teamOliveirense receiving a reprieve.[22]
Boavista was also refused registration in 2025 to the third-tierLiga 3 or fourth-tier Campeonato de Portugal, resulting in theSociedade Anónima Desportiva (SAD) of the club starting the new season in the Liga Pro, the new elite league of thePorto Football Association.[23] The club itself entered a team in the fourth division of the district leagues, a decision which led to the establishment ofPanteras Negras F.C. by the supporters' group of the same name.[24] Having had losses by default as a result of never turning up for games, the club-run team withdrew from competition at the end of October.[25]
The club has made 55 appearances at the top level of Portuguese football and has won the Portuguese cup five times. In 1979, it also won the first edition of the national supercup.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
TheEstádio do Bessa (later Estádio do Bessa XXI) is Boavista's home ground, used for football and occasionally formusic concerts. The stadium was first used in 1911, then known as 'Campo do Bessa'.
The stadium had several renovations in its history, namely in 1967–72, whereturf was installed as well asfloodlights. Like other stadiums used inUEFA Euro 2004, the stadium was rebuilt for the competition, but on top of the old stands, and each one of them at a different time, allowing Boavista to continue playing there. It cost€45,409,134 to build,[31] from which €7,785,735 were supported from the Portuguese state, and featured an all-seater capacity of 28,263 spectators. 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 Grupo 3 Arquitectura.[32]
Boavista's black-and-white chequered shirt was introduced by journalist and club president Artur Oliveira Valença, based on a French team he had seen.[4]
Thewomen's team is one of the strongest in Portugal, having won several titles in a row during the 1990s, as well as the formation U-19, U-17. U-15 and U-13 teams, that won all national championships, and brought up several talented and famous international players.
^Caetano, Filipe (31 July 2003)."Boavista, 100 anos: do profissionalismo ao abismo" [Boavista, 100 years: from professionalism to the abyss] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol.Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved20 February 2020.
^"Sob o signo de Pedroto" [Under Pedroto's sign].Record (in Portuguese). 25 May 2007.Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved20 February 2020.
^Tovar, Rui Miguel (3 August 2019)."Supertaça: No balneário é que é bom" [Supertaça: It's good to be in the changing room].Sábado (in Portuguese).Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved20 February 2020.
^Castro, Gaspar (11 August 2014)."O Boavista veio para ficar" [Boavista is here to stay] (in Portuguese). SAPO.Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved20 February 2020.