 | ||||
| Full name | Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Pacenses (Those from Paços) Castores (Beavers) | |||
| Founded | 5 April 1950; 75 years ago (1950-04-05) | |||
| Ground | Estádio Capital do Móvel | |||
| Capacity | 9,076 | |||
| Chairman | Paulo Meneses | |||
| Manager | Filipe Cândido | |||
| League | Liga Portugal 2 | |||
| 2024–25 | Liga Portugal 2, 16th of 18 | |||
| Website | www | |||
 Current season | ||||
Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈpasuʒðɨfɨˈʁɐjɾɐ]) is a Portuguese professionalfootball club based inPaços de Ferreira,district ofPorto. Founded in 1950, the club competes in theLiga Portugal 2, holding home games at the 9,076 seatEstádio Capital do Móvel, a municipal stadium where the team has been based since 1973.[1] The club's colours are yellow and green. The club is owned 100% by its members ("sócios").
They have won four Segunda Liga titles (now Liga Portugal 2), and in 2007 they qualified for theUEFA Cup for the first time. In the2012–13 Primeira Liga, the team finished third and qualified for the2013–14 UEFA Champions League play-offs for the first time in their history. They were also runners-up of the2008–09 Taça de Portugal, the2009 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and the2010–11 Taça da Liga.
The origin of the club dates back to the 1930s, when it was namedSport Club Pacense. They played for two decades without any official recognition until they entered the lower divisions in 1950, under the nameFutebol Clube Vasco da Gama. The club then changed their kit colours to the current ones and renamed themselves Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira.
Their first match under the current name came on 19 November 1950, beatingLousada 2–1. Agostinho Alves was the first goal scorer in the history of thePacenses. The club then played in Portugal's third regional division until the 1956–57 season, where they were crowned champions. The club crest was created in 1961–62, and was used ever since.
The club was relegated and then promoted again and supporters hit the streets of the city on 17 June 1973 when they defeated Perosinho 3–0. One year later, they won theTerceira Divisão on 14 June 1974, after defeating Estrela de Portalegre. The hero of the match was the goalscorer Mascarenhas.
After establishing themselves in thefirst division during the 1990s, and suffering a relegation in2003–04, the club finished sixth in the first division in2006–07, thusqualifying for theUEFA Cup, their first ever European competition, under managerJosé Mota. They lost 1–0 on aggregate toAZ of the Netherlands in the first round.[2]
Having finished last in the league in2007–08, Paços would have normally been relegated to thesecond level, but were readmitted afterBoavista's confirmed irregularities.[3] Inthe following year, already without Mota, the team finished tenth in the league and a secondEuropa League qualification spot after losing theTaça de Portugalfinal 1–0 to eventual league championsPorto on 31 May.[4] The two clubs met again on 9 August in theSupertaça Cândido de Oliveira, which Portowon 2–0.[5]
Paços entered the2009–10 UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round, where they defeatedZimbru Chișinău of Moldova before being eliminated byBnei Yehuda Tel Aviv of Israel in the third.[6] The club reached the2011 Taça da Liga Final underRui Vitória, losing 2–1 toS.L. Benfica at theEstádio Cidade de Coimbra.[7]
In the2012–13 season, Paços surprisingly qualified for the2013–14 UEFA Champions League play-offs for the first time in their history after achieving third place in the league by passing favouritesBraga andSporting CP, making it their highest finish ever. The club were managed that season byPaulo Fonseca, who left at the end to join Porto, and was replaced byCostinha, who lost the Champions League playoff to RussiansZenit Saint Petersburg.[8]
Paços' 13-year spell in the Primeira Liga ended in 2018, though they immediately returned as champions of the2018–19 LigaPro under promotion specialistVítor Oliveira.[9] His successorPepa took them to theUEFA Europa Conference League with a fifth-place finish in2020–21, then left forVitória de Guimarães.[10] Their first European campaign in eight years ended in theplayoff, with 3–1 aggregate defeat toTottenham Hotspur despite winning the first game.[11] A four-year spell in the top flight ended with relegation in2022–23, a season in which managerCésar Peixoto was sacked and then hired again in under three months, either side of José Mota's winless return to the club.[12][13]
| Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Notes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div. | Pos. | Pl | W | D | L | GS | GA | Pts | Result | Result | Competition | Result | ||
| 2001–02 | 1st | 8th | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 41 | 44 | 46 | Last 16 | n/a | – | – | – |
| 2002–03 | 1st | 6th | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 47 | 45 | SF | n/a | – | – | – |
| 2003–04 | 1st | 17th | 34 | 8 | 4 | 22 | 27 | 53 | 28 | Last 32 | n/a | – | – | [A] |
| 2004–05 | 2nd | 1st | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 61 | 43 | 69 | Last 64 | n/a | – | – | [B] |
| 2005–06 | 1st | 11th | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 38 | 49 | 42 | Last 64 | n/a | – | – | – |
| 2006–07 | 1st | 6th | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 31 | 36 | 42 | Last 64 | n/a | – | – | – |
| 2007–08 | 1st | 15th | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 31 | 49 | 25 | Last 16 | R3 | UEFA Cup | R1 | [C] |
| 2008–09 | 1st | 10th | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 37 | 42 | 34 | RU | R3 | – | – | – |
| 2009–10 | 1st | 10th | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 32 | 37 | 35 | QF | R2 | UEFA Europa League | 3rd QR | – |
| 2010–11 | 1st | 7th | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 35 | 42 | 41 | Last 32 | RU | – | – | – |
| 2011–12 | 1st | 10th | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 35 | 53 | 31 | Last 32 | R3 | – | – | – |
| 2012–13 | 1st | 3rd | 30 | 14 | 12 | 4 | 42 | 29 | 54 | SF | R3 | – | – | [D] |
| 2013–14 | 1st | 15th | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 28 | 59 | 24 | Last 16 | R3 | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League | PO Gr. E | [E] |
| 2014–15 | 1st | 8th | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 40 | 45 | 47 | Last 16 | R2 | – | – | – |
| 2015–16 | 1st | 7th | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 43 | 42 | 49 | Last 32 | R3 | – | – | – |
| 2016–17 | 1st | 13th | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 32 | 45 | 36 | Last 32 | R3 | – | – | – |
| 2017–18 | 1st | 17th | 34 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 33 | 59 | 30 | Last 64 | R3 | – | – | – |
| 2018–19 | 2nd | 1st | 34 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 50 | 21 | 74 | Last 16 | R3 | – | – | – |
| 2019–20 | 1st | 13th | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 36 | 52 | 39 | QF | R3 | – | – | – |
| 2020–21 | 1st | 5th | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 40 | 41 | 53 | Last 32 | QF | – | – | – |
| 2021–22 | 1st | 11th | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 29 | 44 | 38 | Last 32 | R3 | – | – | – |
| 2022–23 | 1st | 17th | 34 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 26 | 62 | 23 | Last 64 | GS | – | – | [F] |
| 2023–24 | 2nd | 5th | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 42 | 35 | 52 | Last 128 | R1 | – | – | – |
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | UEFA Cup | First round |  AZ | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | Second qualifying round |  Zimbru Chișinău | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Third qualifying round |  Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | ||
| 2013–14 | UEFA Champions League | Play-off round |  Zenit Saint Petersburg | 1–4 | 2–4 | 3–8 |
| 2013–14 | UEFA Europa League | Group E |  Fiorentina | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3rd place |
 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 0–2 | 0–2 | ||||
 Pandurii Târgu Jiu | 1–1 | 0–0 | ||||
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | Third qualifying round |  Larne | 4–0 | 0−1 | 4−1 |
| Play-off round |  Tottenham Hotspur | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1−3 |
Correct as of 21 May 2025.[14]
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 130 |  Gil Vicente F.C. | 12.453 |
| 131 | C.D. Santa Clara | 12.453 |
| 132 | F.C. Paços de Ferreira | 12.453 |
| 133 | Rio Ave F.C. | 12.453 |
| 134 |  FC Astana | 12.000 |
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.
|
|
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Managing Director | Jaime Sousa |
| Sporting Director | Carlos Carneiro |
| Manager | Ricardo Silva |
| Assistant Manager | Luis Monteiro |
| First-Team Coach | Nuno Fonseca |
| Analyst | Vasco Silva |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Filipe Moreira |
| Physiologist | Gustavo DDunkel |
| Data Scientist | Prof. Paulo Roriz |
| Scouting | Cadú |
| Club Doctor | André Maia Silva |
| Nurse | Ricardo Neves |
| Physiotherapist | Rui Dias |
| Physiotherapist | João Bastos |
| Kit Manager | Paulo Neto |
Vítor Oliveira (1988–92)Neca (1992–93)Jaime Pacheco (1993–94)Raul Águas (1994–95)José Rachão (1995–96)Henrique Calisto (1996–97)Eurico Gomes (1 July 1997 – 30 June 1999)Henrique Calisto (1999)José Mota (8 Jan 2000 – 30 June 2003)José Manuel Gomes (July 2003 – 3 Oct)José Mota (22 Oct 2003 – 16 May 2008)Paulo Sérgio (22 May 2008 – 14 Oct 2009)Manuel Sousa(interim) (15 Oct 2009 – 18 Oct 2009)Ulisses Morais (19 Oct 2009 – 20 May 2010)Rui Vitória (3 June 2010 – 30 Aug 2011)Luís Miguel (31 Aug 2011 – 27 Nov 2011)Henrique Calisto (1 Dec 2011 – 27 May 2012)Paulo Fonseca (28 May 2012 – 9 June 2013)Costinha (17 June 2013 – 28 Oct 2013)Henrique Calisto (29 Oct 2013 – 24 Feb 2014)Jorge Costa (26 Feb 2014 – 30 June 2014)Paulo Fonseca (1 July 2014 – 26 May 2015)Jorge Simão (25 June 2015 – 21 May 2016)Carlos Pinto (1 July 2016 – 28 November 2016)Vasco Seabra (29 November 2016 – 23 October 2017)Petit (23 October 2017 – 9 January 2018)João Henriques (12 January 2018 – 21 May 2018)Pepa (2019–2021)Jorge Simão (2021)César Peixoto (2021–2022)José Mota (2022) Marco Paiva (2022–2023)César Peixoto (2023) Ricardo Silva (2023–2025) Carlos Fangueiro (2025)Filipe Cândido (2025–)The supporters' club, "Ultras Yellow Boys," was founded in 1996, then disbanded but returning afterwards in 2001. Two previous groups, however extinct, existed:"Febre Amarela" and "Yellowmania".
