 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1872-10-25)25 October 1872 | ||
| Place of birth | Lisbon, Portugal | ||
| Date of death | 1 January 1944(1944-01-01) (aged 71) | ||
| Place of death | Campolide, Lisbon | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 1906–1908 | Sport Lisboa | ||
Manuel Gourlade (25 October 1872 – 1 January 1944) was the first manager ofS.L. Benfica and one of driving forces that led to the creation ofSport Lisboa that 4 years later would be known as Sport Lisboa e Benfica.[1]
Gourlade was born inLisbon, came from a family with money, studied at Colégio Nobre de Carvalho and worked as an employee at Fármacia Franco (acommunity pharmacy) where a meeting took place for the signing of Sport Lisboa foundation act. He was chosen to dotreasury management in the Administrative Board.[2]
He helped funding the club with his own money: theball bought from Lisbon Cricket Club for 150$Reais, thetranslation fromEnglish toPortuguese, of theLaws of the game for 2500$Reais, plus ordered fromLondon, awhistle and another 3 balls.[3] He managed the club for 2 seasons, with a total of 16 games resulting in 8 wins and 8 losses. Later,Cosme Damião replaced him as coach.[4]
He remained close to the club but because all of the expenses he had made for Benfica he took a toll on hisfinances and died frompoverty inCampolide.[2]