Boavista F.C.

Boavista F.C.
Full name	Boavista Futebol Clube
Nickname(s)	As Panteras (The Panthers) Os Axadrezados (The Checkereds)
Founded	1 August, 1903
Ground	Estádio do Bessa, Porto (Bessa Stadium) (Capacity 28,263)
Manager	Jaime Pacheco
League	BWINLIGA
2006-07	Liga, 9th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Boavista Futebol Clube (pron. IPA: [boɐ'viʃtɐ]), often simply known as Boavista, is a sports club from Porto, Portugal that was founded in 1903. Nicknamed Panteras (Panthers) and Axadrezados (literally checkereds), Boavista grew to become Porto's second greatest club with sections dedicated to several sports, such as Volleyball, Chess, Gymnastics, Bicycle racing and Futsal (among others), being the most notable the Football section. The trademark of the team are the checkered white and black shirts. Estádio do Bessa, their stadium, was built in 1973 and remodeled in time for the Euro 2004, but plans for renewal already existed. Internally, Boavista grew from a minor team in the 70's to a regular fixture in Europe since then. The first "threat" to the The Big Three title domination was in 75-76 under guidance of José Maria Pedroto, when Boavista finished second, achieving the same position later in 98-99. Finally, in 00-01 Boavista won the SuperLiga over rivals FC Porto, but haven't managed to hold the title, finishing second to Sporting in 2002. Boavista also won 5 Portuguese cups (74-75, 75-76, 78-79, 91-92 and 96-97)

The Panther is the club symbol and nickname, and this statue is proudly placed near the club shop and bar

In Europe, Boavista was commonly known as the club with the strange shirts, and achieved moderate success, knocking out Inter Milan and AS Roma in the early 90's. The highlight is still the brilliant UEFA Cup run in 2003, when they were knocked out by Celtic in the semi-finals in the Estádio do Bessa. During the 1991 UEFA Cup season Boavista FC managed to knock out Inter Milan 2-1 in the Group stages. In the UEFA Cup 1981-82 Boavista FC eliminated Atlético Madrid 5-4. In the 1993-1994 UEFA Cup season, Boavista made it to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup after knocking out Greece clube OFI Crete and beating S.S. Lazio of Italy. In the 86-87 UEFA Cup, Boavista beat heavy favourites ACF Fiorentina but lost to Rangers FC in a tense second round game at the Ibrox Stadium. Boavista has played twice in the Champions League. After a first, modest, participation in 1999, Boavista surprised Europe in 2001 by beating and knocking out German giants Borussia Dortmund.In the first group stages, the club started at its best with an away 1-1 draw with Liverpool FC after being in the lead by 0-1 with a goal from Elpidio Silva.They reached the top of the group on the second match, with an home 3-1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv and taking advantage of a draw between Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool FC. They moved on to the third game as leaders to meet once again Borussia Dortmund and once again they came out victorious, this time with a 2-1 victory at home. On the second round they went down in performance and lost in Germany, later drew at home with Liverpool and lost in Ukraine in the final match. However, the magnificent performance of the first leg of the group along with the home point conquered against Liverpool was enough to go through to the second phase as Dortmund lost in Liverpool on their last game. Boavista went through to the second phase where they met stronger challenges like Manchester United and Bayern Munich. With their financial objective more than complete, new horizons were rising for the team when they once again started the group by surprising Nantes at home winning by 1-0, and reaching the top of the group after the draw between Manchester United and Bayern Munich. On the second game Boavista was smashed 3-0 by Manchester United at the Old Trafford but they managed to draw 0-0 at home against Bayern Munich, even though at the end of the game it felt like more could be done against the Germans. As they entered they second leg of the group, Boavista was only one point away from the qualification zone, but that changed when they went to Munich and lost by 1-0, Manchester won 5-1 against Nantes, so they had two more games and 4 points to win over the group leaders. They went to France and draw and then, once again, were defeated by United again to a 3-0 score, this time at home. Although they didn't go through, they were the remaining Portuguese team on the European competitions and had the best International result among the Portuguese that year. In the 2002/2003 UEFA Cup Boavista also knocked out Israeli giants Maccabi Haifa F.C., German giants Hertha BSC Berlin and Paris Saint-Germain in a very tense game that came close to being stopped due to massive riots which involved many Boavista fans being arrested , but unfortunately they would lose to eventual finalists Celtic FC at the Estadio do Bessa in the Semis. Fierce rivals FC Porto won the title. The football side has reputation in Portugal and for many teams they oppose in UEFA competitions for its aggressive style, playing with very much determination, and, because of this, resulting always in hard-fought matches for their opponent team, even in defeats. With this, Boavista were a very hard-working team, and the main example is the Portuguese title, where the team was the one with less goals against, and being one of the best attacks of the championship. The good defense play was a key factor for the title win, as well as European marvelous campaigns, mainly under the guidance of Jaime Pacheco. After the UEFA Cup semi-final run, the team started to play a less attractive football, which kept for the next two years. This image started to change when Jaime Pacheco was replaced by Carlos Brito for the 2005-2006 season, but later Jaime Pacheco came back to substitute Jesualdo Ferreira and that reputation caught back with the club. Boavista main rival is FC Porto. The matches between the two teams are pretty aggressive, especially when played at Estádio do Bessa. Boavista also has an intense rivalry with Belenenses and Vitória Guimarães. The games between the teams often have problems inside or outside the field. The women's team is one of the strongest, having won several titles in a row during the 90's.

Estadio Do Bessa

outside photo

The Estádio do Bessa (now Estádio do Bessa XXI) is a football stadium located in the Boavista area of Porto, Portugal, used by Boavista FC. Like other stadiums used in Euro 2004, the Bessa Stadium is a new ground, but built on top of the old stands, and each one of them was built at a different time, allowing Boavista to continue playing there. It cost €45'164'726 to build, from which €7'785'735 were supported from the Portuguese state, and has an all-seater capacity of 28'263. 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 Grupo3 arquitectura. The Estádio do Bessa has also seen its fair share of Managers. In August 2006, Jesualdo Ferreira left for main rivals FC Porto, hurting many Boavista fans. Former Yugoslavian International Željko Petrović became coach in August 2006, only to resign on 22 October, following a string of bad results, culminating in a 4-0 home defeat at the hands of Nacional da Madeira. He was replaced the next day by Jaime Pacheco, who returns for a third sting as the club's manager. As the team hopes' of reaching the UEFA Cup were almost over, and it is expected that Jaime Pacheco stays in Boavista ( as Pacheco admitted that there were less chances of making something in the current season, the club has started to sign some players, and to secure the current ones) to prepare the club and try to make a competitive team for the next season (2007-2008), in which Boavista will again try to reach the UEFA Cup. It was speculated that the club would try to participate in this year's Intertoto cup, in order to try the qualification for the UEFA Cup.

The Sanchez years

Erwin Sánchez is considered to be Boavista F.C.s most influential player of the last 15 years, after captaining the team to the Semi-finals of the UEFA Cup where Boavista nearly knocked out Scottish giants Celtic, only failing to do so thanks to a Henrik Larsson goal. He is also one of Bolivia's football living legends. A midfielder, he was a leading player for Bolivia both in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifyings and finals. He was also part of the Boavista squad that became 2000/2001 Portuguese Superliga Champions. Sanchez left the club in March of 2004, after a brief and unsuccessful spell as manager. He was also known, as a player, because of his deadly, powerful and very accurate shots, especially in free kick situation.

The Portuguese Title

On 18 May 2001, Boavista beat Desportivo das Aves 3-0 and celebrated its first Portuguese Football Title in the club's almost 100-year history. It was a tremendous event in a country completely dominated by the The Big Three, FC Porto/Benfica/Sporting. In fact, this was the culmination of a brilliant work by chairman Loureiro and manager Pacheco, which had made the club an assiduous presence on the top of the table. The following year, 2001/02, Boavista continued to dominate Portuguese football, and although they lost the title to Sporting CP in the final matches, they were the most successful Portuguese club in European competition. Boavista beat Borussia Dortmund and Dinamo Kiev in the first group phase of the Champions League, being eliminated later by Euro giants Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Still, such heights were a dream come true to a small Porto club, with a relatively small supporter base. In 2003, Boavista surprised Europe once again, by reaching the Uefa Cup semi-finals, after knocking out clubs like PSG, Hertha Berlin and Málaga. On this occasion, it was thought that for the first time in the history of an European competition, two teams from the same city would play in a final. A late goal by Celtic's Swedish striker Henrik Larsson ended the dream of a European final for Boavista. Ironically, the Scottish team would go on to lose the cup to Boavista's arch-rivals FC Porto in the final.

Later Years and Major Difficulties

2003 marked the latest appearance on the spotlight by the club. The construction of the Estadio do Bessa XXI left a deep hole on the club's finances, and the inability to hire quality players, together with internal turmoil contributed to the fall of the club. Today, after three consecutive failures to achieve European competition, Boavista is living through a deep crisis. Nonetheless, the club remains competitive and even managed to humiliate giants Benfica, by winning 3-0, last September. Also in April of 2007 Boavista defeated their rivals F.C Porto 2-1. Jaime Pacheco returned in October, for a third stint as Boavista manager, but the club hasn't managed to leave the second half of the table. The financial crisis has prompted the club to a "back-to-basis" attitude, betting on younger players and resurrecting the club's youth academy. This season, Hugo Monteiro and Nuno Pinto are set to shine, in a club that launched the careers of well-known players as João Pinto, Petit and Nuno Gomes. However the re-hiring of Jaime Pacheco as a manager, who prefers aggressive playing systems, which leave little chances for technique players, was not well-seen by the fans. This frequent hiring of Pacheco is due to him being the manager of the 2000-01 title and of the great European campaigns.

Current Squad

No. Position Player 2 DF Leonardo Tambussi 3 DF Ricardo Silva 4 MF Bruno Pinheiro 5 MF Oladapo Olufemi 6 MF David Fleurival 7 DF Luciano Rissutt 8 DF Moisés 9 FW Faye Fary 11 MF Rafał Grzelak 13 GK Carlos 14 FW Laionel 16 DF Jorge Ribeiro 18 FW Mateus MF Luís Loureiro

No. Position Player 20 FW Edgar 23 FW Hugo Monteiro 25 MF Guy Essame 30 DF Mário Silva 33 DF Marcelão 37 DF Gilberto Silva 71 GK Ricardo Neves 77 FW Iván Santos 82 GK Peter Jehle 88 MF Zé Kalanga 99 FW Sambegou Bangoura 27 MF Pedro Moreira 15 MF Mourtala Diakité 15 DF Brayan Angulo

Squad Changes during 2007/08 season

In:

• Carlos - from FC Steaua Bucureşti
• Milan Gajic - from FK Napredak Krusevac
• Miloš Bosančić - from Partizan Belgrade
• Edgar - from Málaga CF
• Laionel - from Vila Nova Goiás
• David Fleurival - from Tours FC
• Luciano Rissutt - from Vitória S.C.
• Mourtala Diakité - from S.C. Beira-Mar
• Marcelão - from Vila Nova Goiás
• Oladapo Olufemi - from R.S.C. Anderlecht
• Sambegou Bangoura - from Stoke City FC
• Mateus - from Gil Vicente F.C.
• Moisés - from Flamengo
• Jorge Ribeiro - from C.D. Aves
• Zé Kalanga - on loan from F.C. Dinamo Bucureşti

Out:

• Khalifa Cissé - to Reading
• Zé Manel - to S.C. Braga
• Hélder Rosário - to Málaga CF
• Lucas - to Crvena Zvezda
• Tiago - to U.D. Leiria
• William Andem - to C.D. Feirense
• Ricardo Sousa - to Omonia Nicosia
• Fernando Dinis - to Trofense
• Marcos Antônio - to Trofense
• Adriano Bessa - to Trofense
• Paulo Sousa - to Trofense
• Przemysław Kaźmierczak - to FC Porto
• António Livramento - Released
• Roland Linz - to S.C. Braga
• Marquinho - to Vasco

League and Cup History

The club has 50 presences at the top level of Portuguese football, including all seasons since 1969/1970. It also won 5 Portuguese Cups and was runner-up only once, and won 3 SuperCups (1978/1979 [unofficial]; 1991/1992; 1996/1997), including the very first edition of the tournament.

Official Song

Boavista Futebol Clube (or commonly known as 'Boavista FC) fans are very passionate about the club. The club anthem talks about how loyal Boavista fans are in the thick and thin situations. Hino do Boavista Boavista, Boavista, É do Porto muito amado; Tem distintivo bairrista Preto e branco axadrezado. E no estádio a multidão, Quando ele entra na pista, Rompe nesta saudação: Boavista! ... Boavista! ... Luta sempre com vigor, É brioso e é leal; No prélio põe todo o ardor De princípio até final; No seu vibrar sempre amigo, No seu porte sem igual, Ama o estandarte querido, Prestígio de Portugal! Vamos em frente Pela bandeira Vê-la fulgente E altaneira, Ser desportista Puro Ideal, P' lo Boavista! ... Arraial, arraial, arraial!

Famous Players

See also

• Boavista (cycling team)
• Boavista (futsal)

External links

• Official Site (in Portuguese)
• (Current Squad)
• Unofficial Site - HdBFC (in Portuguese)

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