Futebol Clube do Porto is a Portuguese sports club based in Porto, which is best known for the professional association football team that plays in the country's top-tier league, the Primeira Liga. The club was founded on 1893 but the football team only played its first competitive match in 1911, when it took part and won the first José Monteiro da Costa Cup.[1] Two years later, Porto began competing in the Campeonato do Porto, a regional championship that was held every season until its discontinuation in 1947.[2] As regional champions in 1921–22, Porto qualified for the inaugural season of the Campeonato de Portugal, the first national football championship, which they won after beating Lisbon rivals Sporting CP.[3]
In 1938–39, the Campeonato de Portugal was superseded by the Primeira Liga[a], the highest level of a two-tier league competition that had been contested since 1934–35.[3] Porto is one of three clubs that have never been relegated from the Primeira Liga, and have taken part in every edition since its establishment.[4] Between 1940 and 1978, the club endured the darkest period of its history, during which it won only two league titles.[5] Since president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa took office in 1982, Porto have experienced consistent success, winning the league title 20 times in 32 seasons – five of them successively (1994–95 to 1998–99), a record in Portuguese football.[5] Internationally, they won their first silverware in 1987, after beating Bayern Munich in the European Cup final,[6] and have since collected a further six continental and intercontinental trophies.[7]
As of the end of 2014–15 season, Porto have played 105 competitive seasons, 81 of which consecutively in the top flight of the Portuguese football league system. The 2010–11 season was the club's most successful, as the team won four titles, including the league, in which they were unbeaten for the first time.[8] In contrast, the worst season was in 1969–70, when they did not win any competition and ended the league in ninth place out of 14 teams.[9] Porto achieved the league and cup double seven times,[10] and in three of them added at least one international trophy. Mário Jardel was Porto's most prolific goalscorer in a single season, with a total of 56 goals in 1999–2000, which included a Bola de Prata-winning 38 league goals. Overall, Fernando Gomes was the club's top scorer in 11 seasons, six of which consecutively from 1982–83 to 1987–88. In the 1984–85 season, Gomes scored a club record 39 league goals, for which he received his second European Golden Shoe.
- ^ Martins, Paulo; Nunes, João (26 June 2004). "Taça José Monteiro da Costa". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ Martins, Paulo; Nunes, João (26 June 2004). "Portugal – Regional championships". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
- ^ a b c Claro, Paulo (4 November 2011). "Campeonato de Portugal 1921–1938". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel (21 April 2011). "Coventric!". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
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- ^ "Honours". FC Porto. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
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