08:29:58 Tuesday, 19th March

Boavista Futebol Clube is based in the Boavista area of Porto. This club is very well known for its professional football team, but it also has other types of sport. In total there are 16 sports, both professional and amateur, most notably football, of course, but also cycling, chess and boccia.

This club has around 24 thousand members and currently plays in the First Division. It was one of the first Portuguese clubs to play football (a sport that came here through the English, due to the economic and cultural connections between the British community and Portugal) and was later the first to have professional teams. History tells us that it was actually a group of Englishmen, together with some Portuguese, that formed The Boavista Footballers.

The club’s greatest achievement was winning the 2000/2001 Portuguese Football Championship. Boavista has also already won five Portugal Cups and three Portugal Super Cups, and is the fourth Portuguese club with the most national football titles. This club also comes in fourth place regarding Portuguese clubs in the European football championships, as it has already been in the Champions League twice.

Boavista FC's stadium is Estádio do Bessa Século XXI, which was completely remodelled for the Euro 2004. This stadium is situated in the centre of Porto and was designed so that it could also be used for purposes other than football, such as shows.

In 2012, the club had serious financial problems, with a lot of outstanding debt. Due to collection from creditors, Boavista was out of the First Division, due to lack of financial means and only came back to the main level during the 2014/2015 season, when the current chairman, João Loureiro, returned as leader of the club. The 'boavisteiros' (Boavista fans) assure us that the chairman's return helped to confirm, in fairness, the right to be back where it belongs and from where, according to the fans, it should never have left...

This club also has a museum, which is inside the Bessa stadium (Estádio do Bessa Século XXI). You must make a prior booking in order to visit the museum. Apart from the trophies won in different championships, there is also information on other sports, such as chess, boxing, volleyball and handball. You'll also find references here to other personalities that were landmarks in the club's history, such as the club's former chairman, Major Valentim Loureiro, or the ex--Boavista player and Portuguese international, João Vieira Pinto.