Boavista F.C. - History

History

Internally, Boavista grew from a minor team in the 1970s to a regular fixture in Europe. Their first "threat" to the league title domination by The Big Three was in 1975–76 under the guidance of José Maria Pedroto, when Boavista finished second, achieving the same position again in 1998–99. Finally, in 2000–01, Boavista won the national championship after beating Desportivo das Aves 3–0, on 18 May. The following season saw them finish second to Sporting Clube de Portugal.

In Europe, Boavista have achieved some success, and are referred to as 'the club with the strange shirts'. The highlight was their brilliant UEFA Cup run in 2002–03, when they were knocked out by Celtic in the semi-finals, just one match from what could have been an all-Portuguese and indeed all-Porto final, with F.C. Porto ultimately lifting the trophy. Boavista enjoyed several other high points in the same competition, including the elimination of Atlético Madrid 5–4 in the first round in 1981–82. In 1986–87, Boavista beat ACF Fiorentina but lost to Rangers in a tense second round match at Ibrox Stadium. In 1991–92, they knocked out F.C. Internazionale Milano 2–1 in the first round and, two seasons later, made it to the quarter-finals after knocking out Greek outfit OFI Crete and S.S. Lazio of Italy.

Boavista qualified twice for the UEFA Champions League. In 1999–2000, they finished bottom of their group, thus being eliminated, but, two seasons later, sprang surprise by beating and knocking out German giants Borussia Dortmund in the initial group stages, advancing to the next round with Liverpool. There, "The Panthers" met with stronger challenges like Manchester United and FC Bayern Munich. With their financial objective already met, new horizons opened up for the team as they began their group by surprising FC Nantes at home by winning 1–0, and went to the top of the group after the draw between Manchester United and Bayern Munich, eventually finishing a respectable third.

Boavista has a reputation in Portugal and, to some extent abroad, as an attacking team, playing hard-fought matches, even in defeat. One shining example of this is the 2001 Portuguese title, where the team was the best defense in terms of goals conceded, at the same time having one of the best attacks of the competition. It was only the second time a team other than the Big Three managed to win the title. The other was C.F. Os Belenenses back in the 1945–46 season. This style was mainly the brainchild of coach Jaime Pacheco. With his departure for RCD Mallorca in 2003, the team started to play less attractive football over the next two years. This image started to change when Pacheco was replaced by Carlos Brito for 2005–06 but, ironically, Pacheco came back to replace sacked Željko Petrović in October 2006, who in turn was a late replacement for Porto-bound Jesualdo Ferreira, who departed before the first matchday.

The women's team is one of the strongest in Portugal, having won several titles in a row during the 1990s.