History
Gil Vicente Futebol Clube was founded on 3 May 1924, after the creation of other clubs in Barcelos, such as Barcelos Sporting Club and União Football Club Barcelense. The idea to found a new club came from a group of friends that every afternoon played football near the city's theater, named Gil Vicente, after the Portuguese playwright. The initial name for the team was Gil Vicente Football Barcelense.
The first struggles of the young team were mainly about finding a pitch to play. Back then, the team would play in the Campo da Estação, which belonged to another club, Triunfo Sport Club. On 3 May 1933, Gil Vicente played in its first field, Campo da Granja, with a capacity for 5,012 spectators, and later renamed Adelino Ribeiro Novo, after a Gil Vicente goalkeeper who died there during a match on 16 September 1946.
The team first got promoted to the top Portuguese division, then called First Division in 1990. In 1997, it got relegated to the Liga de Honra and came back two years later by winning it. The best position was in the first year back in the Liga, when it finished fifth, led by manager Álvaro Magalhães, a former Benfica player.
Gil Vicente played in the Estádio Adelino Ribeiro Novo until the 2003–04 season. From 2004–05 on, the team plays in the new Estádio Cidade de Barcelos. Estádio Adelino Ribeiro Novo is now used by the young squads of the club. The new stadium, with a capacity of 12,374, belongs to the municipality and received two UEFA Under-21 European Championship 2006 matches: Serbia and Montenegro 0–1 Germany and Portugal 0–2 Serbia and Montenegro .
In the 2005-06 Primeira Liga, Gil Vicente fielded an ineligible player being Angolan forward Mateus. Due to this Gil Vicente lost the right to participate in the 2006-07 Primeira Liga which as a result Belenenses remained in the league as a result of the Mateus Affair. Gil Vicente were accused by the special sports instances that rule Portuguese football of illegally resorting to regular courts on the dispute of Mateus, according to Gil Vicente, illegal contract with his former employer, F.C. Lixa.
Still convinced this is not a sports-related case but rather work-related, Gil Vicente continued in the courts. Along with the relegation, they were also suspended from the Cup of Portugal for one season. Two of the youth teams were also affected by this decision didn't play there respective league games.
Gil Vicente tried different colours in their kits. Initially, the shirts were red, then green and white with horizontal stripes. Later came yellow and red (colours of the town) and then blue. In the recent years, Gil Vicente alternates between red and blue. In May 2011 the club won its second major trophy the Liga de Honra on the last matchday in a record home attendance against C.D. Fátima in a 3-1 home win thus gaining promotion to the top flight. There key players for winning the championship were Hugo Vieira and Cape Verdean striker Zé Luís.
Read more about this topic: Gil Vicente F.C.
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