C.F. Os Belenenses Explained

Clubname:	Os Belenenses
Fullname:	Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses
Nickname:	O Belém (Bethlehem) Os Azuis do Restelo (The Blues from Restelo) Pastéis (Pastries) A Cruz de Cristo (The Cross of Christ)
Ground:	Estádio do Restelo
Capacity:	19,856^[1]
Chrtitle:	President
Chairman:	Patrick Morais de Carvalho
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Vasco Faísca
League:	Liga Portugal 3
Season:	2023–24
Position:	Liga 2 18th, of 18 (relegated)
Website:	http://www.osbelenenses.com/
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Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (pronounced as /pt/) or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856-seat Estádio do Restelo in Belém, Lisbon, hence the club name, which translates as "The ones from Belém". Among its fanbase, the club is commonly nicknamed O Belém, in reference to the neighborhood; Os Pastéis (The Pastries), in reference to a traditional Portuguese pastry originated in Belém; Azuis (Blues) or Azuis do Restelo (The Blues from Restelo), in reference to the club's color and its home stadium; and A Cruz de Cristo (The Order of Christ Cross), for its emblem, or also "Os Rapazes da Praia" (The Boys of the Beach), a reference to the zone of Belém in the earlier 20th century.

Belenenses won the 1945–46 Primeira Liga, making them the first club other than the Big Three to win the league title. Belenenses has also won six Championship of Portugal/Portuguese Cup trophies, and is the fifth most decorated team in Portuguese football. It is also the fourth club with the most podium finishes, with a total of 19 presences in the three first places.

Until 1982, Belenenses was one of four teams that had never been relegated from the first division. Nowadays, it is the team with the fourth most seasons in the Primeira Liga as well as the team with the fifth most points in the championship's history.^[2]

Belenenses was the first Portuguese team with a turf pitch and artificial lighting, and was also the first Portuguese club to participate in the UEFA Europa League.

The main sports of the club are football, handball, basketball, futsal, athletics, and rugby union. The club has won national championships in all these sports, but it remains best known for football, its original activity. In the club's history, Belenenses has won more than 10,000 trophies, including the first divisions of football, handball, basketball, rugby, and the Portuguese Cup in football and futsal, among other sports.

History

Early years

Founded in 1919, Belenenses reached their first Campeonato final in 1926, losing 2–0 to Marítimo, and won the title the next season with a 3–0 win over Vitória de Setúbal and winning a second championship in 1929. The club lost the 1932 title to Porto 2–1 in a replay after a 4–4 draw. The club won its third and final Campeonato in 1933 after defeating Sporting CP 3–1.^[3] With three Campeonato wins, Belenenses was one of Portugal's "Big Four".

At this time, José Manuel Soares (Pepe), one of the first idols of Portuguese football, stood out. His story began in a match against Benfica in which, with 15 minutes to go, Belenenses were losing 4–1, but the club managed to draw level at 4-4. In the final minutes of the match, Belenenses had a penalty in their favor, and Pepe, who was making his debut, didn't flinch and made the score 4–5 in favor of "The Boys of the Beach". Unfortunately, Pepe died prematurely at the age of 23, accidentally poisoned by his mother. In his memory, Belenenses erected a mausoleum at the Restelo stadium, where Porto, whenever they play there, lay a wreath in honor of the player, in one of the oldest traditions in Portuguese football.

League champions

The club won its only Primeira Liga title in 1945–46, edging Benfica by one point,^[4] the first time that a club outside the Big Three won the title. On 14 December 1947, they were the first team to face Real Madrid at their newly inaugurated Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (then called the Nuevo Estadio Chamartín) in a friendly match won 3–1 by Madrid.^[5]

The club were runners-up in the league in the 1954–55 season, level on 39 points with Benfica, losing the title just four minutes from the end with a draw against Sporting. The following year, Belenenses moved to the Estadio do Restelo, which involved a large investment and the sale of the best players, resulting in quality diminishing.^[6] It was not until 1973 that Belenenses finished as runners-up again, 18 points behind Benfica, and they never have since.^[7]

European forays

Belenenses were the first club to compete in the UEFA Cup in a two-legged 3–3 draw with Hibernian at the Estádio do Restelo in Belém.

The club has also played in the European Cup Winners' Cup. In the 1987–88 UEFA Cup, the club played Barcelona. In the first leg, they lost 2–0 in the Camp Nou, winning 1–0 at the Estádio do Restelo with Mapuata scoring, coached by Marinho Peres, a former Barcelona player. Belenenses won their sixth (and to date last) Taça de Portugal on 28 May 1989, defeating Benfica 2–1.^[8] Also that season, they knocked out the holders Bayer Leverkusen from the Cup Winners' Cup.

Downfall and recovery

Belenenses were relegated from the Primeira Liga for the first time in 1981–82, and have been relegated three other times since then.

21st century

The 2005–06 season saw Belenenses finishing fourth from bottom, which would mean relegation for the team. However, as Gil Vicente had fielded an ineligible player that season, Belenenses won a subsequent appeal which saw them remain in the top division with Gil Vincente being relegated instead.^[9]

On 27 May 2007, coached by Jorge Jesus, Belenenses reached their first Taça de Portugal final since their 1989 triumph, but were defeated 1–0 by Sporting CP.^[10]

Cabral Ferreira, who served as club president of Belenenses from 2005 until 2008, died on 26 February 2008 after a long illness.^[11] Belenenses were relegated in 2010 to the Segunda Liga, but secured promotion back to the Primeira Liga in March 2013, their longest stint out of the top division, with a record breaking score of 96 points.

During the 2014–15 season, Belenenses finished the championship in sixth place, thereby returning to European competition, qualifying for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

They reached the group stage of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League after eliminating IFK Göteborg (2–1 on aggregate) and Rheindorf Altach (1–0 on aggregate). They finished fourth and last in their group, recording a surprising 2–1 away win against Basel, but drawing 0–0 twice against Lech Poznań, losing the return match against Basel, and losing both matches to Fiorentina.

Club split

At the end of 2017–18 season, CF Os Belenenses (club) and Belenenses SAD went their separate ways, as the "Protocol on the use of Estádio do Restelo" ended and the SAD refused to negotiate a new contract with the club. So from the 2018–19 season, Belenenses SAD (the professional team) play their Primeira Liga home games at Estádio Nacional, whereas CF Os Belenenses registered an amateur team in 1ª Divisão Distrital de Lisboa, the equivalent to the Sixth Division (lowest Portuguese division), with the support of the majority of fans and club members.

As a consequence, Belenenses SAD was legally forbidden from using Belenenses' logo and name and now uses a new logo (along with being renamed to B-SAD after the 2021–22 season).^[12] In the first games of the season, the professional team saw home attendances of only a few hundred, whereas the new, amateur team saw home attendances of approximately 5,000, reversing a long decline in attendance figures.^[13]

Since then, Belenenses have climbed up the division five times in a row, until they reach professional competition again in 2023, equaling the world record. Belenenses' first win in professional competition came at Tondela, in a game they won 1-0 and the scorer was André Serra, the only player in the squad to have made the whole journey with the club from the bottom of the Portuguese football.

Honours

Domestic

Primeira Liga

Winners (1): 1945–46

Taça de Portugal

Winners (3): 1941–42, 1959–60, 1988–89

Runners-up (5): 1939–40, 1940–41, 1947–48, 1985–86, 2006–07

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Runners-up (1): 1989

Campeonato de Portugal^[14]

Winners (3): 1926–27, 1928–29, 1932–33

Runners-up (3): 1925–26, 1931–32, 1935–36

Segunda Divisão / Segunda Liga

Winners (2): 1983–84, 2012–13

Lisbon FA 1ª Divisão

Winners (2): 2018–19 (3rd tier), 2020–21 (1st tier)

Lisbon Championship

Winners (6): 1925–26, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1931–32, 1943–44, 1945–46

European

Intertoto Cup

Winners (1): 1975

League and cup history

Season	League	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	League Cup	Europe		Notes
1934–35	CL	4	14	8	2	4	45	20	18	Quarter-final				The cup competition played in Portugal was still the Portuguese Championship, while the league worked as an experimental competition.
1935–36	CL	4	14	7	3	4	28	22	17	Final
1936–37	CL	2	14	11	1	2	46	17	23	Quarter-final
1937–38	CL	5	14	5	0	9	29	28	10	Quarter-final
1938–39	1D	4	14	6	1	7	38	29	13	Quarter-final				First season of both the Portuguese Cup and Primeira Liga.
1939–40	1D	3	18	11	3	4	58	21	25	Final
1940–41	1D	3	14	9	1	4	59	22	19	Final
1941–42	1D	3	22	12	6	4	66	32	30	bgcolor=gold	Winners
1942–43	1D	3	18	14	0	4	78	20	28	Quarter-final
1943–44	1D	6	18	9	3	6	41	32	21	Quarter-final
1944–45	1D	3	18	13	1	4	72	29	27	Quarter-final
1945–46	1D	1	22	18	2	2	74	24	38	Last 16				Only League title
1946–47	1D	4	26	14	5	7	66	31	33	Not held
1947–48	1D	3	26	16	5	5	76	30	37	Final
1948–49	1D	3	26	16	3	7	68	36	35	Last 16
1949–50	1D	4	26	10	7	9	36	41	27	Not held
1950–51	1D	9	26	10	4	12	45	48	24	Semi-final
1951–52	1D	4	26	14	8	4	60	28	36	Quarter-final
1952–53	1D	3	26	15	6	5	60	29	36	Last 16
1953–54	1D	4	26	13	5	8	43	39	31	Semi-final
1954–55	1D	2	26	17	5	4	63	28	39	Quarter-final		Lat	4th place
1955–56	1D	3	26	16	5	5	67	25	37	Semi-final
1956–57	1D	3	26	13	7	6	74	50	33	Last 16
1957–58	1D	4	26	12	4	10	54	42	28	Last 16
1958–59	1D	3	26	16	6	4	65	27	38	Quarter-final
1959–60	1D	3	26	15	6	5	58	25	36	bgcolor=gold	Winners
1960–61	1D	5	26	12	4	10	45	37	28	Semi-final
1961–62	1D	5	26	12	7	7	51	35	31	Semi-final		FC	1st round
1962–63	1D	4	26	16	4	6	47	30	36	Semi-final		FC	1st round
1963–64	1D	6	26	12	6	8	46	36	30	Semi-final		FC	2nd round
1964–65	1D	8	26	12	2	12	39	40	26	Quarter-final		FC	1st round
1965–66	1D	7	26	9	7	10	28	29	25	2nd round
1966–67	1D	11	26	7	6	13	26	34	20	3rd round
1967–68	1D	7	26	10	5	11	38	40	25	Quarter-final
1968–69	1D	8	26	8	10	8	31	33	26	Quarter-final
1969–70	1D	7	26	9	5	12	23	34	23	Semi-final
1970–71	1D	7	26	7	8	11	20	27	22	Quarter-final
1971–72	1D	7	30	11	7	12	35	33	29	Semi-final
1972–73	1D	2	30	14	12	4	53	30	40	Last 32
1973–74	1D	5	30	17	6	7	56	34	40	Last 16		UC	1st round
1974–75	1D	6	30	14	7	9	45	37	35	Semi-final
1975–76	1D	3	30	16	8	6	45	28	40	Last 16		IC	GC
1976–77	1D	10	30	7	12	11	29	40	26	2nd round		IC UC	2nd Gr 1st round
1977–78	1D	5	30	14	8	8	25	21	36	Last 32
1978–79	1D	8	30	10	9	11	47	43	29	Last 16
1979–80	1D	5	30	13	8	9	33	38	34	Last 16
1980–81	1D	11	30	8	10	12	24	39	26	Semi-final
1981–82	1D	15	30	5	10	15	28	48	20	Last 16				relegated
1982–83	2D.S	4	30	12	10	8	35	19	34	Last 64
1983–84	2D.S	1	30	18	8	4	49	13	44	Last 16				promoted
1984–85	1D	6	30	11	8	11	40	46	30	Last 64
1985–86	1D	8	30	7	14	9	27	30	28	Final
1986–87	1D	6	30	13	4	13	52	40	30	Last 64
1987–88	1D	3	38	18	12	8	52	38	48	Last 128		UC	1st round
1988–89	1D	7	38	13	14	11	44	35	40	bgcolor=gold	Winners		UC	2nd round
1989–90	1D	6	34	16	4	14	32	33	36	Semi-final		CWC	1st round
1990–91	1D	19	38	10	9	19	27	38	29	Last 64				relegated
1991–92	2H	2	34	19	10	5	53	25	48	5th round				promoted
1992–93	1D	7	34	11	12	11	42	40	34	6th round
1993–94	1D	13	34	12	6	16	39	51	30	Quarter-final
1994–95	1D	12	34	10	7	17	30	39	27	4th round
1995–96	1D	6	34	14	9	1	53	33	51	6th round
1996–97	1D	13	34	10	10	14	37	50	40	5th round
1997–98	1D	18	34	5	9	20	22	52	24	4th round				relegated
1998–99	2H	2	34	17	10	7	55	28	61	3rd round				promoted
1999–00	1D	12	34	9	13	12	36	38	40	4th round
2000–01	1D	7	34	14	10	10	43	36	52	5th round
2001–02	1D	5	34	17	6	11	54	44	57	6th round
2002–03	1D	9	34	11	10	13	47	48	43	5th round		IC	2nd round
2003–04	1D	15	34	8	11	15	35	54	35	Semi-final
2004–05	1D	9	34	13	7	14	38	34	46	Quarter-final
2005–06	1D	15	34	11	6	17	40	42	39	4th round
2006–07	1D	5	30	15	4	11	36	29	49	Final
2007–08	1D	8	30	11	10	9	35	33	40	4th round	Last 16	UC	1st round	3 points deducted; Taça da Liga 1st edition
2008–09	1D	15	30	5	9	16	28	52	24	Last 32	Group stage 2
2009–10	1D	15	30	4	11	15	23	44	23	Last 16	Group stage 1			relegated
2010–11	2H	13	30	8	11	11	33	36	35	Last 64	Group stage 1
2011–12	2H	5	30	10	11	9	34	32	41	Last 16	1st round
2012–13	2H	1	42	29	7	6	75	41	94	Semi-final	Group stage 1			Promoted; Liga 2 champions
2013–14	1D	14	30	6	10	14	19	33	28	Last 64	Group stage 2
2014–15	1D	6	34	12	12	10	34	35	48	Quarter final	Group stage 2
2015–16	1D	9	34	10	11	13	44	66	41	Last 32	Group stage	EL	Group stage
2016–17	1D	14	34	9	9	16	27	45	36	Last 64	Group stage
2017–18	1D	12	34	9	10	15	33	46	37	Last 64	Group stage			Separation from Belenenses SAD
2018–19	L.1D	1	30	27	1	2	143	17	82	Did not compete	Did not compete			Promoted; won group 2 of the Lisbon FA 1st Division and then became overall champions
2019–20	L.2D	1	20	18	0	2	62	16	54	Did not compete	Did not compete			Promoted; league was concluded at 20 games due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	L.1D	1	18	15	2	1	38	10	47	Did not compete	Did not compete			Promoted; Lisbon FA 1st Division champions
2021–22	CP	1	18	10	3	5	25	12	33	Last 64	Did not compete			Group E of Campeonato de Portugal
2021–22	CP	3	10	4	4	2	17	9	16	Last 64	Did not compete			South Zone promotion play-off; promoted to Liga 3 due to Cova da Piedade's registration failure
2022–23	L3	4	22	10	5	7	38	27	35	Third round	Did not compete			promoted to Liga Portugal 2 via promotion play-off
2023–24	2D										Did not compete

CL=Campeonato da Liga (winners weren't considered Portuguese champions);
1D=First Division/League
2D=Second Division/League;
2H=Liga de Honra
CWC=Cup Winners' Cup;
UC=UEFA Cup
FC=Fairs Cup;
LAT=Latin Cup;
IC=Intertoto Cup
CP=Campeonato de Portugal (4th tier of Portuguese football);
L.1D=Lisbon FA 1st Division (Lisbon's 3rd level in 2018-19 and 1st level in 2020–21);
L.2D=Lisbon FA 2st Division (Lisbon's 2nd level in 2019–20);
L3=Liga 3

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1961–62	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Hibernian	1–3	3–3	4–6
1962–63	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Barcelona	1–1	1–1	2–2¹
1963–64	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Tresnjevka Zagreb	2–0	2–1	4–1
1963–64	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	2R	Roma	0–1	1–2	1–3
1964–65	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1R	Shelbourne	1–1	0–0	1–1²
1973–74	UEFA Cup	1R	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–2	1–2	1–4
1976–77	UEFA Cup	1R	Barcelona	2–2	2–3	4–5
1987–88	UEFA Cup	1R	Barcelona	1–0	0–2	1–2
1988–89	UEFA Cup	1R	Bayer Leverkusen	1–0	1–0	2–0
1988–89	UEFA Cup	2R	Velež Mostar	0–0	0–0	0–0³
1989–90	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Monaco	1–1	0–3	1–4
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1R	Bayern Munich	0–2	0–1	0–3
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	3Q	IFK Göteborg	2–1	0–0	2–1
		PO	Rheindorf Altach	0–0	1–0	1–0
		Group I	Basel	0–2	2–1	4th place
			Fiorentina	0–4	0–1
			Lech Poznań	0–0	0–0

Notes

1R: First round
2R: Second round
3Q: Third qualifying round
PO: Play-off round

¹ Barcelona progressed to the second round after winning a play-off match 3–2.
² Shelbourne progressed to the second round after winning a play-off match 2–1.
³ Velež Mostar progressed to the third round after winning a penalty shoot-out 4–3.