S.L. Benfica History

Welcome to Sportmob's article about Benfica Club history. Sport Lisboa e Benfica, or simply Benfica, is a professional football club headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, that participates in the Primeira Liga, Portugal's top division. Benfica, founded as Sport Lisboa on February 28, 1904, is one of the "Big Three" teams in Portugal that have never been relegated from the Primeira Liga, along with rivals Sporting CP and FC Porto.

Benfica is known as As Guias (The Eagles) because of the insignia on the club's crest, and Os Encarnados (The Reds) because of their shirt color. Since 2003, they have played in the Estádio da Luz, which replaced the bigger, older stadium, which was erected in 1954.

With over 250,000 members and an estimated 14 million supporters globally, Benfica is the most supported Portuguese club and the European team with the biggest percentage of followers in its nation. "Ser Benfiquista," the club's hymn, alludes to Benfica fans, who are known as benfiquistas. The club slogan is "E pluribus unum," and the mascot is Guia Vitória.

Benfica has received the Portuguese Orders of Christ, Prince Henry, and Merit.

is the most decorated club in Portugal, having won 83 major trophies — 84 if the Latin Cup is included. They have won a record 37 Primeira Liga championships, a record 26 Taça de Portugal, a record 7 Taça da Liga, 8 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, and three Campeonato de Portugal.

Internationally, they won back-to-back European Cups in 1961 and 1962, a record in Portuguese football, and were runners-up in the Intercontinental Cup in 1961 and 1962, the European Cup in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1988, and 1990, and the UEFA Cup/Europa League in 1983, 2013 and 2014. In 2014, Benfica had 10 European finals, a local record, and placed seventh all-time among UEFA clubs. Before we start to get into the real deal of our Benfica Club history, we will read some basic info. So...

Benfica Club history, one of the "Big Three"

Benfica was chosen 12th in the FIFA Club of the Century and 9th in the IFFHS Top 200 European clubs of the twentieth century. Benfica is ranked eighth in UEFA's all-time club ranking and 24th in the club coefficient rankings at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Benfica currently has the second most participation in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, a tournament in which they hold the overall record for the largest aggregate win, set in 1965–66. Furthermore, Benfica holds the European record for the most consecutive domestic league wins, as well as the record for the longest unbroken run in the Primeira Liga, when they became the first undefeated champions in 1972–73. Now, let's talk about the club's birth in the next part of 

Benfica Club history

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The birth of Benfica

On February 28, 1904, following a football training session that day, the Catataus Group and members of Associaço do Bem convened at Farmácia Franco on Rua Direita de Belém with the intention of founding Sport Lisboa, a social and cultural football club comprised solely of Portuguese players.

The meeting was attended by twenty-four persons, including Cosme Damio. José Rosa Rodrigues was elected club president at the meeting, along with Daniel dos Santos Brito as secretary and Manuel Gourlade as treasurer. The founders settled on red and white as the club's colors, and an eagle, the slogan "E Pluribus Unum," and a football for the club's symbol.

On January 1, 1905, Sport Lisboa played their first-ever match, scoring their first goal. Despite significant triumphs, the team struggled from terrible operational circumstances, including the Terras do Desembargador football dirt pitch. As a result, eight players were transferred to Sporting CP in 1907, kicking off the rivalry between the two teams.

Sport Lisboa bought Grupo Sport Benfica by mutual consent on September 13, 1908, and changed its name to Sport Lisboa e

. Despite the merger, they continued to operate their individual clubs. They kept the football squad, the shirt colors, the eagle emblem, and the motto for Sport Lisboa.

Grupo Sport Benfica kept the Campo do Feiteira pitch, the principal directors, and the club's mansion. Both clubs agreed that the founding date should coincide with Sport Lisboa's because it was the most well-known and popular club in Lisbon owing to its football achievements.

In terms of the crest, a bicycle wheel was added to Sport Lisboa's to reflect cycling, Grupo Sport Benfica's most significant sport. Furthermore, the two entities of the "new" club had concurrent members, which helped stabilize operations and, as a result, boosted the merger's success.

The club's rented pitch, though, remained a source of contention. In 1913, Benfica relocated to their first grass pitch, Campo do Sete Rios. They moved to Campo de Benfica four years later after resisting a rent hike.

They finally relocated to their own stadium, the Estádio das Amoreiras, in 1925, and played there for fifteen years before relocating to the Estádio do Campo Grande in 1940. After coming third in the inaugural edition of the Portuguese league, Benfica won the next three titles in a row the club's first tri, accomplished under Lippo Hertzka.

Throughout the 1940s, Benfica won three additional Primeira Liga titles and four Taça de Portugal titles, with coach János Biri winning the club's first double in 1943. Benfica's first international triumph came in 1950, when they won the Latin Cup, defeating Bordeaux with a golden goal from Julinho at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, under the coaching of Ted Smith.

It was the first time a Portuguese club had won an international title. They reached the final of the competition again in 1957 but were defeated by Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. Benfica became more modernized and professional with the election of president Joaquim Ferreira Bogalho in 1952 and the arrival of coach Otto Glória in 1954, and moved into the original Estádio da Luz, with an initial seating capacity of 40,000; extended to 70,000 in 1960.

Benfica won the

three times and the Taça de Portugal six times throughout the 1950s. Despite becoming Portuguese champions in 1955, Benfica was not invited to the first European Cup by its organizers, instead, they made their UEFA debut against

in 1957–58.

Golden age

Benfica was back-to-back European Champions by winning the European Cup against

in 1961 (3–2) and Real Madrid in 1962 (5–3), led by coach Béla Guttmann, who had been hired by Mauricio Vieira de Brito. As a result, Benfica competed in the Intercontinental Cup, finishing second to Pearol in 1961 and third to Santos in 1962.

Benfica went on to reach three more European Cup finals, losing to AC Milan in 1963, Inter Milan in 1965, and Manchester United in 1968. As a result, Benfica was ranked top in European football in 1965, 1966, and 1969, and was awarded the France Football European Team of the Year title in 1968.

Benfica won the Primeira Liga eight times, the Taça de Portugal three times, and the European Cup twice in the 1960s. Many of these triumphs were won by Eusébio, the only player to win the Ballon d'Or for a Portuguese club, Coluna, José Guas, José Augusto, Simes, Torres, and others, who composed the 1963–64 squad that established a club record of 103 goals in 26 league matches.

Benfica continued to dominate Portuguese football in the 1970s, under president Borges Coutinho, winning six Primeira Liga championships and two Taça de Portugal. Benfica reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1971–72 but was defeated by

's Ajax. The next season, led by Jimmy Hagan, Benfica became the first team in Portugal to win the league without losing a game, winning 28 – 23 consecutively – out of 30 and drawing two.

 They scored 101 goals, and

was named Europe's best scorer for the second time, falling two goals shy of his record. This decade also saw Benfica admit international players to the team, being the last Portuguese club to do so in 1979.

Benfica continued to prosper on the domestic front throughout the 1980s. With Lajos Baróti, Benfica became the first team to win all three Portuguese titles in the same season in 1980–81: Supertaça de Portugal, Primeira Liga, and Taça de Portugal.

Later, under Sven-Göran Eriksson's management, they won two successive Primeira Ligas (1982–83, '83–84), one Taça de Portugal (1983), and reached the UEFA Cup final in 1983, losing to Anderlecht. Following modifications to the Estádio da Luz, Benfica inaugurated the stadium's third deck in 1985, making it Europe's largest and the world's third-largest.

Benfica won the Primeira Liga and Taça de Portugal double a season later, following winning the local Super Cup in 1985 and the Portuguese Cup in 1986. Then, from 1988 to 1994, Benfica won three Primeira Liga titles, one Taça de Portugal (1993), one Super Cup (1989), and reached the European Cup finals in 1988 and 1990, both of which were won by

and Milan, respectively – these and all other Benfica losses in UEFA finals have been attributed to the "curse of Béla Guttmann."

Bad luck on the doorway

Under Jorge de Brito's president, the club's finances began to worsen due to financial difficulties in the early 1980s and a big investment in players throughout that decade. The situation was exacerbated further by uncontrolled spending and a dubious signing policy (nearly 100 players under Manuel Damásio's tenure).

Soon after, under president Joo Vale e Azevedo, Benfica was in massive debt and was frequently unable to pay taxes or player payments. Benfica had eleven coaches between 1994 and 2003, won the Taça de Portugal in 1995–96, suffered their biggest defeat in European competitions, a 7–0 loss to Celta de Vigo in 1999, had their lowest ever league finish, the sixth place in 2000–01, and were absent from European competition for two years, from 2001–02 to 2002–03. Immediately following Manuel Vilarinho's election, club members authorized the building of the new Estádio da Luz in 2000.

Stepping into future

Benfica broke their trophy drought in 2003–04, under president Luis Filipe Vieira, by winning the Taça de Portugal against José Mourinho's Porto. The next year, Benfica won their first league championship since 1994, as well as the Cândido de Oliveira Supertaça.

Following that, and until 2009, when Benfica won their first Taça da Liga, becoming the first team to win all major Portuguese championships, they did not win any trophies, finishing fourth in the 2007–08 league.

In Europe, Benfica had three successive appearances in the

group stage, with their best achievement being a quarter-final stage participation in 2005–06 after defeating then-European champions Liverpool on 3–0 aggregate.

Jorge Jesus was named coach in 2009–10, a post he retained until 2015. Benfica won 10 domestic trophies over that six-season period, including an unprecedented triple in Portuguese football (league, cup, and league cup) in 2013–14 and the club's first back-to-back league wins since 1984.

Benfica finished sixth in the UEFA team ranking in 2015 after reaching their first UEFA semi-final in 17 years in the 2010–11 Europa League, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in the 2011–12 season, and finishing runners-up in the

for two consecutive seasons, 2012–13 and '13–14.

Later directed by Rui Vitória, Benfica won a fourth Primeira Liga championship in a row – their first-ever tetra – as well as one Taça de Portugal, one Taça da Liga, and two consecutive Super Cup victories, the latter in 2017 after completing a 36-year-old triple.

Internationally, a year after reaching the Champions League knockout round for the first time in club history, Benfica suffered their worst loss in the tournament, 5–0 against Basel, and went on to have the worst Portuguese group stage performance.

Following a string of poor performances in 2018–19, coach Bruno Lage took over in the middle of the season and guided Benfica to their 37th champions championship while reaching the league's all-time best second round.

Later, despite defeating Sporting CP in the Super Cup, Benfica did not win any more championships, and Jesus returned for 2020–21 as part of the club's €105 million investment in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, the largest in Portuguese sport. Despite this, they were ousted in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, lost a Super Cup, finished third in the league, and lost the Portuguese Cup final for the second time in a row.

Symbols and colors

Benfica's crest consists of an eagle, a symbol of independence, authority, and nobility, atop a shield with red and white colors, representing bravery and peace, respectively; the motto "E Pluribus Unum," defining union between all members; and the club's initials, "SLB," over a football – all superimposed on a bicycle wheel, representing one of the club's first sports, cycling.

Since its founding in 1904, the club has used four primary crests. The present crest was created in 1908 when Sport Lisboa united with Grupo Sport Benfica. Following that, the form of the crest was altered in 1930 and 1999. The most significant recent changes were the modification and repositioning of the eagle, as well as the reduction in the size of the wheel.

Since the 2008–09 season, Benfica football shirts have featured three stars above the crest, with each star representing one of the club's ten league titles. However, in 2010–11 and 2011–12, the shirts featured commemorative crests with one and two stars, respectively, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their first European Cup and the second consecutive European Cup. The other sports of the club do not have a star above the crest.

In 1904, José da Cruz Viegas was in charge of choosing Benfica's uniform. Red and white were chosen as the colors that stuck out the most to players' eyes. One year after its inception, the club chose red shirts with white collars, openings, and cuffs, as well as white shorts and black socks. When Salgueiros, who also wore red, was promoted to the first division in 1944–45, Benfica's white alternate jersey was officially utilized for the first time.

Benfica has always worn red shirts; as a result, Benfica and their supporters were nicknamed Vermelhos in Portugal (Reds). When the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, the Portuguese Estado Novo's Censorship Commission censored the word "Vermelho" because the Popular Front communists in Spain were also known by that name. Benfica was known as Encarnados after it, a name similar to "reds" but with a different connotation.

A place to call home

Benfica played on rented fields for the majority of its first two decades. The Estádio das Amoreiras, built and completed in 1925, was their original home stadium, where they played until 1940. They relocated to the Estádio do Campo Grande, a rented municipal stadium, a year later, before returning to their original home ground thirteen years later.

Benfica played in the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon from 1954 to 2003, the largest stadium in Europe and the third-largest in the world in terms of capacity — 120,000 – from 1985 to 1987. It was destroyed between 2002 and 2003, and the rebuilt Estádio da Luz was completed in 2003 at a cost of €162 million, which was around €25 million more than intended.

The Estádio da Luz, like its predecessor, is officially known as the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica. It is a UEFA category four stadium that held various UEFA Euro 2004 events, including the final, and will hold the UEFA Champions League finals in 2014 and 2020. The stadium was built with a seating capacity of 65,647 and now contains 64,642 seats.

Benfica Family

Now it's time to finish

Benfica Club History

! Benfica supporters are referred to as benfiquistas. They sing the club's anthem at the start of every home game and occasionally during the game. The club is known as O Glorioso (The Glorious One), thus the cry "Glorioso SLB."

Since 1952, Benfica fans' clubs known as Casas do Benfica (Benfica homes) have existed in different countries as sites for cultural, social, and sporting interaction among benfiquistas. Benfiquistas have recently celebrated league triumphs alongside the squad in Lisbon's Marquis of Pombal Square.

Benfica is the most popular club in Portugal and has long been regarded as the country's working-class club. According to a 2006 study conducted by professors Luis Reto and Jorge de Sá and approved by the Instituto Nacional de Estatstica and the Secretaria de Estado das Comunidades, Benfica has approximately 14 million supporters worldwide: over 5.5 million in Europe (4.7 in Portugal); over 6 million in Mozambique and Angola; over 1 million in the United States and Canada; and the remainder in Brazil, Venezuela, the Caribbean, Indochina, China, Australia, and According to a UEFA study conducted in 2012, Benfica is the European club with the highest proportion of football supporters in its own country.

In the 2016–17 season, Benfica averaged 55,952 home attendance in the Portuguese league, setting a new record at the Estádio da Luz. It was the competition's highest average and the ninth highest among other European clubs. The biggest home attendance record was also broken, with 64,519 people in attendance for Benfica's 5–0 victory over

in the season's last match at Da Luz. Thanks for reading our article about Benfica Club History.

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