Question for Portuguese fans.....

[Winnipeg Fury]

I'm considering a trip to the Algarve area of Portugal and I'm curious if any of the First Division clubs are in or close to the Algarve area.

Could anyone list the location of all the First Division clubs ?

[beachesl]

No First Division clubs in the Algarve. The Algarve was a poor, unpopulated, and unvisited spot with a few poor fishing villages and goat farms until the tourist trade started in the 60's, and now individual sports like golf and tennis are probably more popular.

Here are the current standings of the First Division, from rsssf.com. I have added the UNOFFICIAL region in caps:

Portugal 2004/05

Super Liga

Table:

1.SL Benfica 20 11 4 5 33-21 37 [Lisboa] CENTRAL

2.FC do Porto 20 10 7 3 26-14 37 NORTHWEST

3.Sporting de Braga 20 10 6 4 29-15 36 NORTHWEST

4.Sporting CP 20 10 5 5 41-27 35 [Lisboa] CENTRAL

5.Boavista FC 20 10 5 5 24-23 35 [Porto] NORTHWEST

6.CS Marítimo 20 8 9 3 23-16 33 [Funchal] MADEIRA ISLAND

7.Rio Ave 20 7 10 3 27-22 31 [Vila do Conde] NORTHWEST

8.Vitória FC 20 8 5 7 27-22 29 [setúbal] CENTRAL, NEAR LISBON

9.Vitória SC 20 8 5 7 20-18 29 [Guimarães] NORTHWEST

10.União de Leiria 20 6 9 5 20-19 27 NORTH CENTRAL NEAR COAST

11.CD Nacional 20 8 3 9 27-29 27 [Funchal]MADEIRA ISLAND

12.CF "Os Belenenses" 20 7 4 9 29-27 25 [Lisboa] CENTRAL

13.Gil Vicente FC 20 6 5 9 22-24 23 [barcelos] NORTHWEST, where Canada plays next

14.FC Penafiel 20 6 2 12 18-36 20 NORTHWEST

15.GD Estoril-Praia 20 5 4 11 23-29 19 CENTRAL, NEAR LISBON

16.Moreirense FC 20 3 8 9 17-30 17 [Moreira de Cónegos]NORTHWEST

17.SC Beira-Mar 20 4 5 11 21-39 17 [Aveiro] NORTH CENTRAL ON COAST

18.Académica de Coimbra 20 3 4 13 14-30 13 NORTH CENTRAL NEAR COAST

So, you can see that there are no first division clubs south of the Lisbon area. The football rich area around Porto is similiar to the football rich area in the NW Liverpool-Manchester core of England in historical dominance, an attestation to the English influence since the start of the "port" wine trade in medieval times.

If you want to see a first division match, you should have no problem getting tickets because, other than the top five in the table now, the matches are very poorly attended, except when Porto or (especially) Benfica come to town.

In the second league, Liga de Honra, 2 clubs in the Algarve also, Portimonense, which plays in the west Algarve town of Portimao near Lagos, and Olhanense, which plays in Olhão, just outside of Faro to the east, at the Estádio José Arcanjo .

Liga de Honra - Época 2004/2005

Pos

Equipa Pts JG V E D GM GS

1 Paços Ferreira 41 20 12 5 3 34 25

2 E. Amadora 39 20 11 6 3 28 15

3 Marco 36 20 10 6 4 29 21

4 Naval 35 20 10 5 5 33 18

5 Maia 32 20 9 5 6 26 19

6 Olhanense 30 20 8 6 6 23 20 ALGARVE

7 Leixões 29 20 8 5 7 25 21

8 Portimonense 29 20 8 5 7 28 25 ALGARVE

9 Aves 28 20 9 1 10 23 21

10 Ovarense 28 20 8 4 8 27 30

11 Feirense 27 20 8 3 9 24 30

12 Varzim 22 20 6 4 10 22 28

13 Chaves 22 20 5 7 8 8 16

14 Gondomar 22 20 6 4 10 16 23

15 Santa Clara 21 20 6 3 11 24 32

16 Sp. Espinho 21 20 5 6 9 21 28

17 Felgueiras 20 20 5 5 10 18 23

18 Alverca 17 20 5 2 13 9 23

There is one Algarve club in the Third Division, South Zone league, which plays in the new Euro 2004 stadium near the Faro airport,the Estádio Algarve, Louletano DC, near where Canada is likely to have their camp.

Campeonato Nacional da 2ª Divisão B - Zona Sul - Época 2004/2005

1 Barreirense 41 23 12 5 6 35 25

2 Pinhalnovense 41 23 11 8 4 25 14

3 U. Madeira 39 23 12 3 8 27 22

4 Camacha 38 23 10 8 5 30 22

5 Operário 38 23 11 5 7 32 22

6 Casa Pia 37 23 11 4 8 36 27

7 Oriental 37 23 10 7 6 26 24

8 Lusitânia 36 23 10 6 7 34 25

9 Ol. Moscavide 35 23 10 5 8 35 25

10 U. Micaelense 34 23 9 7 7 23 20

11 Portosantense 33 23 9 6 8 23 25

12 Estrela Vendas Novas 32 23 8 8 7 27 29

13 Louletano 32 23 9 5 9 31 26 ALGARVE

14 Ribeira Brava 28 23 8 4 11 23 28

15 Marítimo B 28 23 7 7 9 29 31

16 Atlético 27 23 7 6 10 26 33

17 Pontassolense 24 23 7 3 13 25 39

18 Odivelas 22 23 6 4 13 26 36

19 Vasco da Gama de Sines 17 23 4 5 14 12 32

20 Amora

There are a number of Algarve clubs in the fourth division (which has 7 regional leagues) including the luckless SC Farense, who also play at the Estádio Algarve or the smaller Estádio São Luís right in Faro:

Campeonato Nacional da 3ª Divisão - Série F - Época 2004/2005

Pos

Equipa Pts JG V E D GM GS

1 Silves 45 20 14 3 3 44 18 ALGARVE

2 Imortal 41 20 12 5 3 40 19 ALGARVE (Albufeira)

3 Juv. Évora 41 20 13 2 5 42 26

4 Sesimbra 37 20 10 7 3 39 27

5 Almansilense 36 20 10 6 4 31 18

6 Lagoa 29 20 8 5 7 26 25 ALGARVE

7 Lusitano V. R. 29 20 7 8 5 35 30

8 Aljustralense 29 20 8 5 7 28 26

9 Lusitano Évora 29 20 8 5 7 28 20

10 Beira-Mar Algarve 25 20 7 4 9 26 28 ALGARVE

11 Messinense 25 20 6 7 7 18 25

12 Montijo 23 20 5 8 7 24 37

13 Farense 21 20 5 6 9 23 34 ALGARVE

14 Desp. Beja 20 20 4 8 8 22 28

15 Almada 17 20 4 5 11 20 30

16 Moura 15 20 4 3 13 17 39

17 U. Santiago Cacém 15 20 3 6 11 20 38

18 Seixal

Have fun if you go![8D]

(results from top 4 levels of Portuguese leagues can be followed at http://infordesporto.sapo.pt/Homes/Home_Futebol.asp )

[frostman]

Holy crap! Beaches... You've got a pretty thorough knowledge of watsup in Superliga and beyond! Can you give me an update on Fernando Aguiar at Penafiel?

[Former Champ]

Crockey!!!

Dave, I'm gonna get you to plan my next vacation!

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by frostman

Can you give me an update on Fernando Aguiar at Penafiel?

The club page doesn't have player statistics, but you can look at this years match reports by clicking on the red scores at:

http://fcpenafiel.wiremaze.com/

Here is his page on the site:

http://fcpenafiel.wiremaze.com/

I know that so far this season he has 2 goals (tied for 3rd in team scoring) and 4 yellows (over 20 matches), and he has often started, but also subbed often as well.

[Winnipeg Fury]

Thank-You Beachesl ! It was much more than I expected !

So with no teams in the Algarve, which First Division club would be closest ?

[Kurosawa1555362267]

Anything near Lisboa, if I remember my Geography classes.

[beachesl]

Yeah, unless you caught a flight to Faro from either Paris or London, you would probably have to fly thru Lisbon to get to the Algarve anyway. Unless it is a match involving Porto or each other, you should be able to get tickets for either Benfica (first choice) or Sporting, good choices because of the two classic stadiums and because of the two clubs' history. Os Belenenses is also right in Lisbon. Setubal (an industrial city) is harder to get to from Lisbon, but Estoril (a pretty resort town) is a only pleasant light-rail transport trip west from the middle of Lisbon.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

If you are in the Algarve you can just hop over the border and catch fairly close Spanish 2nd division sides in Recreativo Huelva, and a bit further off, Cadiz. The latter gets big crowds and is a great place to visit. People are great in this part of Spain.

Even the Seville sides are fairly close by road to Algarve, probably more so than Lisbon.

By the way Setubal is just south of the capital.