Vitoria de Guimaraes

Vitoria Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitoria de Guimaraes, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimaraes that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal.

Vitoria de Guimaraes have finished third in the Primeira Liga on four occasions, most recently in 2007–08. They have won one Taca de Portugal (2013) and one Supertaca Candido de Oliveira (1988), while also being runners-up of the former on six occasions.

The club have competed regularly in European competitions, where their best finish was the quarter-finals of the 1986–87 UEFA Cup.

History

Vitoria was formed in 1922. Its name seems to be a tribute to Vitoria de Setubal, which at the time was a top contender for the Campeonato de Portugal, though these days Guimaraes supporters downplay the connection. After seasons of toiling in the Braga FA leagues, the Vimaranenses were first promoted to the Primeira Liga in 1941, and two seasons later battled the Sadinos from Setubal for the first time in the League. Surprise package Guimaraes, against all odds, reached their first Taca de Portugal final in their debut season, but lost to Belenenses 2–0.

Vitoria's furthest progress in a European tournament was in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup, in which they were defeated 5–2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals by West German club Borussia Monchengladbach.

In the early 2000s, Vitoria struggled in some years to retain its status in the top Portuguese division, then named the Superliga. Those years were marked by the decline of the leadership of Pimenta Machado, former club president, who was accused on charges of embezzlement. In February 2008 he was sentenced to four years and three months of prison on a suspended sentence, though a year later he was cleared of this charge and instead ordered to pay a €4,000 fine for falsifying a document.

Despite this, in 2004–05, the club secured a fifth-place finish in the league and qualified for European competition via the UEFA Cup. The next

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