Clubs that Portugal forgot Part 1-SC Farense
It was no April fool’s day joke way back in 1910 when one of Portugal’s oldest clubs was formed. April 1 1910, six months before the final Monarch of Portugal, Emmanuel II(Manuel II), lost his throne, the day SC Farense were founded. Known as the Lions of Faro(Os Leoes de Faro) they boast a proud tradition.
Even though they won the 2nd division play-off, after winning the Southern Zone in the 1939/40 season, due to original Portuguese league restrictions only allowing teams from the Lisbon and Porto districts into the top division, they remained in the 2nd division. This rule was changed for the 1941/42 season. Having been denied for so long Farense finally made it to the top division in 1970 after two successive promotions. In their first season they only managed to score 15 goals in 26 games but managed to avoid relegation winning 7 games(6 home 1 away) including notable home wins against champions Benfica and Porto who finished 3rd. They lasted six seasons in the top division until dropping down again in 1976. Their cup runs in the 1970′s were consistent with Farense reaching the semi finals once and the quarter finals on three other occasions.
They remained in the 2nd division for the next 7 years. After finishing 2nd in 1982 the following season they went up again as champions and for the next ten years they became a yo-yo club being promoted three times and relegated twice.
The most successful club in the Algarve region of Portugal, the day most Farense supporters will remember most will be May 27 1995 when they met CF Estrela Amadora in the Portuguese cup final. They drew 1-1 after extra time and unfortunately lost the replay 2-0 a week later. They had beaten Belenenses 2-1 away from home to reached the final and also won the 2nd division championship securing promotion to the top division starting their most successful period in Portuguese football. 
Following up on their cup final and promotion they consolidated their position in the top division. A year after going up they finished 6th and again(6th) in 1993 before finishing 5th in 1995(which is their best finish ever) thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup. They played Olympic Lyon from France but unfortunately lost both the home and away ties 1-0. Had Nuno Amaro’s shot gone in off the bar in the first leg it could have been a lot different.
Unfortunately by 2002 things had changed drastically, the club was imploding due to financial constraints and the club suffered three consecutive relegations.
2002 was a black year for Portuguese football. All three teams relegated from the top top division that year(Farense, Salgueiros and Alverca) all suffered similar fates over the following few years. Alverca also folded in 2005 and reformed in 2006. Salgueiros like the other two folded in 2005 and came back under the new name Salgueiros 08 three years later(like i need to tell you that!). Of the teams that played in Division Two in 2002 no less that 6 teams have suffered similar fates. Boavista champions in 2001 were relegated two seasons(2008 and 2009) in a row because of money problems. This year Estrela Amadora who played Farense on those fateful cup final days in 1995 suffered a similar fate were demoted from the top division, by two divisions due to financial irregularities. In 2005 after failing to appear in three games they were declassified and thrown unceremoniously from the football league.
It was a shame as the football federation had built Estadio Algarve(Capacity-30,305) for Euro2004, hoping that a team from the region would use it in the top division. The stadium is jointly used by Farense and Louletano DC. What should have been, or could have been, ceased to be. A year later they appeared in the District Leagues(6th tier) in the 2nd division of the Algarve region. They won the league at a canter only losing one game. The following year another promotion and another league win bringing them back to the National leagues in the form of Division 3F. Amazingly from May 2002 until September 2007 Farense had played in 5 different divisions including a season in which they didn’t compete!!!!(because of their declassification) It must be some sort of record. Unusual, but I doubt there are many(if any) clubs that could claim the same thing. Last season became a season of consolidation finishing 5th in the league. This season they’ve started unbeaten. Three matches in and two draws sees them lie 4th in the table. Three more promotions? Who knows. One thing is for sure. Farense will see their centenary anniversary through.
In 2007 they decided to sell their historic Estadio de Sao Luis(their old stadium) for anything upwards of 10 million. As far as I’m aware its still for sale. 35,000 metres squared of prime residential land. Only the price now is closer to 15 million euro. In May they had couple of offers but neither met the asking price. If a sale goes through it will hopefully guarantee the foreseeable future of the club.
One notable player who returned this season is Idalecio,36, who played for many years in the top division for both Braga and Rio Ave. Estrela Amadora played in the Estadio Algarve three weeks ago against Loulatano and today their Under 19 squad go to Faro to play Farense in a game counting for the South Junior Zone to repeat the 95 cup final tie, all be it, with a few less present to watch. Farense will remember their last game in the top division, a 3-2 win at home to Gil Vicente(who got demoted in 2006 for not inscribing a player correctly!!!!!!) Anybody who goes to the Algarve should check them out. The last game the opposing team had 5 red(YES RED!!!) cards. 2 players, 2 subs and the manager!
Sometimes you’ve got to see the funny side of football. Here’s a link to all the team taking shots from the half way line. It’s in Portuguese but very funny all the same. http://www.videos.iol.pt/consola.php?projecto=27&mul_id=13167873&v_sort=&v_order=&tipo_conteud;3o=1&tipo=2&id_conteudo=&referer=1&query=&pagina=
I wish SC Farense a speedy return to the top division. When they celebrate their centenary next year I might just book a flight and pay homage to a team who will always be in the history books of Portuguese football.
Karl Donnelly
dear karl,
It was a pleasure to read this few lines of history of our great club, Sporting Clube FARENSE!
In general all you mention is accurate. only one minor correction:
The Portuguese Cup Final against Estrela da Amadora was back in 1990, and not in 1995… (It’s in the ticket you display in the article…)
Cheers and keep up with the good writing!
Zé da Bola
Hello, and really enjoyed doing this in the history of the club is Sporting Clube Farense in our land (Faro, Algarve) and I am grateful fans too, FARENSE never be forgotten as it has been here and has always played and are supported anywhere in the world, will give a few more beautiful stories and even in the I League. Best wishes to you, thank you, and now are invited to come see a game Farense on Sunday 18 in the Algarve Stadium or Stadium St. Louis at 15:00 against the Youth of Evora.
Thank you Karl, for reminding us, and the world, the great and long history of our club – SC Farense.
You are very accurate in your description, and let me tell you that, we supporters are very commited to bring our club to the first league again.
It will take some time, but we will make it trough.
Once again thank you, and you are always invited to visit our city and Farense games, as all friends are welcome.
Let us know if you need some help on that.
Also you may visit the unofficial website http://scfarense1910.blogspot.com/
Cheers!
Sorry about that typo. I think I wrote 1995 because of the UEFA cup match. I saw the Juniors result. Deja vu. I hope to see your club get back up where it belongs. It’s inredible that the same thing happened to Amadora this season. Shows you that the federation are only interested in making money and not the security of the clubs that pay for to keep the so called ‘big 3′ in a league. Without every other club there would be no league.
The decision to write the article came about because I’m a Braga supporter and I thought that there was never a better time to write about the teams that history should not forget.
thank you Karl, for reminding me of my beloved Farense, some directors of the time should be held responsable for this great club to go down, i’m still a member of this great club,i’m still have the foto of 1990 cup final the some one you display in the article, will be back sooner then later
I’m a Salgueiros fan and hopefully we will be playing Farense in the Premier league one day.
Still packing stadiums up here
@Nelson I wanted to do a piece on Salgueiros but I found it very difficult to et information on certain things. The mess the Porto City Hall put Salgueiros in by giving them land that they knew had water underground. The role played by the fans in reviving the team. The players who stuck by the club when they went to the regional leagues. I saw Salgeuiros once when they went to segunda B against Braga and I was impressed by th dedicaton of te group of fans who stuck by their team in what must have been an awful season to watch. I contacted some blogs to try et information but havent heard anything back. Could you point me in te right direction please? karlbragaceltic@hotmail.com
Cheers
The demise of Salgueiros is due to mismanagement and politics, the old ground was in a sought after place by the Metro the Council and so on and being a small club we never really had the money to build a new ground. The lake was just a way of keeping us quiet about loosing our old ground.
We were without football (still had youth teams) for 3 years, we’re reconstructing what we’ve lost along the way, promoted last year from the “2nd distrital” with a mix of youngsters and old legends from the club we are now in “1 distrital” with 2 more promotions to reach the “nacionais”.
The official blog for Salgueiros 08 is http://scsalgueiros08.blogspot.com/ it was started by a guy named Luis who I’m sure will be able and pleased to give you much more information about the club and its current status.
This revival is a mix of enthusiasm, low ticket prices, lots of sentiment (the “ALMA SALGUEIRISTA”) and great pride of the fans on what everyone tought was a dying club. We have refused and are still refusing to go quietly.
And this week we have a 6 pointer vs Custoias the game will be shown on Porto Canal so you will be able to see for yourself the strenght of the revival.
PS: Mickey Walsh a Welsh striker was a cult figure of the club in the 80′s