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Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as just Belenenses (Portuguese pronunciation: [bɨlɨˈnẽsɨʃ]), founded in 1919, is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the Belém quarter of Lisbon, hence the club name, which translates as "The ones from Belém."
[edit] HistoryThe main activities of the club are football, handball, basketball, futsal, athletics, and rugby union. The club has won major national championships in all these sports, but remains best known for its original activity, football. They have won the Portuguese Liga once (1945–46), the only team, together with Boavista, to do so outside the Big Three: (FC Porto, Sporting Clube de Portugal, and Benfica). Beleneneses was one of Portugal's "Big Four" from the advent of the Portuguese Liga. In the years since, the club fame and glory has tarnished as it consistently sank in the league table. It was the first club to compete in the UEFA Cup in a back-and-forth 3–3 draw with Hibernian (at the time one of Scotland's biggest teams) at the Estádio do Restelo in Belém. Like many Portuguese clubs, fan clubs can be found in countries across the world, such as the former Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Cape Verde as well as countries with significant Portuguese populations, such as Belgium, Canada, and the United States. In 1933, the club was the most successful in Portugal with the most titles and Cups. The 2005–06 season saw the football team finishing fourth from bottom, which would mean relegation for the team. However, the team won a subsequent appeal that sent Gil Vicente down instead. With this reprieve, the team played in the top level of Portuguese football once again, for the 69th of 73 seasons – the team with most presences at top level after the "Big Three". This reprieve allowed them to finish fifth in the league, giving them access to the UEFA Cup. In the Portuguese Cup 2007, fans from Switzerland, Canada, United States, and several Portuguese cities were at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon to see the final against Sporting CP, one of the "Big Three", where they lost 1–0. In the 2008–09 season, the football team was again relegated from the league position, 15th out of 16 teams, but again, a decision of the Portuguese Football Federation held them in the top league, because 11th placed Estrela da Amadora were relegated for an infringement, and so Belenenses continued with having just missed four of all the 76 seasons in the 1st Portuguese League. Cabral Ferreira, who served as president of Belenenses from 2005 until 2008, died on 26 February 2008, of a long illness.[1] The club has also played in the European Cup Winners' Cup, as well as the UEFA Cup. In the UEFA Cup 1987–88 season, the club played powerhouse Barcelona; in the first leg, they lost 2–0 in the Camp Nou, winning 1–0 in Lisbon at the Estádio do Restelo with Bulgarian international Stoycho Mladenov scoring. In the following season, they ousted holders Bayer Leverkusen out of the same competition. [edit] Honours
[edit] League and cup history
CL=Campeonato da Liga (winners weren't considered Portuguese champions); 1D=First Division/League [edit] UEFA Cup (formerly known as Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, now known as the Europa League)
[edit] Cup Winner's Cup
[edit] Current squad
[edit] Notable former players[edit] Former Coaches[edit] TriviaBelenenses played the inaugural football match at the Santiago Bernabéu on 14 December 1947, against Real Madrid. [edit] The club's anthemIlustrando o nosso emblema Illustrating our emblem [edit] BasketballMain article: CF Belenenses (basketball) [edit] FutsalMain article: CF Belenenses (futsal) [edit] HandballMain article: CF Belenenses (handball) [edit] RugbyMain article: C.F. Os Belenenses (rugby) [edit] References
[edit] External links
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