Portuguese SuperCup
Founded
1978
Nation
Portugal
Main Competitions
Cup of Portugal Portuguese League Cup Portuguese Liga Portuguese SuperCup
Current Champions
Sporting Clube de Portugal
Most Successful Club
FC Porto (15)
TV Partners
RTP (although, TVI broadcasted the 2008 final)

The SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira (Portuguese Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, pron. IPA: ['supɛɾ 'tasɐ 'kɐ̃didu dɨ oli'vɐiɾɐ]), also known as Portuguese SuperCup, is a football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of the Portuguese Liga and the winners of the Cup of Portugal. If a team wins The Double (both the Liga and the Cup), the double winner plays the defeated team of the Cup. Traditionally the game is played on just before the start of the next regular domestic season. It is named after the Portuguese football enthusiast of the early days and coach of the national team Cândido de Oliveira.

[edit] History

In the season 1943-44 it was created a special game between the champions, Sporting Clube de Portugal, and the cup holders, S.L. Benfica, for the inauguration of the National Stadium: Estádio Nacional, it was named Taça Império (not to be mistaken with Taça do Império, the first incarnation of the Portuguese Cup). After the game, it was decided that the competition was to be continued, but later it was canceled. The SuperCup started unofficially in 1978/79 with a local derby between Boavista F.C. (Cup holders) and F.C. Porto (Champions) that ended with a 2-1 victory for Boavista.

The next year (1979/80) another derby occurred between Benfica and Sporting Clube de Portugal. This was the second unofficial SuperCup and the first played in two hands (home and away).

With the success of both unofficial editions of the cup the federation decided to uphold the competition on a yearly basis with two legs.

The first official edition happened in the next season (1980/81) already with the name SuperTaça Cândido de Oliveira.

The rules stated that two games were played and the result on aggregate would determine the winner. If a draw occurred then a replay of the match should be played in a neutral ground to find the winner. This happened 6 times (1983/84, 1990/91, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95 and 1999/00) with the replay of the 1983/84 edition being replayed again with two legs (home and away).

Because interest in the SuperCup was waning and in order to reduce the games per year, in 2000/01 the Portuguese Football Federation decided to abolish the home and away basis and a game in a neutral ground (decided by the Federation) is now used.

[edit] SuperCup Finals

Note: Teams in italics played the SuperCup as losing Cup finalists, since their opponents had won both the Championship and the Cup in that same year (also known as The Double).

[edit] Overall Statistics

Note: These statistics doesn't include the unofficial edition of 1943/44.

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