Wednesday, September 28, 2016

28 September 1893 - Porto Open Their Doors

On 28 September 1893, inspired by a recent trip to England, a Portuguese wine merchant named António Nicolau d'Almeida founded a new club. Named FC Porto, they went on to win a number of honors, including several national titles and European trophies.

The club struggled a bit at first and even became defunct shortly after its inception, but it was revived in 1906 by club president José Monteiro da Costa. They won their first league title in 1935, finishing just two points clear of rival club Sporting. Their most successful period came in the 1980s and '90s, when they won the league eleven times, including five straight from 1995 to 1999.

During that period, they also reached European heights, winning their first European Cup trophy in 1987 with a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the final. That same year, they also won the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. They have since added to their international honors, winning the Champions League (2004) and the UEFA Cup/Europa League (2003, 2011).

That last Europa League win was part of a quadruple that included the league title, the Taça de Portugal, and the Portuguese Supercup. They added additional two more league titles and two more Supercups in 2012 and 2013, raising their tallies to 27 and 20 for those competitions, respectively.

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