C.F. Os Belenenses facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Os Belenenses

Full name	Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses
Nickname(s)	O Belém (Bethlehem) Os Azuis do Restelo (The Blues from Restelo) Pastéis (Pastries) A Cruz de Cristo (The Cross of Christ)
Founded	23 September 1919; 105 years ago (23 September 1919)
Ground	Estádio do Restelo
Ground Capacity	19,856
President	Patrick Morais de Carvalho
Head coach	José Sousa
League	Liga 3
2023–24	Liga 2 18th, of 18 (relegated)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, often called Os Belenenses or just Belenenses, is a famous Portuguese sports club. It's best known for its football team. The club was started in 1919, making it one of the oldest sports clubs in Portugal.

Belenenses is based in Belém, a neighborhood in Lisbon. Their home stadium is the Estádio do Restelo, which can hold almost 20,000 fans. The club's name means "The ones from Belém." Fans often call them O Belém, Os Pastéis (The Pastries, after a local treat), Azuis (Blues) or Azuis do Restelo (The Blues from Restelo) because of their blue colors and stadium. They are also known as A Cruz de Cristo (The Cross of Christ) from their emblem, or "Os Rapazes da Praia" (The Boys of the Beach).

Belenenses made history by winning the 1945–46 Primeira Liga football league. They were the first team outside of Portugal's "Big Three" clubs to win this title. They have also won six Portuguese Cup trophies. This makes them the fifth most successful team in Portuguese football. They have finished in the top three spots 19 times, showing how strong they were.

For many years, until 1982, Belenenses was one of only four teams that had never been moved down from the top division. Today, they have played the fourth most seasons in the Primeira Liga. They also have the fifth most points in the league's history.

Belenenses was the first Portuguese team to have a grass field and lights for night games. They were also the first Portuguese club to play in the UEFA Europa League, a big European competition.

Besides football, the club has strong teams in handball, basketball, futsal, athletics, and rugby union. They have won national championships in all these sports. Overall, Belenenses has won over 10,000 trophies in its history!

The Story of Belenenses

How it All Started

Belenenses was founded in 1919. They quickly became a strong team. In 1926, they played in their first big final, the Campeonato, but lost. The very next year, in 1927, they won the title! They won it again in 1929 and for a third time in 1933. With these three wins, Belenenses was considered one of Portugal's "Big Four" teams.

During these early years, a player named José Manuel Soares, known as Pepe, became a huge star. In one of his first games, Belenenses was losing 4-1 with only 15 minutes left. But they fought back to tie the game 4-4! Then, Pepe scored a penalty kick in the last moments, winning the game 5-4. Sadly, Pepe passed away very young, at just 23. To remember him, Belenenses built a special memorial at their stadium. When Porto plays there, they still place flowers at his memorial. This is a very old and special tradition in Portuguese football.

Becoming League Champions

Belenenses won their only Primeira Liga title in the 1945–46 season. They beat Benfica by just one point. This was a huge moment because it was the first time a team outside the "Big Three" (Benfica, Porto, and Sporting CP) won the league.

In 1947, Belenenses was the first team to play against Real Madrid at their new stadium in a friendly match. Belenenses finished second in the league in 1954–55. They were tied with Benfica in points, but lost the title in the very last minutes of the season. The next year, the club moved to the new Estadio do Restelo. This was a big project and meant they had to sell some of their best players. This made the team less strong for a while. It wasn't until 1973 that Belenenses finished second again.

Playing in Europe

Belenenses was the first Portuguese club to play in the UEFA Cup. This was a big step for Portuguese football.

The club also played in the European Cup Winners' Cup. In 1987–88, they played against the famous Barcelona. Belenenses lost the first game 2-0, but then won the second game 1-0 at home! In 1989, Belenenses won their sixth (and last so far) Taça de Portugal by beating Benfica 2-1. That same season, they also knocked out Bayer Leverkusen, who were the champions of the Cup Winners' Cup at the time.

Ups and Downs

Belenenses was moved down from the top league for the first time in 1981–82. This is called being "relegated." Since then, they have been relegated three more times.

In the 2005–06 season, Belenenses almost got relegated again. But another team, Gil Vicente, had used a player who wasn't allowed to play. So, Belenenses won an appeal and stayed in the top division, while Gil Vicente was relegated instead.

In 2007, Belenenses reached the final of the Taça de Portugal again, but they lost 1-0 to Sporting CP. In 2010, they were relegated to the second division. But they worked hard and earned promotion back to the top league in 2013. This was their longest time out of the top division. They set a record with 96 points that season!

During the 2014–15 season, Belenenses finished sixth. This meant they qualified for European competition again, playing in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. They even made it to the group stage! They had a surprising 2-1 win away against Basel, a strong team.

The Club Split

At the end of the 2017–18 season, something big happened. The original club, CF Os Belenenses, and the professional team, Belenenses SAD, went their separate ways. The agreement for the professional team to use the Estádio do Restelo ended, and they couldn't agree on a new one.

So, from the 2018–19 season, Belenenses SAD (the professional team) started playing their home games at a different stadium. The original CF Os Belenenses club started a new amateur team in the lowest Portuguese division. Most fans and club members supported this new amateur team.

Because of the split, Belenenses SAD was not allowed to use the original club's logo and name anymore. They even changed their name to B-SAD. In the first games after the split, the professional team had very few fans at their games. But the new amateur team had about 5,000 fans at their home games! This showed how much support the original club still had.

Since then, the original Belenenses club has been promoted five times in a row! They reached professional competition again in 2023. This amazing climb equals a world record. Their first win back in professional football was a 1-0 victory, with André Serra scoring the goal. He was the only player who had been with the club for their entire journey from the very bottom of Portuguese football.

Club Achievements

National Titles

• Primeira Liga (Top League)
  • Winners (1): 1945–46

• Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup)
  • Winners (3): 1941–42, 1959–60, 1988–89
  • Runners-up (5): 1939–40, 1940–41, 1947–48, 1985–86, 2006–07

• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (Super Cup)
  • Runners-up (1): 1989

• Campeonato de Portugal (Old Portuguese Championship)
  • Winners (3): 1926–27, 1928–29, 1932–33
  • Runners-up (3): 1925–26, 1931–32, 1935–36

• Segunda Divisão / Segunda Liga (Second Division)
  • Winners (2): 1983–84, 2012–13

• Lisbon FA 1ª Divisão (Lisbon First Division)
  • Winners (2): 2018–19 (3rd tier), 2020–21 (1st tier)

• Lisbon Championship
  • Winners (6): 1925–26, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1931–32, 1943–44, 1945–46

European Titles

• Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (1): 1975

European Games Record

Belenenses has played in several European competitions over the years. Here are some of their notable matches:

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home Score	Away Score	Total Score
1961–62	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1st Round	Hibernian	1–3	3–3	4–6
1962–63	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	1st Round	Barcelona	1–1	1–1	2–2
1976–77	UEFA Cup	1st Round	Barcelona	2–2	2–3	4–5
1987–88	UEFA Cup	1st Round	Barcelona	1–0	0–2	1–2
1988–89	UEFA Cup	1st Round	Bayer Leverkusen	1–0	1–0	2–0
		2nd Round	Velež Mostar	0–0	0–0	0–0 (Velež won on penalties)
1989–90	European Cup Winners' Cup	1st Round	Monaco	1–1	0–3	1–4
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	3rd Qualifying Round	IFK Göteborg	2–1	0–0	2–1
		Play-off Round	Rheindorf Altach	0–0	1–0	1–0
		Group I	Basel	0–2	2–1	4th place
			Fiorentina	0–4	0–1
			Lech Poznań	0–0	0–0

Current Players

No. Position Player 1 GK Artur Barros 2 DF João Machado 3 MF Ângelo Barbosa 4 DF Nuno Tomás 5 DF Diogo Brasido (on loan from Estoril) 6 DF Gonçalo Maria 7 FW Rodri 8 MF Danny Tavares 9 FW Rodrigo Pereira (on loan from Académico de Viseu) 10 MF Tiago Moninhas 11 MF Midana Sambú 12 DF Gabi Passos 13 MF Cuca

No. Position Player 14 FW José Varela 16 DF Romário Carvalho 17 MF Diogo Leitão 19 FW Camilo Triana 21 MF Tiago Morgado 22 GK David Grilo 23 MF Xavi Fernandes 24 GK Tiago Neto 25 DF Rodi 29 FW Ekanga (on loan from Estrela Amadora) 39 DF Afonso Pinto 70 FW Baba Zakari 78 MF Rodrigo Gomes

Past Coaches

See also

• C.F. Os Belenenses (basketball)
• C.F. Os Belenenses (futsal)
• C.F. Os Belenenses (handball)
• C.F. Os Belenenses (rugby union)
• B-SAD
• CSA Steaua București (football)