Flashback to Famalicão 2-0 Gil Vicente, 1992: a relegation scrap for the ages as Pinto da Costa, FC Porto and the northern clubs tighten their grip on Portuguese football | OneFootball

Few clashes represent so well the changing of the guard in Portuguese football as the one that put face to face two clubs from the River Ave valley. If the Tagus South Bank ruled almost supreme until the 1970s, due to its political and economic relevance, once Portugal entered the EU in 1986, everything transformed drastically and football accompanied the changing times.

The area north of Porto, between the Cavado and Ave rivers, became the stalwart of the national game, making both the Porto and Braga districts the most important in the land, surpassing the likes of Setúbal and Coimbra. Two sides that enjoyed successful stints back in those days but who had little to no first division experience were Famalicão and Gil Vicente, and in the last round of the 1991/92 league they met in a decisive match to avoid relegation.

Relegation roulette – 8 clubs in danger of the drop!

It was sunny, and there were nerves in the air. Ninety minutes away from closing the 1991/92 season, Gil Vicente and Famalicão were forced to meet in a duel that could end up well for both, bad for both or with mixed feelings depending on the outcome of what happened at other grounds. Up to eight sides were trying to avoid relegation at once, but only two played each other – Fama and Gil.

Salgueiros were in the difficult position of travelling to Lisbon to play Benfica, who were by then already out of the title race, won by FC Porto a few games beforehand. Penafiel needed to go to Aveiro and grab a win, praying for other outcomes going their way, while Torreense knew they needed a point from a clash away against Marítimo to be safe. Estoril, who travelled to Paços de Ferreira, and Desportivo de Chaves, who welcomed Sporting, were also in a troubled position, but they depended mostly on the outcomes of other grounds and only an unlikely combination of results going against them would lead to relegation.

Gil Vicente should have been in a similar position, but since they played a direct contender in Famalicão, things worked out differently. Yet, they would have been in an even tougher place if it wasn’t  for the surprise home win against Porto in the previous round. It was a typical early 1990s outcome, full of suspicion as their direct opponents pointed out. The Barcelos side was coached by none other than António Oliveira, the former FC Porto captain and a personal friend of Pinto da Costa. With Porto having wrapped up the title – they had ten points more than Benfica by that time – many accused them of losing on purpose to allow Gil to survive in the first division one more time. The match and final result, 1-0, was suspicious enough, and it didn’t sit well with clubs like Famalicão, who dropped into the relegation zone because of it.

An unlikely draw by Salgueiras at Benfica on the final day of the season helped save the Porto club from relegation

FC Porto-sponsored rise of neighbouring clubs

The atmosphere at their local Municipal ground couldn’t have been more tense. Ironically, Famalicão had a good relationship with Porto, as did all the clubs in the surrounding area, with the Dragons having loaned Fama one of their most promising defenders, future international Carlos Secretário. Yet, it was customary back in those days to see Porto president Pinto da Costa occasionally shifting his position in favour of one or two clubs within his scope of influence to gain future benefits. Whether Porto’s loss was on purpose or not, allegedly of course, Gil Vicente staying in the first tier enabled them to sign a certain Yugoslavian winger called Ljubinko Drulovic, who then moved swiftly to Porto once he started to perform at the highest level, becoming a cult figure at das Antas.

For FC Porto, it was also important to have as many northern clubs as possible in the Campeonato de Primeira Divisão, as the league was called then, because it meant more leverage to trade with the Football Federation. Pinto da Costa was by this time cooking with Valentim Loureiro, the Boavista president, and Pimenta Machado, Vitória’s president. The foundations of the Liga were being put in place, which Valentim Loureiro presided over in its first years, and the fact it was headquartered in Porto, with the backup of a majority of first division clubs that played in the north, showed the amount of power that the Pinto da Costa and the Dragons had been gathering in the previous years. All due to one important economic shift.

Portugal’s economy always lagged behind its European neighbours, but until the April 1974 revolution, the country could be clearly divided into three. Lisbon was the capital and concentrated much of the wealth and power, with Porto a very distant second to it. The only industrially relevant regions were around Setubal, mainly concentrated in the Seixal, Barreiro and Montijo area. The rest of the nation was still extremely rural, poor and without any ability to finance itself. That was the model Salazar chose, and that was how it continued until the Carnation Revolution, with the colonial empire providing much-needed support with exports.

Defeat in Madeira against Marítimo would prove fatal for Torreense

Economics redraws the football map

Once the former colonies gained their well-deserved independence and the nationalisation policies of the left-wing governments that followed the Revolution almost bankrupted many of Portugal’s most important industries, the country entered a recession that lasted until the mid-1980s, when it joined the EU. Access to community funding was key to developing infrastructures and businesses, but by then Europe was much more interested in what Portugal could offer on a low-cost budget, and that was textiles. The industries down south were no longer important, and as the area struggled along economically, the northern region expanded like a bullet train. By then, small local factories had turned into the country’s biggest exporters by providing other European nations – thanks to the access granted by the common market – with clothes, shoes and even furniture at a very low price.

It was only possible because of child exploitation. Until the late 1990s, it was still common for children to work in factories all around the main northern sites, with low wages, a lack of labour legislation and almost no security for workers. It wasn’t pretty, but between 1986 and the early 1990s that opportunity completely transformed the region from Braga and Barcelos to the area around Porto, including Penafiel, Paços de Ferreira, Vila das Aves, Santo Tirso, Vila do Conde, Guimarães and Famalicão. Football was one of the beneficiaries of that profound shift. Except for Braga and Guimarães, few of the sides from those towns had ever experienced first division football, while those who did played just the odd season at the top and had spent the majority of their lifetime in the lower leagues. Suddenly, thanks to local sponsorship by the thriving textile companies, money began to pour in and they were able to sustain successful sporting projects.

As the likes of CUF, Barreirense, Montijo and even Setúbal, later on, disappeared from the footballing map, so the clubs north of Porto rose, much to FC Porto’s benefit as they were mainly supported and run by lifelong fans of the Dragons who had never expected to see their local side play at the highest level. That reality never truly faded, although the peak years were the early 1990s, but still today, looking at the geographical map of Portugal’s top flight, you can still see how important both regions are. In comparison, bar Lisbon, rarely any other district boasts one, two or three sides in the professional leagues.

The goal for many up North was that among the relegated sides from the 1991/92 season, at least two would not be from the northern contingent. It wouldn’t be an easy task, but it was doable if the right results took place. One of the key matches was to be played in Famalicão. The local side had enjoyed a more comfortable stint the season before. Coached by the Brazilian Abel Braga, they ended up 14th with a side that included the defensive prowess of the likes of Tanta, Ben-Hur and Lula.

Professor Neca brings hope of survival to Famalicão

For the 1991/92 season, the board decided to go for the more famed Yugoslavian manager Josip Skoblar, but things turned out badly, and they struggled in the bottom half for months when the arrival of the promising up-and-coming manager, Neca, started to change the club’s dynamics. The famed Professor Neca brought the club back to life and piloted a fantastic recovery that allowed them to dream of the possibility of avoiding relegation if they beat Gil Vicente on the last day of the season and other results went their way.

Alongside the defensive trio, Neca counted on goalkeeper Luís Vasco, wingbacks Secretário and Fonseca, midfielders Lito and Carvalho and the foreign attacking trio of Kupresanic, Hélio and Menad. Oliveira, on the other hand, knew that losing at Famalicão would put his side in danger, but there were still several combinations that would allow Gil Vicente to survive. The club were playing only their second season in the top tier and would become a regular over the following decades, but they were still seen as newcomers, much as their rivals, who had won promotion only two seasons before as well.

Few in Portugal outside their geographical area, as both towns sit in the Braga district, knew much about them, but their rivalry went back a long way. The Barcelos side went with Zé Nuno Amaro in goal, alongside Morato, Rui Carlos, Miguel, Laureta, José Nuno Azevedo, Tuck, Rosado, Armando, Mangonga and a very young Nuno Capucho.

Caution versus all-out attack

Famalicão saved themselves with a 2-0 victory over Gil Vicente but at the end of the match both teams were celebrating

As the match started to unfold, it became clear Gil Vicente were playing safe while Famalicão went for the jugular early on. With little over twenty minutes on the clock, came the moment that defined the day. Amaro, the experienced goalkeeper from Barcelos, committed a reckless foul and was sent off. Many might have suspected that it was all part of the bigger picture of saving as many clubs from the area as possible. Quim, the veteran Gil Vicente goalkeeper, was brought on and soon proved why he was the side’s understudy and not their number one with a blunder that led to Fama making it 1-0, Bosnian midfielder Kupresanin scoring. As it stood, Famalicão were safe, and so were Gil, a result that harmed no-one.

All ears were now elsewhere as the other matches developed. At half time, Estoril were winning at Paços and were considered safe, while Chaves, who were drawing at home against Sporting, were also in a comfortable position. Not so Penafiel, on the losing side of their away day against Beira-Mar, nor Salgueiros, who were scoreless against Benfica.

Second-half permutations galore

Then, in the first half an hour of the second half, everything turned upside down. Salgueiros scored through Abilio, and that result was enough to keep the Vidal Pinheiro side up. Penafiel, who had drawn level, suffered another blow with China netting for Beira-Mar and were now in the drop zone alongside the already relegated União da Madeira and a Torreense side who found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard against Marítimo. That set of results had Gil Vicente mathematically saved, so the side simply stopped pressing, and Menad netted a second for Famalicão, who now found themselves safe.

As it stood, it was a toss-up between Torreense, Salgueiros and Penafiel. If Penafiel were able to turn it round in Aveiro, and Salgueiros held onto their surprise lead at the Estádio da Luz, that was when things would complicate themselves for Famalicão, as they would both be on 29 points compared to Famalicão’s 28. People were still nervous when Isaías netted an equaliser for Benfica, thus guaranteeing that it was either Salgueiros or Torreense who would be relegated and not Famalicão.

Finally, no scorelines changed in the last ten minutes of the matches, and the home supporters in Famalicão celebrated the hard-fought victory on the pitch with the players. Over at the Mário Duarte Stadium in Aveiro, on the other hand, tears poured down the faces of Penafiel’s players. By that time, both Gil Vicente and Famalicão supporters had buried the hatchet and were partying together for another season at the top.

The final standings show that the "no more than one northern club relegated" goal had been achieved

Northern soul – a sign of the times

With a side from Madeira and another from Torres Vedras relegated, and only Penafiel between them, it was a triumphal afternoon for those in the northern districts. More so as another two local teams had just been promoted – Sporting Espinho and Tirsense – alongside the historic Belenenses to increase the geographical relevance of the region in the league. Famalicão were finally relegated in 1994, after another spectacular escape in the 1992/93 season, while Gil Vicente had a longer stint and became a regular in the middle of the table for the following seasons.

Neca would become an iconic manager for clubs in the River Ave region for the following decades, while Oliveira would jump ship and in 1994 would be surprisingly appointed coach of the national side. For two years, he performed wonders and guided Portugal to the 1996 European Championship, then moved to FC Porto where he won two league titles in a row. That sequence of league titles for the Dragons included several players who had played in the ferocious relegation scrap that afternoon, from centre-back Lula to right-back Secretário, without forgetting the important role Capucho had in Porto’s Penta conquest in 1998/99.

A match that could have ended in disaster for both sides ended up summing up what Portuguese football was all about in the 1990s. Northern sides thrived, took care of each other and became more and more abundant with each passing season in Portugal’s top flight, forever changing the scales of power as they grew in sporting relevance.