Portugal

Primeira Liga

Saturday 2nd April 2022

Kick Off 20.30 Actual 20.32

F.C. Famalicao 1 Boavista F.C. 2, attendance 4,246

17’ 0-1 (pen)

38’ 0-2

47’ 1-2

@ Estadio Municipal de Famalicao

Rua Antonio Ferreira Magalhaes 142

4760-412 Vila Nova de Famalicao

€10 Admission

No Programme.

Having been given misinformation regarding buying tickets on the day at the S.C. Braga match, I had telephoned Famalicao yesterday afternoon to find out the arrangements for their match, just to be on the safe side. I was told tickets would only be sold to members at the ticket booths prior to kick off, but if we could call in during Friday afternoon, then there would be no problem. The ground was more or less en-route to our evening match anyway, so not a problem. Having arrived at the stadium, we walked inside through an open gate, but could see no ticket office. A very friendly member of staff, who knew all about my phone call yesterday, directed us to the ticket office, which was in town and less than two minutes drive away, and sure enough, there were 2 tickets already put aside for us. Excellent service!

We arrived at the ground very early for the match, parking in the road opposite. We had plenty of time to walk round what was a very unremarkable town, eventually finding a restaurant that was open (most appeared closed until 19.00 at least which is not good to fit around football). As we walked back towards the stadium we had our first glimpse of the riot police in action. Three van loads arrived, with flashing blue lights, to attend a bar where a group of half a dozen Boavista fans were stood. We had heard some chanting, but there looked to be very little else happening. Outside the away end at the stadium, which we had to pass to reach our seats, we saw another Boavista fan ’dealt with’. He was set upon by five officers and given quite a beating, before being hand cuffed and led away. They certainly have a low tolerance towards trouble at matches.

The match was 12th versus 13th in the league table, in a stadium that holds less than 8,000, with a very small section for away fans, so it was understandable that only members could purchase tickets on the night. We had been told that Boavista were classed as a ’risk’ match, so were surprised when taking our seats, to be asked by the stewards if we were home or away fans. There were 20-25 Boavista fans, in club colours, sat in the end block of the home end up against the fence segregating us from the visiting fans, which was rather strange.

The match itself never reached any great heights. Boavista had opened the scoring from the penalty spot and were 0-2 up by halftime. It was very comfortable for them and Famalicao had offered very little. The second half improved, helped by the hosts pulling a goal back two minutes after the restart and despite building up pressure on the Boavista goal, they couldn’t find an equaliser. The visitors were reduced to ten men two minutes into stoppage time, for picking up a second yellow card, but it was too late to affect the outcome of the match.

The first two photos below were taken yesterday afternoon when we called in to buy our tickets.

Portugal

Liga 2

Saturday 2nd April 2022

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.01

Clube Desportivo Feirense 2 Academico Viseu 1, attendance 2,721

4’ 1-0

66’ 1-1

90’+ 2, 2-1

@ Estadio Marcolino Castro

Avenida 25 de Abril 14

4524-969 Santa Maria da Feira

€5 Admission

No Programme.

Within twenty minutes of the final whistle at Sao Joao de Ver, we were parked up and tickets were purchased for game two of the day at C.D. Feirense, where 5th in the league table were hosting 15th. It is a cracking little ground, which has an all seated capacity of 5,449. It was the only game of the trip where the official attendance just wasn’t believable. Perhaps half the 2,721 figure announced would have been nearer the mark. The atmosphere was really good and despite only being 73 supporters in the away end, they contributed greatly, especially the ’hardcore’ 20-25 who stood right behind the goal, although this same group were also involved in a stand off with the home ’ultras’ outside the home end after the final whistle, but the police seemed to have the upper hand in keeping them apart.

Feirense were ahead inside five minutes. A break down the right saw the ball pulled back for a left footed finish into the top corner. Viseu deserved something from the first half and perhaps shaded it, but it remained 1-0 at the break. They levelled the scores midway through the second half, when a cross from the left was headed in powerfully, beating the ’keeper’s attempt to tip it over and bouncing down off the crossbar and over the line. A draw would have been a fair result, as both teams pushed for a winner. It looked like the points would be shared, but two minutes into stoppage time, a corner wasn’t cleared and following a scramble in the box, the ball was played sideways before being smashed into the net to win it for the hosts.

We drove back north after the match, checking in at our hotel in Valongo, to the east of Porto, before heading out for match number three of the day.

Portugal

Liga 3

Relegation Round

Saturday 2nd April 2022

Kick Off 11.00 On Time !

Sporting Club Sao Joao de Ver 1 Associacao Desportiva Sanjoanense 0, attendance 234

37’ 1-0

@ Estadio do Sporting Clube Sao Joao de Ver

Rua da Azenha 78

4520-616 Sao Joao de Ver

€5 Admission

No Programme.

This match only appeared as being a morning kick off midway through the week, which I assume was to aid the travel arrangements of the visiting team, who are from the island of Madeira. It certainly fitted in perfectly for us, as it was just a seven minute drive from our intended afternoon match, so we would be getting in a treble today after all, having lost out on that possibilty originally, with the Rio Ave F.C. game being switched from 17.30 to 20.00.

We arrived at the ground around 40 minutes before kick off. There was only one other spectator here, but they started arriving in dribs and drabs and there were about 30 people in the queue, when they finally opened the ticket windows just twenty five minutes before kick off. Despite being very low key, there was still a ridiculous amount of police in proportion to the crowd. There was even segregation. There were 48 away fans, who had a section of terracing to the left of the seated area, but oddly, everyone shared the same toilets, with a door leading through the corridor at the rear of the seats into the away section!

The match was a very tight affair, between the top two, of the four team group at this stage of the relegation play offs, but at least both teams were trying to play open football, although they lacked any real cutting edge up front. The only goal came eight minutes before halftime, an angled shot into the top corner from 16 yards, that gave the ’keeper no chance.