Portugal
Liga 3
Group B
Friday 3rd March 2023
Kick Off 19.00 On Time!
F.C. Alverca 2 Real Sport Clube 1, attendance 300
39’ 0-1
71’ 1-1
90’ + 7, 2-1 (pen)
@ Complexo Desportivo F.C. Alverca
Rua Cesar Augusta Goncalves Ferreira
2615-391 Alverca do Ribatejo
€4 Admission
No Programme
Another trip to Portugal, heading out on the 10.10 EasyJet flight (left 28 minutes late) from Gatwick to Lisbon. It was a late planned trip, not helped by the fact that the breakdown of fixtures for the top two levels were not announced until late on Sunday evening! This is absolutely pathetic, especially when considering the three biggest clubs in this country can pull in crowds of 50,000 for home games. Anyway, tonight wasn’t really a problem, as I knew a week ago that third tier Alverca were scheduled to play this evening, but the rest of the weekend was not so easy to plan for, but in the end it appeared to look very promising. It was also possible to do the trip without hiring a car, as all the intended games were doable by public transport.
Alverca do Ribatejo is north east of Lisbon and is just a 19 minute train ride from Santa Apolonia station. It was only 8 stops, but was a very reasonable €2.45 return. The scheduled 1720 train left six minutes late, but with the walk from station to ground being just fifteen minutes, it wasn’t a problem. Tickets were easily obtainable too, with the ticket office located in the corner as you walked towards the ground entrance.
Alverca were formed in 1939 and spent most of their time in the lower levels of Portuguese football, but in 1998 they made it into the top division, playing four of the next five seasons there (I saw them draw 1-1 away at Os Belenenses in Nov 2001) and despite being promoted again for the 2003/04 season, they were relegated again at the end of that season, playing one more season at level two, before folding in 2005 due to financial issues. They were reformed the following year, playing at district level, but they were promoted back to national league level at the end of 2017/18.
The stadium is an all seater, with a 7,705 capacity and looks as though it had some sort of track around the pitch at some point (the players enter from a tunnel below ground, behind the goal to the right, which judging by its position, certainly backs up this theory). Only two sides of the ground are in use these days. Home fans are in the two tiered main stand, which has the only cover on offer, whilst the visitors get a section behind the goal to the left.
Alverca came into this game as league leaders, whilst the visitors were eighth. Neither side looked capable, or even interested, in scoring, in a very cagey first half, but it all changed when Real opened the scoring six minutes before halftime, finishing with a speculative long range effort that swerved away from the ‘keeper and into the far corner of the net. Alverca had to come out of their shell in the second half, which made for a much better game, especially watching as a neutral. They drew level with nineteen minutes left, poking in from eight yards, after a shot from the edge of the box was half blocked by a defender. They pushed for a winner, but looked to have fallen short, before a very soft looking penalty was awarded to them seven minutes into stoppage time, which was duly dispatched to give them a win that sees them move up to third place in the league table.
The first train back in to Lisbon after the game was scheduled for 21.28, but left a couple of minutes late.
