User:Heerenveen/Portuguese Liga
The Portuguese Liga, currently named BLOSELIGA after its current sponsor, is the top-level football competition in Portugal. This means that around six or seven teams in it will be half-decent with a chance of doing something in Europe, and the rest are deadweight that wouldn't cut it in the English Conference. The bottom two fillers each year are relegated, in order to make way for two promoted teams from the Liga de Honra, who are almost inevitably just more flotsam/jetsam, except in the case of managers commiting team suicide. Then getting fired. The cup is paraded each year in either Porto or Lisbon, and other municipalities and cities are starting to put a no-cups rule in place.
History[edit | edit source]
Early days - Unofficial[edit | edit source]
In the early days, the league was actually competitive, with Carvacelinhos, Marítimo and Olhanense all winning what they thought would go down in history as titles. And they did, for ten years.
The start of Três Grandes[edit | edit source]
The Belém Shocker[edit | edit source]
50's, 60's, and 70's - The Steamroller[edit | edit source]
The 1980's - A challenge?[edit | edit source]
The 90's - Resurgent Boavista[edit | edit source]
The Millenium - Boavista championship, Braga pressure[edit | edit source]
Allegations of corruption[edit | edit source]
- Main article: Pinto da Costa
Três Grandes[edit | edit source]
The three teams that dominate the competition, FC Porto, SL Benfica and Sporting CP are known as Três Grandes. This nickname was given by Pinto da Costa in 1986 to further the egos of the three clubs. Many plans to split off into a Liga da Três Grandes have been attempted, but blocked by the Portuguese government for "Possible ending of the country".
A few teams have tried in vain to join them and make it an elite quartet. Early on, Belenenses were pretty much considered a Grande, but faded by 1950. Boavista challenged for it twice, once during the supposedly great Boavistão of the late 1980's that never actually did squat, and the flash-in-the-pan title before sliding back down to mid-table obscurity. Vitória SC are always talked about as a potential competetitor to Três Grandes, despite the fact they have achieved fourth place only a handful of times, and even being relegated to the Liga de Honra in 2006. SC Braga have also been considered after their freak string of far-off four places. However, as ever, it is certain that Braga will fall down in a couple of years due to lack of money. Other teams such as Associação Académica de Coimbra and Vitória FC also claim to be the fourth team, but only due to funds, which are extremely badly managed.
