Vitória de Setúbal · History

Setúbal, a port city on the Sado estuary, is home to Vitória Futebol Clube, known as Vitória de Setúbal. The green-and-white club, nicknamed the «Sadinos», won its way back to the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football, in May 2026 after two straight promotions from the district leagues of the Setúbal Football Association. It plays at the Estádio do Bonfim and has won three Portuguese Cups and one League Cup.

Founded in 1910

The club was founded on 20 November 1910, when a group of breakaway members of Bonfim Futebol Clube, among them Joaquim Venâncio, Henrique Santos and Manuel Gregório, decided to start their own side. For its first months it was called Sport Vitória. The name Vitória Futebol Clube was adopted at the first general assembly on 5 May 1911, and Manuel dos Santos Barreira became the first president. In the following decades the club played in regional competitions: it won the Lisbon Championship first category in 1923-24 and 1926-27, and in 1926-27 it finished runner-up in the Campeonato de Portugal, the national tournament of the time, after losing the final to Belenenses.

Cup finals and first trophies

The Portuguese Cup shaped much of the club’s path. Vitória lost the finals of 1943 to Benfica and 1954 to Sporting, and fell to Benfica again in 1962. The first trophy came in 1964-65 with a 3-1 win over Benfica, the holders. The following year Vitória lost the final 1-0 to Braga, but in 1966-67 it won the cup back by beating Académica de Coimbra 3-2 after extra time. Two more finals followed in that period, against Porto in 1968 and Sporting in 1973, and both were lost. The Estádio do Bonfim opened on 16 September 1962, designed for 35,000 spectators; after later works its capacity was set at 15,497.

The 1970s

With José Maria Pedroto as coach from 1969, the team produced its best league campaigns. Vitória finished third in 1969-70, fourth in 1970-71 and runner-up in the Primeira Divisão in 1971-72, its highest finish, then came third again in 1972-73 and 1973-74. Those squads included Jacinto João, José Maria and José Torres. In Europe, Vitória knocked out Liverpool in the 1969-70 Fairs Cup and reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in two consecutive seasons: in 1972-73 it went out to Tottenham Hotspur on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate, and in 1973-74 VfB Stuttgart eliminated it 3-2 on aggregate.

The 2005 Cup and the 2008 League Cup

The third Portuguese Cup arrived on 29 May 2005, with a 2-1 win over Benfica in the final. A year later the team returned to the final and lost to Porto. In 2005 Vitória also won the Iberian Cup against Betis, 2-1. On 22 March 2008, with Carlos Carvalhal in charge, the club lifted the Taça da Liga: a goalless draw with Sporting was followed by a penalty shoot-out in which on-loan goalkeeper Eduardo saved three kicks. Vitória reached the semi-finals of that competition in 2014-15 and 2016-17 and the final in 2017-18, when it met Sporting again and lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Its best league finish in that period was seventh in 2013-14.

Administrative relegation in 2020

In 2019-20 the team avoided relegation on the pitch by one point, but financial problems prevented it from obtaining a licence for either the Primeira Liga or the Segunda Liga. It was relegated administratively to the Campeonato de Portugal, then the third tier, and its top-flight place went to Portimonense. In 2020-21 it finished third and entered the new Liga 3, where it spent two campaigns before going down in 2022-23. In 2023-24 it was runner-up in the Campeonato de Portugal, but in 2024 it failed to obtain a licence for national competitions and dropped to the Setúbal district second division, the sixth level of Portuguese football.

The climb back from the district leagues

In 2024-25 Vitória won the Setúbal Football Association second division with 26 wins, 3 draws and one defeat. In 2025-26 it won the district first division: the title and promotion were sealed on 3 May 2026 with a 2-1 win over GD Alfarim at the Bonfim in matchday 26, with four games still to play. In the same campaign it won the Taça Joaquim José Sousa Marques against Clube Olímpico do Montijo, and the league title returned the club to national competition in 2026, in the Campeonato de Portugal.