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EspañolPORTUGUESE LIGA
| Portuguese Liga |
|---|
 |
 |
| 'Founded' |
| 1934 |
| 'Nation' |
| 'Relegation To' |
| Liga de Honra |
| 'Number of Teams' |
| 16 |
| 'European Qualification' |
| UEFA Champions League UEFA Cup UEFA Intertoto Cup |
| 'Main Competitions' |
| Cup of Portugal Portuguese League Cup 'Portuguese Liga' Portuguese SuperCup |
| 'Current Champions' |
| Porto |
| 'Most Successful Club' |
| S.L. Benfica (31) |
| 'Website' |
| Official |
The 'Portuguese Liga' (pron. ), currently named 'BWINLIGA' after its main sponsor, is the league competition for Portuguese professional football clubs located at the top of the Portuguese football league system (above the ''Liga de Honra''), making it Portugal's primary football competition.
The ''Liga'' is presently contested by sixteen clubs each season, but only five of them have won the title. Currently in its 73rd edition (counting four provisional championships in the 30's) the competition is dominated by the so called "big three"; (Benfica, Porto and Sporting C.P.), who have a total of 71 titles, with Belenenses and Boavista winning the other two.
History
Before the Portuguese football reform of 1938, an experimental competition on a round-basis was already being held — the ''Primeira Liga'' (Premier League) and the winners of that competition were named 'League Champions'. Despite that, a Portuguese Championship in a knock-out cup format was the most popular and defined the ' Portuguese Champion'.
Then, with the reform, a round-basis competition was implemented as the most important of the calendar and began defining the Portuguese champion. From 1938 to 2000 the name ''Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Divisão'' (National Championship of the First Division), or just ''Primeira Divisão'' (First Division) was used. When the LPFP took control of the two nationwide leagues in 1999 it was renamed ''Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Liga'' (Premier League National Championship), or simply ''Primeira Liga'' (Premier League), and after Galp acquired the naming rights in 2002, 'SuperLiga Galp Energia'. However a four year deal with the Austrian sports betting web portal bwin was announced on 18 August 2005, amid questioning by the other gambling authorities in Portugal (the Santa Casa da Misericórdia and the Portuguese Casinos Association), which claimed to hold the exclusive of legal gambling games in national territory. After holding the name Liga betandwin.com for the 2005/2006 season [1], a name change to BWINLIGA (all caps) was announced on 21 July 2006 [2]. Since the 1995-96 season, each win is worth 3 points instead of the usual 2.
Competition
From the 2006-07 season on there are 16 clubs in the Portuguese Liga, down from 18 in the previous seasons. During the course of a season each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at their opponent's, for a total of 30 games. At the end of each season, the two lowest placed teams are relegated to the ''Liga de Honra'', and the top two teams from ''Liga de Honra'' are promoted to the Portuguese Liga.
Currently, the top three teams in the Liga qualify for the UEFA Champions League. The top two teams go straight into the group phase. The third placed team enters the competition at the third qualifying round, and must survive a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group phase. The teams classified in fourth and fifth enter the UEFA Cup together with the winner of the Cup of Portugal. If the winner of the Cup of Portugal is already qualified for the Champions League, or would be qualified for the UEFA Cup by its league position, the runner-up will occupy the spot in the UEFA Cup. If the runner-up is also qualified for European competition through its league position, the spot is given to the 6th-placed team in the Liga. The 6th-placed team is allowed to play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, but when it plays in the UEFA Cup because of the situation above, then, the spot is taken by the 7th-placed team.
Current clubs in Portuguese BWINLIGA
★ Associação 'Académica' de Coimbra – Organismo Autónomo de Futebol ★ Clube de Futebol «Os 'Belenenses'» ★ Sport Lisboa e 'Benfica' ★ 'Boavista' Futebol Clube ★ 'Sporting' Clube 'de Braga' ★ Clube de Futebol 'Estrela da Amadora' ★ 'Leixões' Sport Club ★ Clube Desportivo 'Nacional' "'da Madeira'" | ★ Club Sport 'Marítimo' ★ Associação 'Naval 1º de Maio' ★ Futebol Clube 'Paços de Ferreira' ★ Futebol Clube do 'Porto' ★ 'Sporting' Clube de Portugal '"Portugal"'/'"Lisbon"' ★ 'União' Desportiva 'de Leiria' ★ 'Vitória' Sport Clube "'de Guimarães'" ★ 'Vitória' Futebol Clube "'de Setúbal'" |
Television
Sport TV holds rights to broadcast both first and second division matches on a pay-per-view basis. All clubs negotiate individually with the channel. One game a week is broadcast on free television, in a contract deal between Sport TV and TVI - Televisão Independente.
UEFA Ranking
'Current National League Ranking'
★ 01 La Liga
★ 02 FA Premier League
★ 03 Serie A
★ 04 Ligue 1
★ 05 Bundesliga
★ '06' 'Liga'
★ 07 Liga I
★ 08 Eredivisie
(see UEFA coefficients full list for more information)
Continental Honours by Liga Players
★ '1965' European Footballer of the Year Eusébio
★ '1966' FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe' Eusébio
★ '1974' European Golden Boot Héctor Yazalde
★ '1987' African Footballer of the Year Rabah Madjer
★ '1992' 1992 Summer Olympics Silver Medal Andrzej Juskowiak
★ '1993' African Footballer of the Year Rashidi Yekini
★ '1998' European Golden Boot Mário Jardel
★ '2000' 2000 Summer Olympics Gold Medal Albert Meyong
★ '2000' European Footballer of the Year Luís Figo
★ '2001' European Golden Boot Mário Jardel
★ '2002' FIFA World Cup Champion Anderson Polga
★ '2006' FIFA World Cup All-Star Team Ricardo
★ Most caps for Morocco national football team Noureddine Naybet Played with Sporting CP 115 Caps
★ Most caps for Portugal national football team Luís Figo Played with Sporting CP 129 Caps
Total number of titles through time
Attendance
Since the beginning of the league, there are three clubs with an attendance much higher than the others: S.L. Benfica, F.C. Porto and Sporting Clube de Portugal. In the 2006-07 season the average attendance in the Portuguese league was 10.636.
The 2006-07 season saw an average attendance by club [3]:
List of champions and top scorers
Records
Eusebio is considered Benfica's and Portugal's most renowned player.
| 'Top Ten Highest Goalscorers' | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Period | Club | Goals | ||
| 1 | Fernando Peyroteo | 1937-1949 | Sporting CP | 330 (Ø 1,68) | |
| 2 | Eusébio | 1960-1977 | SL Benfica | 319 (Ø 1,02) | |
| 3 | Fernando Gomes | 1974-1991 | FC Porto | 318 (Ø 0,79) | |
| 4 | Jose Aguas | 1950-1963 | SL Benfica | 290 (Ø 1,03) | |
| 5 | Néné | 1968-1986 | SL Benfica | 262 (Ø 0,62) | |
| 6 | Manuel Fernandes | 1970-1988 | Sporting CP | 243 (Ø 0,50) | |
| 7 | Matateu | 1951-1967 | Os Belenenses | 218 (Ø 0,75) | |
| 8 | José Augusto Torres | 1959-1980 | SL Benfica | 217 (Ø 0,57) | |
| 9 | Rui Jordao | 1971-1989 | Sporting CP | 215 (Ø 0,60) | |
| 10 | Arsénio Duarte | 1943-1959 | SL Benfica | 211 (Ø 0,67) | |
Other records
★ In 1972/73, Benfica won the Portuguese Liga without any defeat (28 wins and 2 ties).
Participating Clubs
Includes ''Campeonato da Liga''. Years below refer to the season that ended that year.
See also
★ Sports league attendances
★ ''Apito Dourado'' affair
External links
★ Official Site
★ Football results - Portugal football
★ zerozero.pt
★ Portuguese Soccer News
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