Amarante F.C.

Amarante Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Amarante F.C. or simply Amarante, is a Portuguese football club based in Amarante, Porto District. It currently competes in the Liga Portugal 2, the second tier of Portuguese football.

Founded in 1923, Amarante has spent most of its history in regional and lower national divisions. It has spent six seasons in the national second tier, including five seasons between 1979 and 1989 before returning to the level in 2026. The club has won four national minor titles – one at the third tier (2025–26) and three at the fourth tier (2007–08, 2010–11, and 2023–24) – and has twice reached the Round of 16 in the Taça de Portugal (2015–16 and 2023–24).

History Early years (1923–1977) Amarante Futebol Clube was founded on 4 March 1923 by Pompeu da Cunha Brochado. The club played its first football match on 31 May 1923, defeating Stª. Natália 4–0. It affiliated with the Porto Football Association (AF Porto) in 1934, entering official regional competitions.

Amarante won its first regional title in 1935, becoming champions of the AF Porto championship in the 1934–35 season. The club subsequently progressed through the district divisions, winning promotion from the 3ª Divisão Distrital to the 2ª Divisão Distrital in 1953 and from the latter to the 1ª Divisão Distrital in 1964. In 1966, Amarante competed in the Terceira Divisão for the first time, after winning its regional series. The competition was then contested by the leading teams from the regional championships, with the winner gaining access to the Segunda Divisão. Amarante won its group and reached the quarter-finals, losing to Tirsense 0–1.

In 1977, Amarante won the AF Porto 1ª Divisão Distrital and returned to the Terceira Divisão, which by then operated as a national third-tier competition. This marked the beginning of the club's presence in the national divisions, where it would remain continuously until 1997.

Rise to the second tier (1977–1990) Amarante established itself in the national divisions in the late 1970s. After finishing second in its Terceira Divisão series in 1978–79, the club earned promotion to the Segunda Divisão, then the second tier of Portuguese football, for the first time. It spent three consecutive seasons at that level from 1979–80 to 1981–82.

During its first spell in the second tier, Amarante also recorded one of the most notable results in its history. On 1 December 1979, it held Sporting CP to a 1–1 draw at Campo da Barroca in the Taça de Portugal, before losing 5–0 in the replay at Estádio José Alvalade.

After returning to the Terceira Divisão, Amarante won promotion back to the Segunda Divisão in 1985 and again in 1988. In total, the club spent five seasons in the second tier during the period, before its last appearance at that level in 1988–89.

A restructuring of the national championships in 1990 placed Amarante in the newly established Segunda Divisão B, then the third tier of Portuguese football. Amarante entered the competition at that level in 1990–91.

Between the national divisions and the district leagues (1990–2006) The 1990s and early 2000s were marked by repeated movement between the national and district competitions. After being relegated from the Segunda Divisão B in 1990–91, Amarante returned to the third tier in 1993–94 but was relegated again in 1995–96. Following another relegation in 1996–97, the club spent the 1997–98 season in the AF Porto district competitions before winning promotion back to the national fourth tier for 1998–99. Amarante remained in the national divisions until 2002, when it was relegated to district football again. After finishing third in the AF Porto Divisão de Honra in 2004–05, the club won the competition in 2005–06 and returned to the national divisions.

Return to national prominence (2006–2023) Amarante's return to the national divisions in 2006 began a period of renewed success. In 2007–08, the club won the Terceira Divisão, securing its first national championship at the fourth tier. It repeated the achievement in 2010–11.

In 2013, the Segunda Divisão and Terceira Divisão were merged to form the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores, with Amarante competing in the new third tier from the 2013–14 season. In 2015–16, the club reached the Round of 16 of the Taça de Portugal for the first time, defeating Primeira Liga side Marítimo 1–0 before losing 2–1 to Arouca. In June 2019, the Portuguese Football Federation certified Amarante as a four-star training entity, recognising its youth-development structures and organisation. Amarante continued to compete in the Campeonato de Portugal through the late 2010s and early 2020s.

In 2021, Amarante reached the promotion phase for the newly established Liga 3 after finishing among the qualifying teams in the 2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal. Although it did not secure promotion to Liga 3, the subsequent restructuring of the national leagues placed the Campeonato de Portugal and Amarante at the fourth tier for 2021–22.

Recent success (2023–present) In 2023–24, Amarante secured promotion to Liga 3 in May 2024 before winning the Campeonato de Portugal title in June, defeating Vitória de Setúbal 3–0 in the final at the Estádio Nacional. The title was Amarante's third national championship at the fourth tier, following its victories in 2007–08 and 2010–11. During the same season, Amarante reached the Round of 16 of the Taça de Portugal for the second time, where it was eliminated by Gil Vicente.

In its first Liga 3 campaign in 2024–25, Amarante reached the promotion phase, finishing seventh. The following season began under manager Eurico Couto, who was dismissed in October 2025 after a difficult start to the campaign. Alex Costa was appointed as his replacement on 17 October 2025.

Under Costa, Amarante recovered strongly and qualified for the promotion phase of Liga 3. On 10 May 2026, Amarante secured the club's first promotion to the professional leagues and its return to the second level of Portuguese football for the first time since 1988–89 by defeating União de Santarém 1–0. Six days later, it defeated Vitória de Guimarães B 3–1 away to win the Liga 3 title. In recognition of the 2025–26 campaign, four Amarante players were selected for the Liga 3 Team of the Year, while Tiago Ventura received the league's Revelation Player award. In July 2026, the Municipality of Amarante awarded the club the Municipal Medal of Merit in recognition of its Liga 3 title and historic promotion to Liga Portugal 2.

Ahead of the 2026–27 season, Costa left the club and was replaced by Jorge Pinto, who returned to Amarante after previously managing the club in 2021–22.

Grounds Amarante Futebol Clube has played at several grounds throughout its history. In its early years, the club used Campo da Praça (1923–1925), Campo da Florestal (1925–1926), Campo da Feira (1931–1933), and Campo da Barroca (1934–1981). The current Estádio Municipal de Amarante was opened in 1981, replacing Campo da Barroca, and underwent significant refurbishment in 2006. With a seating capacity of 5,000, the stadium is owned by the Amarante Municipality, serves as the club’s home ground and includes a main stand, press boxes and training facilities.

Seasons Table correct as of 20 September 2026. ChampionsRunners-upDivision winnersDivision runners-upPromotedRelegatedCurrent season SeasonLeagueCupLeague CupSuper CupNotesDivisionTierPos. Pld W D L GF GA PtsResultResultResult1934–35 4 DNPn/an/a1935–36 4 DNPn/an/a1936–37 4 DNPn/an/a1937–38 4 DNPn/an/a1938–39No information available.1939–40 5 DNPn/an/a1940–41 5 DNPn/an/a1941–42 5 DNPn/an/aNo information available.1944–45 6 DNPn/an/a1945–46 6 DNPn/an/a1946–47 6 DNPn/an/a1947–48 6 2nd 4 2 1 1 13 11 9DNPn/an/a1948–49 6 DNPn/an/a1949–50 61st 6 5 1 0 17 8 17DNPn/an/a 2R 2 0 1 1 4 6 - Promotion playoff1950–51 61st 12 9 2 1 37 15 32DNPn/an/a 1R 2 0 0 2 2 10 - Promotion playoff1951–52 6 DNPn/an/a1952–53 62nd 18 12 4 2 49 18 46DNPn/an/aW Promotion playoff1953–54 58th 30 11 8 11 59 49 60DNPn/an/a1954–55 55th 30 16 3 11 67 54 35DNPn/an/a1955–56 52nd 18 10 4 4 44 21 24DNPn/an/a Promotion stage1956–57 5 DNPn/an/a Promotion stage1957–58 5 DNPn/an/a1958–59 5 DNPn/an/a1959–60 5 DNPn/an/a1960–61 5 DNPn/an/a1961–62 5 DNPn/an/a1962–63 5 DNPn/an/a1963–64 51st DNPn/an/a1964–65 4 6th 26 10 5 11 36 39 25DNPn/an/a1965–66 42nd 26 14 6 6 53 34 34DNPn/an/a Qualified to Terceira Divisão 31st 10 7 2 1 29 10 16 Qualified to PlayoffsQF 2 0 0 2 0 3 - Demoted to Regional1966–67 4 8th 26 10 6 10 40 32 26DNPn/an/a1967–68 4 7th 26 14 0 2 44 41 28DNPn/an/a1968–69 4 7th 34 14 9 11 50 46 37DNPn/an/a1969–70 4 10th 32 13 7 12 62 51 33DNPn/an/a1970–71 416th 34 9 8 17 50 61 26DNPn/an/aW 1 1 0 0 5 0 - Relegation playoff1971–72 4 3rd 32 17 8 7 63 41 42DNPn/an/a1972–73 4 4th 32 15 6 11 53 39 36DNPn/an/a1973–74 4 3rd 32 18 7 7 66 41 43DNPn/an/a1974–75 42nd 32 19 3 10 51 31 41DNPn/an/a1975–76 44th 36 15 10 11 55 32 40DNPn/an/a1976–77 41st 32 18 10 4 60 23 46DNPn/an/a1977–78 37th 30 12 6 12 41 39 303Rn/an/a1978–79 32nd 30 19 6 5 52 20 441Rn/aDNP1979–80 212th 30 13 3 14 29 40 292Rn/aDNP1980–81 211th 30 10 9 11 31 35 291Rn/aDNP1981–82 215th 30 4 6 20 23 60 143Rn/aDNP1982–83 312th 30 9 10 11 28 33 282Rn/aDNP1983–84 39th 30 10 10 10 35 30 301Rn/aDNP1984–85 31st 30 18 6 6 55 17 424Rn/aDNP3rd 4 1 1 2 4 5 3 2nd Phase - Zone 11985–86 215th 30 4 8 18 27 56 164Rn/aDNP1986–87 37th 30 12 8 10 51 48 321Rn/aDNP1987–88 32nd 38 23 8 7 55 26 544Rn/aDNP1988–89 217th 34 4 9 21 26 63 172Rn/aDNP1989–90 35th 34 14 13 7 46 34 411Rn/aDNP1990–91 314th 38 15 8 15 51 50 383Rn/aDNP1991–92 44th 34 16 6 12 44 31 383Rn/aDNP1992–93 45th 34 18 6 10 54 40 424Rn/aDNP1993–94 42nd 34 22 5 7 68 39 492Rn/aDNP1994–95 313th 34 10 10 14 31 41 302Rn/aDNP1995–96 315th 34 10 10 14 42 51 403Rn/aDNP1996–97 417th 34 8 9 17 45 56 332Rn/aDNP1997–98 52nd 34 21 7 6 71 25 70DNPn/aDNP1998–99 413th 34 11 8 15 45 45 412Rn/aDNP1999–2000 414th 34 10 7 17 33 53 371Rn/aDNP2000–01 411th 34 12 9 13 44 47 451Rn/aDNP2001–02 414th 32 9 9 14 41 61 362Rn/aDNP2002–03 510th 38 16 3 19 51 53 51DNPn/aDNP2003–04 53rd 34 16 9 9 50 35 57DNPn/aDNP2004–05 53rd 34 21 5 8 61 42 682Rn/aDNP2005–06 51st 34 22 8 4 70 21 741Rn/aDNP2006–07 49th 30 11 7 12 41 42 401Rn/aDNP2007–08 42nd 26 15 5 6 43 26 50 3RDNPDNP1st 10 8 1 1 27 12 50 Promotion stage2008–09 39th 22 6 5 11 24 41 23 1RDNPDNP5th 10 3 3 4 12 11 24 Relegation stage2009–10 42nd 22 9 9 4 29 23 36 1RDNPDNP6th 10 2 0 8 8 17 24 Promotion stage2010–11 42nd 22 13 5 4 30 15 44 2RDNPDNP1st 10 5 2 3 11 8 39 Promotion stage2011–12 35th 30 13 10 7 48 30 49 2RDNPDNP2012–13 311th 30 7 12 11 30 33 33 2RDNPDNP2013–14 34th 18 7 6 5 29 21 27 1RDNPDNP3rd 14 6 3 5 19 15 35 Relegation stage2014–15 36th 18 5 5 8 19 25 20 1RDNPDNP4th 14 6 3 5 24 24 31 Relegation stage2015–16 36th 18 5 6 7 23 24 21 L16DNPDNP4th 14 5 6 3 14 11 32 Relegation stage2016–17 31st 18 12 5 1 33 9 41 3RDNPDNP6th 14 4 5 5 18 17 17 Promotion stage2017–18 36th 30 12 9 9 42 33 45 3RDNPDNP2018–19 37th 34 15 9 10 45 28 54 3RDNPDNP2019–20 310th 25 8 9 8 31 29 33 2RDNPDNP Season was cancelled due to COVID-192020–21 35th 18 7 3 8 15 17 24 1RDNPDNP4th 6 1 2 3 4 7 5 Liga 3 Qualification Series2021–22 45th 18 8 6 4 33 21 30 1RDNPDNP1st 6 4 1 1 15 5 13 Relegation stage2022–23 42nd 26 14 9 3 43 25 51 1RDNPDNP3rd 6 1 3 2 2 4 6 Promotion stage2023–24 41st 26 17 8 1 40 15 59 L16DNPDNP1st 6 4 1 1 9 4 13Promotion stageW 1 1 0 0 3 0 -Championship final2024–25 34th 18 9 3 6 16 11 30 4RDNPDNP7th 14 3 4 7 14 18 13Promotion stage2025–26 32nd 18 8 5 5 19 17 29 3RDNPDNP1st 14 9 4 1 22 11 31Promotion stage2026–27 215th 6 1 2 3 5 8 53RDNPDNP

Overall Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 6 Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 25 Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 32 (including 17 at regional divisions) Seasons spent at Level 5 of the football league system: 19 (all regional divisions)