The Taça AF Viseu, generally known as the Taça Sócios de Mérito, is a men's football knockout cup competition held between the clubs of the Viseu Football Association and competed by semi-professional and amateur teams.

Winners receive the Taça AF Viseu trophy, qualify for the Taça de Portugal and a place in the Supertaça AF Viseu.

Format The cup is open to all clubs competing in the Viseu Football Association leagues. The competition is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random. Teams from Primeira Divisão enter at the preliminary round stage, those from Liga de Honra enter at the second qualifying round.

As of 2011, the third tier of the Viseu Football Association, Segunda Divisão was abolished after the restructure of the Portuguese football league system, drastically reducing the number of teams.

History The competition was instigated in 1979 with AF Viseu creating two cups: Taça Sócios de Mérito for clubs in the regional leagues and Taça Sócios Honorários for clubs in the national leagues. The first winners were Canas de Senhorim.

The vast majority of Taça Sócios de Mérito final matches have been in Viseu: most of these were played at Estádio do Fontelo, with other final being played at Estádios dos Trambelos and Mundão. Other venues used for the final were Estádio João Cardoso in Tondela, Parque Desportivo, in Oliveira de Frades, Estádio dos Remédios in Lamego, Complexo Desportivo Canas de Senhorim, in Nelas, Complexo Desporti, in Castro Daire, Parque Desportivo de Sant'Ana, in Penalva do Castelo, Estádio Dr. Orlando Mendes, in Santa Comba Dão, and the municipal stadiums in Nelas, Tarouca and Mangualde.

A penalty shoot-out has been required on seven occasions, in the 1989, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 and 2023 finals.

In 1984, Penalva do Castelo became the first club to achieve the double by winning the Taça Sócios de Mérito (beating Silgueiros 2–0) and the 1ª Divisão in the same season. Since then, 8 more clubes have completead the double, Lamego in 1992, Nelas in 1993, Tondela in 2005, Santacombadense in 2006, Mangualde in 2009, Sampedrense in 2010, Cinfães in 2024, and Mortágua have done it twice in 1988 and 2022.

In 1987, Sernancelhe became the first club outside the top division to win the Taça Sócios de Mérito, repeating the feat ten years later. In 1990, Ferreira de Aves also won the cup competing in a lower division. In 2012, Mangualde became the last side to date to win the competition from outside the top division. Six second-level clubs – Sátão in 1988, Santar in 1992, Parada de Gonta in 1995, UDC Sul in 1996, Tarouquense in 1999 and Mortágua in 2011 – have since reached the final, though all six lost.

There have been two local derbies played at the cup final: in 1993, Nelas defeated Canas de Senhorim and in 2026, Lamelas defeated Castro Daire.

As of 2026, 23 clubs have won the Taça Sócios de Mérito. The record for the most wins is held by Mangualde, with 4 victories. Silgueiros, Lamemgo, Santacombadense, Tondela, Mangualde, and Cinfães have successfully defended the title. Silgueiros have four consecutive finals between 1981 and 1984, becoming the first and only team to reach four consecutive finals. Silgueiros also have the most final appearances with seven. Lamelas are the current holders, having beaten Castro Daire 2–1 in the 2026 final.

Finals +Key to list of winnersMatch went to extra timeMatch decided by a penalty shootout after extra timeWinning team won the DoubleTeam from outside the top tier of Viseu Football Association

+Taça AF Viseu winnersSeasonWinnersScoreRunners–upDateVenue1979–80Canas de Senhorim (1)3–1Oliveira de Frades15 June 1980Estádio do Fontelo1980–81Silgueiros (1)2–1Carvalhais16 May 1981Estádio dos Trambelos1981–82Silgueiros (2)2–1Oliveira de Frades10 June 19821982–83Briosa Pextrafil (1)1–0Silgueiros4 June 19831983–84Penalva do Castelo (1)2–0Silgueiros20 May 1984Estádio Municipal de Nelas1984–85Oliveira de Frades (1)1–0Paivense19 May 1985Parque Jogos Mundão1985–86Lusitano (1)2–0União Desportiva Cancela1 June 1986Estádio João Cardoso1986–87Sernancelhe (1)3–1Lamego7 June 1987Campo do Matão1987–88Mortágua (1)1–0Sátão5 June 1988Estádio Municipal de Nelas1988–89Moimenta da Beira (1)0–0(4–2)Lamego4 June 1989Estádio Municipal de Tarouca1989–90Ferreira de Aves (1)1–0Carvalhais17 June 1990Estádio do Fontelo1990–91Lamego (1)5–2Santar2 June 1991Parque Desportivo Oliveira de Frades1991–92Lamego (2)2–0São João da Pesqueira10 May 1992Estádio dos Remédios1992–93Nelas (1)1–0Canas de Senhorim6 June 1993Estádio João Cardoso1993–94Sernancelhe (2)3–2Moimenta da Beira10 June 1994Estádio do Fontelo1994–95Mangualde (1)4–2Parada de Gonta4 June 1995Complexo Desportivo Canas de Senhorim1995–96Lusitano (2)5–1UDC Sul2 June 1996Complexo Desportivo de Castro Daire1996–97Sernancelhe (3)1–0Oliveira de Frades1 June 1997Estádio Municipal de Mangualde1997–98Ferreira de Aves (2)1–1(3–2)Cambres7 June 1998Complexo Desportivo de Castro Daire1998–99Souselo (1)2–1Tarouquense6 June 1999Estádio Municipal Fornelos1999–2000Cambres (1)2–1Paivense4 June 2000Estádio da Pedreira2000–01Santacombadense (1)4–2Canas de Senhorim3 June 2001Estádio João Cardoso2001–02Santacombadense (2)2–1Sampedrense2 June 2002Estádio do Fontelo2002–03Paivense (1)4–1Santar1 June 2003Parque Desportivo de Sant'Ana2003–04Tondela (1)0–0(4–2)Nelas30 May 2004Estádio Dr. Orlando Mendes2004–05Tondela (2)3–2Lusitano28 May 2005Estádio do Fontelo2005–06Santacombadense (3)6–0Canas de Senhorim4 June 20062006–07Cinfães (1)3–3(4–2)Lamelas3 June 20072007–08Mangualde (2)2–1Santacombadense19 April 20082008–09Mangualde (32–0Moimenta da Beira31 May 20092009–10Sampedrense (2)2–1Lusitano30 May 20102010–11Sátão (1)1–0Mortágua22 May 20112011–12Mangualde (4)3–1Paivense26 May 20122012–13Castro Daire (1)1–1(3–1)Moimenta da Beira25 May 20132013–14Paivense (2)3–1Moimenta da Beira24 May 20142014–15Carregal do Sal (1)2–2(5–4)Paivense23 May 20152015–16Penalva do Castelo (2)3–1Moimenta da Beira29 May 2016Estádio João Cardoso2016–17Lamego (3)3–0Silgueiros27 May 2017Estádio Municipal Nossa Senhora dos Remédios2017–18Silgueiros (3)3–2Lamego31 May 2018Estádio do Fontelo2018–19Ferreira de Aves (3)2–1Silgueiros26 May 20192019–20Abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic2020–212021–22Mortágua (2)3–0Lamelas21 May 2022Estádio do Fontelo2022–23Cinfães (2)0–0(5–4)Lusitano29 May 20232023–24Cinfães (3)2–0Resende2 June 2024Estádio João Cardoso2024–25Carregal do Sal (2)1–0Oliveira de Frades24 May 2025Estádio do Fontelo2025–26Lamelas (1)2–1Castro Daire23 May 2026

Total titles won Club Winners Runners-up Winning years Runner-up years Total finalappearances Mangualde 1995, 2008, 2009, 2012 4 Silgueiros 1981, 1982, 2018 1983, 1984, 2017, 2019 7 Lamego 1991, 1992, 2017 1987, 1989, 2018 6 Santacombadense 2001, 2002, 2006 2008 4 Sernancelhe 1987, 1994, 1997 3 Ferreira de Aves 1990, 1998, 2019 3 Cinfães 2007, 2023, 2024 3 Paivense 2003, 2014 1982, 2000, 2012, 2015 6 Lusitano 1986, 1996 2005, 2010, 2023 5 Mortágua 1988, 2022 2011 3 Tondela 2004, 2005 2 Penalva do Castelo 1984, 2016 2 Carregal do Sal 2015, 2025 2 Moimenta da Beira 1989 1994, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016 6 Oliveira de Frades 1985 1980, 1982, 1997, 2025 5 Canas de Senhorim 1980 1993, 2001, 2006 4 Lamelas 2026 2007, 2022 3 Nelas 1993 2004 2 Cambres 2000 1998 2 Sampedrense 2010 2002 2 Sátão 2011 1988 2 Castro Daire 2013 2026 2 Briosa Pextrafil 1983 1 Souselo 1999 1 Carvalhais 1981, 1989 2 Santar 1991, 2003 2 União Desportiva Cancela 1986 1 São João da Pesqueira 1992 1 Parada de Gonta 1995 1 UDC Sul 1996 1 Tarouquense 1999 1 Resende 2024 1

Total titles won by council City Number of titles Clubs Viseu Silgueiros (3), Lusitano (2), Briosa Pextrafil (1) Cinfães Cinfães (3), Souselo (1) Mangualde Mangualde (4) Lamego Lamego (3), Cambres (1) Sátão Ferreira de Aves (3), Sátão (1) Santa Comba Dão Santacombadense (3) Sernancelhe Sernancelhe (3) Carregal do Sal Carregal do Sal (2) Castro Daire Castro Daire (1), Lamelas (1) Penalva do Castelo Penalva do Castelo (2) Tondela Tondela (2) Vila Nova de Paiva Paivense (2) Mortágua Mortágua (2) Canas de Senhorim Canas de Senhorim (1) Moimenta da Beira Moimenta da Beira (1) Nelas Nelas (1) Oliveira de Frades Oliveira de Frades (1) São Pedro do Sul Sampedrense (1)

References

Works cited

External links Competition page