Vitoria GuimarãesFor much of its history Vitória SC was a club of finals that slipped away. Before 2013 the team from Guimarães had lost five Taça de Portugal finals, in 1942, 1963, 1976, 1988 and 2011, and the long wait ended only with a 2–1 win over Benfica in the final, after the team had eliminated local rival Braga in the quarter-finals. A sixth final, in 2017, ended in another 2–1 defeat against Benfica. This rhythm of reaching decisive matches and winning them only rarely says a good deal about a club that has never belonged to Portugal's big three but has always stayed close to the top.
The club was founded on 22 September 1922 in Guimarães, a city regarded as the cradle of the Portuguese nation. The nickname 'Os Conquistadores' (The Conquerors) refers to Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, and the club's colours are white and black. Its identity is closely tied to the city, which has one team and one football passion, and Vitória's supporters have long created one of the loudest atmospheres in the country.
The home ground is the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, opened in 1965 and rebuilt for Euro 2004. The stadium carries the name of the founder of the state and holds just over 30,000 spectators. It is here that the Derby do Minho against Braga is played, the main local contest of the region and one of the fiercest fixtures in Portuguese football.
In the league Vitória has never won the Portuguese championship. It has finished third in the top flight on four occasions, most recently in 2007–08. One such season was 1986–87, when the Brazilian Paulinho Cascavel was the league's top scorer and the team coached by Marinho Peres finished third. The club has also known harder moments: in 2005–06 it was relegated to the Segunda Liga, even though in the same season it reached the semi-finals of the Taça de Portugal after eliminating Benfica. Besides the 2013 Taça de Portugal, the club's trophy cabinet holds the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, won in 1988.
In Europe, Vitória made its debut in 1969–70 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Its finest campaign remains the 1986–87 UEFA Cup. The team knocked out Atlético Madrid and then lost the quarter-final to West Germany's Borussia Mönchengladbach 5–2 on aggregate, 3–0 away and 2–2 at home. In later years Vitória regularly reached the group stages of European competitions: in the UEFA Cup in 2005–06, and in the Europa League in 2013–14, 2017–18 and 2019–20. In 2013–14 it went out in the round of 32 against FC Porto on away goals after drawing 2–2 away and 3–3 at home.
A new chapter came with the Conference League in 2024–25. Vitória finished second in the league phase, behind Chelsea, and remained unbeaten, which sent it straight to the round of 16, where it drew 2–2 with Real Betis in the first leg. That result shows that the club from Minho can compete with European sides while staying true to its local identity, its tradition and its devoted supporters.
