Vitória S.C. (women)

Vitória de Guimarães
Full nameVitória Sport Clube
Nickname(s)Os Conquistadores (The Conquerors)
Os Vimaranenses (The ones from Guimarães)
Founded12 October 2018 (2018-10-12)
GroundAcademia Vitória S.C.
Capacity2,500
ChairmanAntónio Miguel Cardoso
ManagerIvo Roque
LeagueCampeonato Nacional Feminino
2024–251st of 8
Websitevitoriasc.pt

Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães or just Vitória, is a women's football club based in Guimarães, Portugal. The team, a section of Vitória S.C., was initially founded in 1989, a project that was short-lived, and was later re-founded in 2018.[1] Since then it has taken six seasons to finally be promoted to the top flight, the Campeonato Nacional Feminino, where they compete after winning the Second Division title in 2025.

The women's team plays home games at the club's 2,500-capacity Academia do Vitória S.C. training facility.

History

The first steps of women's football at Vitória began in 1989, with the team participating for just two seasons in the top flight, which was called the National Women's Football Cup. However, the section didn't succeed and was extinguished at the end of that period.[2]

Later, on 12 October 2018, the former president of Vitória, Júlio Mendes, publicly confirmed the creation of a women's football team, a long-desired reactivation, as well as training levels to start competitively the following season.[3]

Vitória SC entered the Portuguese second division with a team made up mostly of local players who identified with the club. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was declared over by the Portuguese Football Federation, without a winner or the application of an up and down system.[4]

Since then, the club has been steadily improving its performances and has always been in the final promotion places, although without any practical effects until the 2023/24 season when they lost 2–8 to Famalicão in the play-off of access to the Women's National Championship.[5]

In the 2024/25 season, the team won the II Division and secured promotion to the Liga BPI, the elite of women's football, for 2025/26 by beating Rio Ave 3-0 in the final round with a full house in attendance.[6][7]

Players

Current squad

As of 15 February 2025

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  POR Inês Marques
21 GK  POR Andrea Neves
11 DF  VIR Naya Vialva
19 DF  POR Letícia Costa
24 DF  POR Iara Cavalheiro
2 DF  BRA Débora Maciel
3 DF  POR Belinha
6 DF  POR Naná
31 DF  POR Kika Silva
15 DF  PHI Jaime Turrentine
4 DF  POR Joana Monteiro
20 MF  POR Beatriz Pinheiro
72 MF  POR Patrícia Teixeira
8 MF  SVN Nika Babnik
MF  POR Soraia Gomes
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF  POR Isaura Machado
5 MF  POR Joana Ribeiro
19 MF  POR Ana Monteiro
7 MF  POR Bárbara Martins
13 FW  POR Cristiana Duarte
17 FW  POR Ana Veloso
80 FW  POR Maria Salgado
42 FW  POR Maria Ribeiro
74 FW  POR Diana Novais
5 FW  BRA Laura Pires
9 FW  POR Inês Lopes
10 FW  POR Betinha
25 FW  CPV Irlanda Lopes
FW  POR Maria Neto

Honours

Winners (1): 2024–25

References

  1. ^ Vitória SC (2018-10-12). Vitória lança Futebol Feminino e eSports. Retrieved 2025-02-06 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ "Vitória SC (Feminino) :: Histórico por Época :: zerozero.pt". www.zerozero.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-03-03.
  3. ^ Guimarães, Mais (2018-10-12). "FUTEBOL FEMININO E ESPORTS SÃO AS NOVAS MODALIDADES OFICIAIS DO VITÓRIA". Mais Guimarães (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-02-06.
  4. ^ "Comunicado da Direção da FPF". FPF (in European Portuguese). 2025-06-02. Retrieved 2025-02-06.
  5. ^ Renascença (2024-06-02). "Famalicão garante permanência na I Liga feminina com novo triunfo sobre o Vitória - Renascença". Rádio Renascença (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-02-06.
  6. ^ Jogadores, Sindicato dos (2025-05-12). "Vitória SC faz história e sobe à Liga BPI". SJPF - Sindicato dos Jogadores Profissionais de Futebol. Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  7. ^ Guimarães, Mais (2025-05-08). "Já não há bilhetes para o decisivo Vitória - Rio Ave no futebol feminino". Mais Guimarães (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-05-12.