We go after the big 3 - Vitória Futebol Clube a Portuguese Story

[leckuno]

Vitória de Setúbal played in the inaugural Campeonato da Liga in 1934–35.

In 1964–65, Vitória de Setúbal won their first Taça de Portugal, beating holders Benfica 3–1 in the final. After losing 1–0 to Braga in the next season's final, Vitória won the 1967 final by beating Académica de Coimbra 3–2 after extra-time.

Vitoria competed in the European Cup-Winners' Cup in 1965-66 (losing 4–2 on aggregate in the first round to AGF Aarhus), and 1967-68 (losing 7–3 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the second round).

Vitória Setubal played in the Fairs Cup in 1969–70, knocking Liverpool out in the second round. In the next round, they were eliminated 2–1 on aggregate by Hertha BSC.

In the 1973–74 season, Vitória de Setúbal finished in third place, four points behind champions Sporting CP.

After another yo-yo period from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, Vitória returned to the Portuguese top flight for the 2004–05 season. The same season saw them win their third Cup, beating holders Benfica 2–1 in the final on 29 May. On 13 August, the two clubs played the Super Cup against each other at the Estádio do Algarve, with Benfica winning 1–0. On 14 May 2006, Vitória lost the cup final by one goal to FC Porto.

On 22 March 2008, Vitória won the Taça da Liga for the first time. In the final, they defeated Sporting on penalties following a goalless draw; on-loan goalkeeper Eduardo saved three times. Ten years later, the final went to penalties against the same opponent, who won this time. Vitória avoided relegation by one point in 2019–20, but due to failure to gain a licence for the new season, they were administratively relegated to the third-tier Campeonato de Portugal.

Vitória were promoted after one season, but remained in the third division due to the creation of Liga 3; their registration was permitted due to their improved financial situation. In 2022–23, the team were relegated to the now fourth-tier Campeonato de Portugal on the final day despite beating F.C. Oliveira do Hospital on the final day, due to Sporting CP B's late winner over Real SC.

So why have I picked Vitoria FC?

With whats happened to the team over the last couple of years this is a great chance to rebuild what is one of the most successful teams in Portugal outside the top 3 clubs. We also have the joy of having to rebuild the club in such a way that we will also repair the dire finances of the club as they start off in debt.

Finances

We start off the save being nearly £2million in the red which is going to make things fun as its going to seriously limit what we can do in the world of transfers over the next few windows as you can also see that we have no money for this windows as expected but we do have a bit of leeway on the wage budget.​

 

[WILKOFM]

Looked at doing a similar thing with Olhanense in FM23 which i love doing! Very interesting idea mate and looking forward to seeing how you do!

 

[leckuno]

Board Vision

The board have set us the hefty task of making sure we get promoted this season which should be suitable for us with the squad we have here. Thankfully we just need to be competitive in the cup as well. The big challenge though is going to be repairing the financial damage to the club as we are not going to be getting much in prize money anytime soon.

The 5 year plan isn't anything exceptional as they don't even see us getting promoted from the league above us in 5 years

Supporter Vision

Well the supporters want just the same as the board which is handy since they have a moderate influence on the board.

The Squad

The squad is mixed but one thing that jumps out is that we have a young squad with some potential with some more veteran players in the mix with the best player at the club being Zequinha who is currently at the club for the 3rd time and has been at the club for the last 5 seasons when the club were still in the top division

Even at 36 he could still do a job higher up the leagues I reckon.

Tactic

Going to try and keep things simple this season and go with an attacking 4-4-2 to try and get us up as needed until we're able to improve the squad.

August

We get off to a busy start with 3 games in just 7 days so we're going to have to rotate and hope for the best.​

 

[leckuno]

August

Fabril do Barreiro v Vitoria FC

A steady start to the league here against one of the other promotion favourites as Heliardo gets in behind the defenders to score the only goal of the game

Vitoria FC v Real

Heliardo showing that he could be key for us upfront this season as he adds another 2 goals to his tally.

O Elvas v Vitoria FC

What a game for the fans here as its a proper end to end battle but I was gutted that we managed to draw the game with conceding right at the death

September

With their only being 3 games in months just now I figured lets double up and means less posts as well throughout this season

Transfers

Joel Silva

We managed to bring in one signing this month on loan and Silva looks like a talented midfielder for this level and will slot in nicely to our starting XI

Vitoria FC v Juventude Evora

Falling behind just before half time put us on the back foot but thankfully the boys came out raring to go and a well worked set piece gets us back in the game before managing to secure the win

Sport Uniao Sintrense v Vitoria FC

Joel Silva scores on his debut for us with a 25 yard screamer to make sure we are bringing the 3 points home with us

Taca de Portugal 2nd Round
Vitoria FC v Anadia

We were lucky and got a bye in the first round so we enter here in the second against Anadia who are in the league above us and we were able to show the quality still at the club to run riot with a 3-0 win and progress into the 3rd roudn

League

We're top of the league with a 2 point lead at the moment but we are only 5 games in so its anybody's league at the moment

October/November

Another 6 game run and we have had a poor draw for the cup having to face Estrela da Amadora SAD who play in Liga Portugal Bwin so it looks like our cup run is now going to be over but hopefully we can put up a fight​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Really nice start mate!

 

[leckuno]

October

Vitoria FC v Vasco Gama Vidigueira

Zequinha shows what he can do here as he is a step above the rest as he gets 2 goals here off the right wing.

Louletano v Vitoria FC

We didn't play too well here as we fell 2-0 down and even then managed to bring it back to 2-2 before then throwing it away 2 minutes after our equaliser for our first loss.

Taca de Portugal 4th round
Vitoria FC v Estrela da Amadora SAD

We knew this was going to be a tough game and it looked like it was going to go into double figures after being 4 down in 31 minutes. On the upside we did manage to win the 2nd half though to end our cup run

Vitoria FC v Moncarapachense

It was important to get a result here as we needed to get back to winning ways and thankfully Marouca was there to get a brace and get us the 3 points.

Presidential Elections

The fans went to the polls and have chosen a new chairman for the club but sadly there will be no additional funds being made available for us.

November

Lusitano Évora v Vitoria FC

A really disappointing result here as we managed to throw away our 2 goal lead in the final 20 minutes

Vitoria FC v Oriental Lisboa

Zequinha was on fire here as he bags a first half hat-trick before going on to get his 4th goal to score the most goals in a match for the club

League

We've got a 4 point lead a thte top of the table now as we close in on the halfway stage of the season

December/January

A nice 7 games over the next couple of months with 4 of them being at home where we have to make the most of the​

 

[leckuno]

December

Imortal v Vitoria FC

Imortal put up a good fight here but thankfully we have enough in the tank to go out and get the win.

Vitoria FC v Barreirense

A nice easy win here as we run riot and get a big win/

Vitoria FC v Serpa

Zequinha goes on and bags a hat-trick here as we go on and get another big win to keep us on track

Cash Injection

The new board have provided a cash injection which is more than welcome to us as it boots our finances a bit but we're still heavily in the red.

January

Real v Vitoria FC

We really struggled here for some reason but with 5 minutes to go we manage to head home from a corner to ****** an undeserved point.

Vitoria FC v Fabril do Barreiro

A very early goal here is just enough to beat the team sitting 4th spot in the league.

Vitoria FC v O Elvas

A decent result here even though we had to settle for a draw as we really weren't good value here for anything.

League

We still sit top of the table and we've grown our lead to 5 points and we still have a game in hand as we close in on qualification for promotion

Senior Affiliate

The board has fianlly agreed to get a senior affiliate and I don't think we could of asked for a better one and will be making the most of them while we go up through the league

Transfers

Diogo Spencer

We head straight to Benfica and bring in Spencer who is a big improvement at RB for us

Jose Marques

Thanks to a few injuries to our wingers we again go to Benfica to bring in Marques as cover for the rest of the season.

February

Our busiest month of the season so we drop to just the one month here as we have 5 games here​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Flying mate! And that Benfica link is going to be mega important over the next couple of seasons I reckon!

 

[leckuno]

Flying mate! And that Benfica link is going to be mega important over the next couple of seasons I reckon!

yeah the more loans we can get from them with them picking up the wages the better

 

[leckuno]

February

Vitoria FC v Sport União Sintrense

The early red card here makes all the difference here as we make the extra man count and get the 3 points

Juventude Évora v Vitoria FC

A poor result here as we couldn't see out the game and it cost us 2 points.

Vasco Gama Vidigueira v Vitoria FC

The early goal really put us on the back foot and the first half was written off but choice words at half time make all the difference as we come out a different team and get the 3 points.

Vitoria FC v Louletano

A much better game here as we go out from the off and get a big win but the 2 goals we conceded in quick succession were disappointing

Moncarapachense v Vitoria FC

We finish the month on a high with another good win to go undefeated this month

League

We have confirmed that we have got one of the two playoff spots available

Transfers

Thanks again to injuries again we've had to go out to the loan market and bring in another winger

Claudinho

Claudinho comes into the club and will play a bit part over the coming months

March

4 games this month but more importantly we have the youth intake to look forward to which is everybody's favourite time of the season​

 

[leckuno]

March

Vitoria FC v Lusitano Evora

With us already guaranteed a playoff spot we go into these games with nothing to lose and that freedom lets us play some great football here and try different things as we notch up another win.

Oriental Lisboa v Vitoria FC

Sadly we couldn't have a repeat of our last performance even though we got off to a fast start we let our heads drop at the end and conceded a goal that could of been prevented.

Vitoria FC v Imortal

Sadly this result for Imortal all but confirms their relegation from the league this season.

Barreirense v Vitoris FC

We rotated the squad here a bit to give some other players a shot and it didn't work out today but the sending off certainly didn't help either

Youth Intake

My HOYD seems to have a different meaning from a 5 star intake from me as only one player stands out here and that is only because of the level we're currently at.

João Ribeiro

He's not going to make it all the way to the top with us but he is certainly good enough to make some appearances for the club

Serpa v Vitoria FC

Ribeiro is actually given an outing here in the final 20 minutes and he only goes to become our youngest ever player and goal scorer

League

Well we finish top with a 9 point gap over 2nd as we now both enter the promotion groups to see which 4 teams will be promoted from the 4 leagues.

Group Stages

Not the worst draw to have gotten here and plenty of time to rest up as the games as spread out over 3 months which is mad for 6 games​

 

[leckuno]

Promotion Chances

Benfica e Castelo Branco v Vitoria FC

I didn't know what to expect going into these games and this was certainly a lot tougher here and we rely on a late goal to get us the 3 points in our first game.

Vitoria FC v Vitoria de Guimaraes B

The B teams still have some decent players in them but an early goal and a 2nd on the stroke of half time sets us up nicely and thankfully a late fight back isn't enough to get them back in it.

Beira-Mar v Vitoria FC

A tough game again here and we got put on the back foot before taking the lead and it was sore to end up drawing but it was a deserved result for both teams.

Vitoria de Guimaraes B v Vitoria FC

It looked like we were on for a right pumping here after 35 minutes and being 4-1 down but we did well in the second half and at least limited the damage.

Vitoria FC v Benfica e Castelo Branco

It was important that we got a result here to keep our hopes alive of finishing top and we delivered here but the goal right at half time lifted out spirits and set us on our way. The sending off helped secure the win as well with especially the resulting penalty

Vitoria FC v Beira-Mar

A much better return match here in front of our own fans thanks to a great team performance.

League

Promotion is guaranteed now and thanks to finishing top we have more game to play in the championship match

Playoff Final
Vitoria v Marítimo B

A much easier game this time around as the young players of Maritimo B couldn't handle our experienced heads as we run riot here and secure a lovely piece of silverware for the club

Budgets

A whopping increase of £22,000 in the wage budget which is going to have to be used to rebuild the first team as from the end of the season we will only have 7 first team players as the rest of the team is getting let go as I don't feel they won't be able to make the step up so its going to be a busy window.​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Great first season mate! On to the next division!

 

[leckuno]

Season 2 Preseason

Transfers

With us only having 7 first team players then this was a huge window as we needed to go out and build a squad on free transfers due to the lack of transfer fee so we could compete this season and we signed a whopping 19 players so far but still a few positions short in my eyes. Whats been annoying as you'll see is the lack of loans from Benfica as the players they have for loan don't want to join us this season even the two we had last season that ended up being key players for us in the end.

Friendlies

We set up a number of big friendlies to try and bring some cash in this summer and as expected we got hammered in some of them but its all good experience for the players

Bank Balance

Well without any real income and no changes of circumstance we are still very heavily in the red making things more difficult

Expectations

Well not too much expected from the board as they just expect a top half finish with being competitive in the cup as well

League Preview

So with all our transfers this season its looking like the bookies as have us as one of the favourites for promotion this season so hopefully we'll be able to live up that and be fighting it out at the top

August

To break us in a nice 4 game month with at least one game that we already know the opposition from last season but hopefully we will be able to do enough and then finally fill the final spaces in the squad as well over the month​

 

[leckuno]

August

Vitoria FC v Atletico CP

The perfect start to the season here as Palafoz gets a debut goal before Rafael gets above everybody twice to get a brace from corners.

Academica Coimbra v Vitoria FC

Well we are brought straight back down to earth here with a defeat.

Vitoria FC v Rabo de Peixe

Well we bounce right back with a huge win and Zequinha show's he can still do it this season and with every appearance and goal he becomes the oldest player for both in the clubs history

Maritimo B v Vitoria FC

We hammered them in the final last season but it was different this time around as there was a proper end to end game until it got to 3 each but our experience came through and we got the win in the end

League

Well we're top of the league after 4 games to show the media were right about us but we've still got a lot to play so lets get on with it

Transfers

We had no natural right backs in the squad so we've gone out and brought two in on loan until the end of the season to see us through

September/October

We go back to doing a couple of months at a time as we have 6 games which include out first game in the Taca de Portugal again​