1894 Taça D. Carlos I
Football match / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Taça D. Carlos I (English: D. Carlos I Trophy) was a friendly football tournament that was held only once, in Campo Alegre, Porto, on 2 March 1894.[1] That match was contested by representative teams of Lisbon and Porto, and ended in a 1–0 win to the Lisbonenses, but most important than the result was its historical significance, as it was the first major football event in Portugal as well as the first football ‘cup’ played on the Iberian Peninsula.[1] Moreover, the Taça D. Carlos I was the first domestic match between those two cities.[2]
Event | First cup match in Portugal | ||||||
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Date | 2 March 1894 | ||||||
Venue | Campo Alegre, Porto | ||||||
Referee | Eduardo Pinto Basto | ||||||
Attendance | 3,000 |
The cup was named in honor of the donator of the trophy, don Carlos I of Portugal,[3] who attended the meeting together with his wife, Queen Amelia, as well as the princes D. Luís Filipe and D. Manuel, who were still boys at the time. This is possibly the first match in which extra-time was played as the royal couple arrived too late to see the first half and the Queen demanded that the game continued after the final whistle because she was enjoying it so much.[4]
The meeting was held at the initiative of the then FC Porto president, António Nicolau de Almeida, but it was ultimately organized by the presidents of Oporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club and Club Lisbonense, Hugh Ponsonby and Guilherme Pinto Basto, who served as the captains of their respective sides in the match.[5] Pinto Basto is widely regarded as the father of football in Portugal, and it was he who managed to have the King present, who traveled to Porto to witness the event and present a trophy to the winners.[6] The patronage and sponsorship of the King were pivotal to attract a significant number of spectators, as football was practically an unknown sport in Portugal at the time.[7] The game received international publicity, being publicized outside Portugal, and was even reported in the famous English magazine Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, which reported the game as a new "conquest" made by their beloved sport.