Vilaverdense FC

This article is about the men's football club. For the women's football club, see Vilaverdense F.C. (women).

Vilaverdense F.C. (known for 4 years as Länk FC Vilaverdense)^[2] is a Portuguese football club based in Vila Verde in the district of Braga.^[3] They currently play in the Liga 3, the third tier of Portuguese football.

Vilaverdense

Full name	Vilaverdense Futebol Clube
Founded	1953; 72 years ago (1953)
Ground	Campo Cruz do Reguengo Vila Verde, Portugal
Capacity	1,000[1]
Chairman	Isidro Fernandes
Manager	Sérgio Machado
League	Liga 3
2023–24	17th, of 18 (relegated)

The club is affiliated to Associação de Futebol de Braga and has competed in the AF Braga Taça. The club has also entered the national cup competition known as Taça de Portugal on occasion.^[3][4]

It also competes in women's football, with a more successful team playing in the first tier, Campeonato Nacional de Futebol Feminino,^[5] using the 3,000-seat Municipal Stadium.^[1]

History

The club was founded in 1953 as Vilaverdense F.C. and play their home matches at Campo da Cruz do Reguengo in Vila Verde. The stadium is a 1,000 spectator all-seater.^[3]

In 2020, the club's name and crest was changed following an acquisition of 90% of the club's SAD (Anonymous Shareholder Sport Association) by Länk. These changes caused some controversy.^[6][7]

On 11 June 2023, In the 2022–23 season, following a strong season that had the team in the top half of the table for the majority of the time, they managed to jump to second place in Série A, in the promotion rounds finish in second place at Série 2 and qualified for the promotion play-off against B-SAD. They drew the first leg at home with 1–1 and won the second leg in Rio Maior with 0–1 and thus with an aggregate score of 1–2, secured promotion to the 2023–24 Liga Portugal 2 for the first time in history from next season. They were relegated after one season following a 17th finish.

Involvement with Länk

In 2020, a Canadian group named Länk acquired 90% of Vilaverdense's SAD, promising to improve the club's stadium. With this they changed the club's name to Länk Vilaverdense and its badge to one in black and white, removing the green used to represent Vila Verde ("Green Town"). The team's kits, however, are still green.^[8] Although the acquisition was approved by the club's associates, the changes made by Länk came under heavy fire by the club's supporters and caused controversy.^[6][7]

League history

Season	Level	Division	Section	Place	Movements
1990–91	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – 1ª divisão B
1991–92	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – 1ª divisão A
1992–93	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – 1ª divisão B
1993–94	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – 1ª divisão B
1994–95	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – Honra
1995–96	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – Honra
1996–97	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – Honra
1997–98	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – Honra		Promoted
1998–99	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A	13th
1999–2000	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A	8th
2000–01	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A	5th
2001–02	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A	6th
2002–03	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A	5th
2003–04	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A	2nd	Promoted
2004–05	Tier 3	Segunda Divisão	Série Norte	6th
2005–06	Tier 3	Segunda Divisão	Série Norte	13th	Relegated
2006–07	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A	14th	Relegated
2007–08	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – Honra	1st	Promoted
2008–09	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A – 1ª Fase	12th	Relegation Group
	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A – Sub-Série A2	3rd	Relegated
2009–10	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – Honra	9th
2010–11	Tier 5	Distritais	AF Braga – Honra	1st	Promoted
2011–12	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A – 1ª Fase	5th	Promotion Group
	Tier 4	Terceira Divisão	Série A Fase Final	2nd	Promoted
2012–13	Tier 3	Segunda Divisão	Série Norte	13th
2013–14	Tier 3	Campeonato Nacional	Série A	3rd
As Länk Vilaverdense
Season	Level	Division	Section	Place	Movements
2021–22	Tier 4	Campeonato de Portugal	Série A – 1st stage	1st	Promotion Group
			North zone – 2nd stage	2nd	Promoted to Liga 3
2022–23	Tier 3	Liga 3	Série A – 1st stage	2nd	2nd stage
			Série 2 – 2nd stage	2nd	3rd stage
			3rd stage	3rd	Promotion play-off and promoted to Liga Portugal 2 via play-off
2023–24	Tier 2	Liga Portugal 2

^{[9][10][11][12]}

Players

Current squad

As of 19 July 2024

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 Cajó 2 DF  POR Vasco Coelho 3 DF  GHA Daniel Robertson 4 DF  BRA Luiz Neto 5 MF  MLI Momo Sacko 6 MF  BRA Weslei Ferreira 7 MF  POR Eduardo Barbosa 8 DF  POR Ivo Cláudio 9 FW  BRA Neemias Barbosa 10 MF  POR Hugo Alves 11 MF  POR Danilo Monteiro 12 GK  POR Diogo Santos

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 DF  CIV Badra Camara 14 MF  POR Diogo Madaleno 15 DF  POR Jota Rego 16 DF  POR Gonçalo Zuzarte 17 DF  GHA Abdul Ibrahim 18 FW  POR Yemi Agbaoye 19 DF  MLI Baissa Niambélé 20 FW  CPV Dica 21 MF  USA Jude Burst 22 MF  BRA Hiago Bagarolo 23 FW  BRA João Pedro

Out on loan

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

Honours

• AF Braga Divisão de Honra: 2010–11
• AF Braga Taça: 1988/89, 1990/91, 1992/93, 1997/98, 2009/10