Rio Ave F.C.

Rio Ave

Full name	Rio Ave Futebol Clube
Nickname(s)	Vilacondenses Rioavistas
Founded	1939; 82 years ago (1939)
Ground	Estádio dos Arcos
Capacity	12,815
President	António Silva Campos
Head coach	Luís Freire
League	Liga Portugal 2
2020–21	Primeira Liga, 16th of 18 (relegated via play-offs)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave [ˈʁi.u ˈavɨ], is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, northern Portugal, which competes in the Liga Portugal 2. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Founded in 1939, they play their home matches at Estádio do Rio Ave, also known as the Estádio dos Arcos. Built in 1985, the current stadium seats approximately 12,815 people and is a multi-sports venue, although it is used mainly for Rio Ave's football matches.

The club's home colours are green and white striped shirts with white shorts and socks, while their away kit consists of a red and white striped shirt and white shorts with yellow socks. Portuguese internationals Alfredo, Paulinho Santos, Quim, Rui Jorge and Fábio Coentrão started their careers at the club. Goalkeepers Jan Oblak and Ederson are some famous talents that were part of this side.

The Vilacondenses' best top-tier league finish was fifth in the 1981–82, 2017–18 and 2019–20 seasons.^[1] They reached the 1984 Taça de Portugal Final, where they lost to Porto 4–1,^[2] and the 2014 Taça de Portugal Final, where they lost to Benfica 1–0.^[3] With this result, Rio Ave qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, their first participation in a major European competition.

History[]

Rio Ave was founded in 1939, soon being nicknamed Rio Grande (Big River). The side had two of its best moments in the 1980s, under the management of Félix Mourinho, father of José Mourinho: in 1981–82, the club finished in a joint-best fifth place, and two years later it reached the Taça de Portugal final, losing to Porto 4–1.^[4]

In 2013–14, the club reached both cup finals under the management of Nuno Espírito Santo, but lost to treble-winners Benfica in both. This qualified them to their first European campaign, the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League.^[5] New manager Pedro Martins led them past Swedish duo IFK Göteborg and IF Elfsborg to reach the group stage, where they came last.

Under Miguel Cardoso, Rio Ave came fifth in 2017–18, equalling their best finish.^[6] Two years later, with Carlos Carvalhal in charge and Iranian Mehdi Taremi the league's joint top scorer, the club equalled this position with a new points record of 55.^[7] The team reached the play-offs for the Europa League in October 2020 but lost at home to A.C. Milan, having conceded a penalty equaliser in time added on to extra time and then lost 9–8 on penalties.^[8] The season, under the returning Cardoso, ended with relegation after a 5–0 aggregate defeat to F.C. Arouca in the playoffs.^[9]

European record[]

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	3Q	IFK Göteborg	0–0	1–0	1–0
		PO	IF Elfsborg	1–0	1–2	2–2 (a)
		Group J	Dynamo Kyiv	0–3	0–2	4th place
			Steaua București	2–2	1–2
			Aalborg BK	2–0	0–1
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	3Q	Slavia Prague	1–1	0–0	1–1 (a)
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Jagiellonia Białystok	4–4	0–1	4–5
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Borac Banja Luka	N/A	2–0	N/A
		3Q	Beşiktaş	N/A	1–1 (4–2 p)	N/A
		PO	Milan	2–2 (8–9 p)	N/A	N/A

Notes

• 3Q: Third qualifying round
• PO: Play-off round
• GS: Group stage

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 1 July 2021

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  BRA Júnio 3 DF  POR Ângelo Meneses 4 DF  POR Nélson Monte 5 DF  BRA Hugo Gomes 6 MF  POR Guga 8 MF  POR Vítor Gomes (captain) 9 FW  BRA Ronan 10 FW  ANG Anderson Cruz 14 MF  POR Joca 17 FW  POR Ukra 18 GK  BRA Jhonatan (on loan from Vitória Guimarães) 19 FW  POR Pedro Mendes (on loan from Sporting) 20 DF  POR Costinha 22 GK  BRA Léo

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  POR Pedro Amaral 27 MF  POR Rúben Gonçalves 28 DF  NZL Nando Pijnaker 29 FW  POR Zé Manuel 33 DF  BRA Aderlan Santos 36 DF  BRA Sávio 42 DF  CRO Renato Pantalon 70 FW  BRA Gabrielzinho 74 GK  BRA Magrão 75 DF  POR Nuno Namora 80 MF  CPV Zimbabwé 81 FW  GHA Abdul-Aziz Yakubu (on loan from Vitória Guimarães) 95 FW  POR André Pereira 99 FW  BRA Leandro Silva

Other players under contract[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 80 MF  POR Diogo Teixeira 89 FW  GHA Said Ahmed Said

No. Pos. Nation Player 91 MF  POR Nuno Silva 92 DF  POR Luca

Out on loan[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  POR Carlos Alves (at Trofense until 30 June 2021)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  POR Rúben Gonçalves (at Vilafranquense until 30 June 2021)

Honours[]

Coaching history[]

League and cup history[]

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	League Cup	Notes
1978–79	2DS	2	30	20	5	5	51	26	45	Round 4		Promoted
1979–80	1D	16	30	5	3	22	22	61	13	Round 4		Relegated
1980–81	2DS	1	30	16	10	4	43	17	42	Round 3		Promoted
1981–82	1D	5	30	13	8	9	26	31	34	Round 5		[A]
1982–83	1D	8	30	13	3	14	43	45	29	Round 3
1983–84	1D	9	30	11	7	12	35	35	29	Runner-up		[B]
1984–85	1D	13	30	7	9	14	27	43	23	Quarter-final		Relegated
1985–86	2DN	1	30	19	11	0	52	19	49	Round 4		Promoted
1986–87	1D	13	30	8	9	13	33	40	25	Round 5
1987–88	1D	18	38	7	14	17	29	67	28	Round 6		Relegated
1988–89	2DS	4	34	16	9	9	51	30	41	Round 3
1989–90	2DS	10	34	10	11	13	44	47	31	Round 3
1990–91	2DS	4	38	23	10	5	79	21	56	Round 6		Promoted
1991–92	2H	4	34	16	7	11	47	30	39	Round 5
1992–93	2H	5	34	14	10	10	39	36	38	Round 5
1993–94	2H	4	34	18	8	8	43	23	44	Quarter-final
1994–95	2H	11	34	12	8	14	47	46	32	Round 6
1995–96	2H	1	34	21	5	8	58	42	68	Round 5		Promoted
1996–97	1D	15	34	8	11	15	35	42	35	Round 4
1997–98	1D	9	34	12	10	12	43	43	46	Round 5
1998–99	1D	14	34	8	11	15	26	47	35	Round 4
1999–00	1D	17	34	8	9	17	34	54	33	Semi-final		Relegated
2000–01	2H	5	34	17	9	8	68	35	60	Round 6
2001–02	2H	8	34	12	10	12	45	36	46	Round 3
2002–03	2H	1	34	19	6	9	49	36	63	Round 5		Promoted
2003–04	1D	7	34	12	12	10	42	37	48	Quarter-final
2004–05	1D	8	34	10	17	7	35	35	47	Round 6
2005–06	1D	16	34	8	10	16	34	53	34	Round 5		Relegated
2006–07	2H	3	30	15	8	7	44	37	53	Round 4
2007–08	2H	2	30	13	12	5	38	26	51	Round 6	Round 1	Promoted
2008–09	1D	12	30	8	6	16	20	35	30	Round 3	Second Group Stage
2009–10	1D	12	30	6	13	11	22	33	31	Semi-final	Second Group Stage
2010–11	1D	8	30	10	8	12	35	33	38	Quarter-final	Round 1
2011–12	1D	14	30	7	7	16	33	42	28	Round 4	Second Group Stage
2012–13	1D	6	30	12	6	12	35	42	42	Round 4	Semi-final
2013–14	1D	11	30	8	8	14	21	35	32	Runner-up	Runner-up	Qualified Europa League [B] [C]
2014–15	1D	10	34	10	13	11	38	42	43	Semi-final	Second Group Stage
2015–16	1D	6	34	14	8	12	44	44	50	Semi-final	Second Group Stage	Qualified Europa League
2016–17	1D	7	34	14	7	13	41	39	49	Round 3	Group Stage
2017–18	1D	5	34	15	6	13	40	42	51	Quarter-final	Group Stage	Qualified Europa League [A]
2018–19	1D	7	34	12	9	13	50	52	45	Round 5	Group Stage
2019–20	1D	5	34	15	10	9	48	36	55	Quarter-final	Group Stage	Qualified Europa League [A]
2020–21	1D	16	34	7	13	13	25	40	34	Round 5	DNP	Relegated

^A Best league classification finish in the club's history.

^B Best cup run in the club's history.

^C Best league cup run in the club's history.

Div. = Division; 1D = Portuguese League; 2H = Liga de Honra; 2DS/2D = Portuguese Second Division
Pos. = Position; Pl = Match played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lost; GS = Goal Scored; GA = Goal Against; P = Points

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in Portuguese)
• Zerozero team profile
• Detailed up-to-date club news