Pacos Ferreira

Early history

The origin of the club dates back to the 1930s, when it was named Sport Club Pacense. They played for two decades without any official recognition until they entered the lower divisions in 1950, under the name Futebol Clube Vasco da Gama. The club then changed their kit colours to the current ones and renamed themselves Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira.

Their first match under the current name came on 19 November 1950, beating Lousada 2–1. Agostinho Alves was the first goal scorer in the history of the Pacenses. The club then played in Portugal's third regional division until the 1956–57 season, where they were crowned champions. The club crest was created in 1961–62, and was used ever since.

The club was relegated and then promoted again and supporters hit the streets of the city on 17 June 1973 when they defeated Perosinho 3–0. One year later, they won the Terceira Divisão on 14 June 1974, after defeating Estrela de Portalegre. The hero of the match was the goalscorer Mascarenhas.

Recent history

After establishing themselves in the first division during the 1990s, and suffering a relegation in 2003–04, the club finished sixth in the first division in 2006–07, thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup, their first ever European competition, under manager José Mota. They lost 1–0 on aggregate to AZ of the Netherlands in the first round.

Having finished last in the league in 2007–08, Paços would have normally been relegated to the second level, but were readmitted after Boavista's confirmed irregularities. In the following year, already without Mota, the team finished tenth in the league and a second Europa League qualification spot after losing the Taça de Portugal final 1–0 to eventual league champions Porto on 31 May. The two clubs met again on 9 August in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, which Porto won 2–0.

Paços entered the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round, where they defeated Zimbru Chișinău of Moldova before being eliminated by Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv of Israel in the third. The club reached the 2011 Taça da Liga Final under Rui Vitória, losing 2–1 to S.L. Benfica at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra.

In the 2012–13 season, Paços surprisingly qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League play-offs for the first time in their history after achieving third place in the league by passing favourites Braga and Sporting CP, making it their highest finish ever. The club were managed that season by Paulo Fonseca, who left at the end to join Porto, and was replaced by Costinha, who lost the Champions League playoff to Russians Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Paços' 13-year spell in the Primeira Liga ended in 2018, though they immediately returned as champions of the 2018–19 LigaPro under promotion specialist Vítor Oliveira. His successor Pepa took them to the UEFA Europa Conference League with a fifth-place finish in 2020–21, then left for Vitória de Guimarães. Their first European campaign in eight years ended in the playoff, with 3–1 aggregate defeat to Tottenham Hotspur despite winning the first game. A four-year spell in the top flight ended with relegation in 2022–23, a season in which manager César Peixoto was sacked and then hired again in under three months, either side of José Mota's winless return to the club.