Rio Ave F.C.


Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave, is a Portuguese football club based in Vila do Conde in northern Portugal. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlantic Ocean.
Founded in 1939, Rio Ave currently play in the Primeira Liga, Portugal's top-tier division of professional football. They play their home games at Estádio do Rio Ave, also known as 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, whilst 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. Jan Oblak and Ederson Moraes 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. They reached the 1984 Taça de Portugal Final, where they lost to Porto 4–1, and the 2014 Taça de Portugal Final, where they lost to Benfica 1–0. 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. 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.
In 2013–14, the club reached both cup finals under the management of Nuno Espírito Santo, but lost to treble-winners S.L. Benfica in both. This qualified them to their first European campaign, the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. 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 5th in 2017–18, equalling their best finish. 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.

European record

;Notes

First-team squad

Out on loan

Honours

National competitions

;* Vítor Gomes: October 2011

Managerial 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