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#40 Farense (Home, 1998/1999)
I do not own many shirts from Portuguese clubs, but I had to buy this Farense shirt. It does not look great I guess, but it's definitly a rare item, and I do like Farense a lot.
A part of my family comes from Faro, a sunny city down in Algarve. When I was younger I used to spend a few weeks there with my cousins and aunts. My grandmother and my great-aunt were both born there, and moved to Porto when they were adults already. I still have a lot of cousins in Algarve, and another great-aunt and a great-uncle still live there.
When I was only 2 or 3, I was already into football. As I was too young to pick a club, I'd usually say my club was Farense, because I had a close relationship with my grandma and she supported them. It made sense back then, even though Faro is around 600km or 700km away from here. Not that later I started supporting my local club, Boavista.
But I always had this connection with Farense. I actually went to see at least one match in Faro, late in August. I was really young, but I remember being there.
Like many other portuguese clubs, after a period of great success in the 90's, Farense had to face years of financial problems. The situation was so severe that the club decided to start from scratch, from the lowest league in portuguese football, the 6th tier. They were quickly promoted to III Division (4th tier), where they remained for a couple of years. Farense was then promoted to II Division (3rd tier), but was relegated after only one season, only to be promoted right after. That means they're playing in the 3rd tier this season, actually with a pretty decent squad.
Before this lower-league-nightmare, Farense was definitly an interesting club for the Portuguese League. They'd usually fight to avoid relegation, but it was always a tough mission to beat them in their ground. They also had a quite loyal fan-base, and the atmosphere was pretty decent. They were a yo-yo club for quite a few decades, winning the 2nd League quite often, but in the 90's they finally established themselves as a 1st league club. In 1989, they reached the Portuguese Cup Final, but lost to Estrela da Amadora (another club that is now competing in the lower leagues).
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| "Faro Lions" |
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| FC Moustache |
Hassan Nader!
Moroccan striker, league top-scorer in 1994/1995. Top class strike, he moved to Benfica but failed to have much impact, and was then signed by Farense once again.
Peter Rufai anyone?
A typical african goalie, was either brilliant or a total disaster, spent 3 seasons in Faro before moving to Spain (Hercules and Deportivo Coruna). Was the number one choice for Nigeria in the 98 World Cup, still remember him playing against Spain - when Nigeria won 3-2. Good day that was.
Hajry, another african pearl.
I actually don't remember much of him playing. He was with Farense for many years, and he was the Ace in the card collection, so he was definitly very good.
Carlos Costa
He spent most of his career in Faro, had a brilliant haircut and kept with them even in the lower leagues. Retired in 2005.
So, even though Farense was never a brilliant team, they had some decent players that most football fans in Portugal still remember.
There's actually not much to say about the shirt. It's still in mint condition, despite being more than 10 years old, and is pretty much a plain white shirt with black Lotto logos on the sleeves. Not much of a gem here, but it's classic Farense stuff. Their away kit used to be green. Pingo Doce, their sponsor back then, is still one of the biggest portuguese supermarket operators. They have shops all over Portugal, and also in some countries (with different names). In Poland, they own Biedronka, for example. Polish people will now Biedronka.
The shirt tag says L, but it is more like a XL. I used it once, when playing with my mates, and it was raining a lot, so it was definitly a poor choice, as I felt heavier than usual. I'm sure I scored a few goals anyway though.
This week, a friend sent me a Campomaiorense shirt - a great gift indeed. Campomaiorense is a small team from Alentejo (near Algarve), that reached the portuguese main league in the 90's, but then quickly dropped and stopped playing professional football. They're still in the regional leagues now. Like Campomaiorense and Farense, many other portuguese clubs who spent some time in the Primeira Liga back in the 80's and 90's, some with actually a bit of success, are now facing severe problems. Some examples:
Salgueiros: once quite popular in Porto, managed to play once in the UEFA Cup. Went bankrupt, and now are playing in the 4th Division with a differente name, Salgueiros 08.
Estrela da Amadora: won the Portuguese Cup once in 1989, but aren't playing anymore. They used to have decent squads, but lacked supporters. They were supposed to come back this season in the lowest division, but I think they didn't.
Leça: played in the top league a few seasons, and are now playing 4th tier football, with few chances of ever coming back.
Famalicão: won the 2nd league twice, and are now on the 3rd level after many seasons in the regional divisions.
Felgueiras: relegated in 1996, and now playing in the 4th Division under a new name after difficult seasons.
Chaves: usually a regular in the 1st or 2nd level, now in the 3rd tier.
Tirsense: had a few successful years in the 90's, but were quickly playing in the 4th tier.
Fafe: had a brief spell in the top level, but are now lost in the 3rd division, after even going down to the 4th level.
And probably a few more I can't remember now. Wicked.
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