If you happen to be in Faro during football season and you are fond of sports you might want to consider attending a match.

The Team: Sporting Clube Farense

The team playing home at Faro is Sporting Clube Farense. It was founded on the 1st of April 1910. But lets go back a bit in history. It was in 1904 that football was played for the first time in Algarve. In that year the Navy corvette Duque de Palmela was based in Faro. Her crew played football in the town. And do you know where? On the grounds where there is now the large parking lot, Largo de São Francisco.

The kids of Faro liked the game, of course, and they started playing. They became known as the team of Gralho, who was one of them, probably with leadership skills. In 1909 João Gralho founded a football club. Initially it was named Faro Futebol, later Sporting de Faro. The designation comes from the fact that most of the founding members were fans of Sporting Clube de Portugal, a club of Lisbon with branches all over the country and former colonies.

Now comes a delicious anecdote: sympathizers of Sporting Clube de Portugal, the founders wanted to use similar colors. But in 1910 none of them has actually watched a match and the only references were picked up in newspapers… in black and white, of course. So, despite the fact that Sporting Clube de Portugal wears in green, black and white, they couldn’t see the green printed in the papers. So they chose the black and white. White jerseys, black or white shorts.

Initially they played on the grounds of Largo de São Francisco. It was in 1924 that they started playing in the current stadium, Estádio de São Luís. In 1934 the team started competing in the 2nd Division and remained at that level until 1970, when it reached the main league. In the next 30 seasons, Sporting Clube Farense competed mostly in the main league (23 seasons). It reached the finals of Portuguese Cup but lost. In 1994-1995 finished the competition on the 5th position, the best ever. So, in the next season played in Europe Cup but was eliminated by Lyon (1-0 and 0-1).

Then, in 2001, the catastrophe: the clube dived in a deep financial crisis and it went all the way down to the lowest levels of the federated competitions in Portugal. Slowly, with ups and downs, it rebounced, and in 2019-2020 was first in the second league and promoted to the main competition in the country.

The Stadium: São Luís

The history of the town’s stadium, with capacity for 12.000 spectactors, goes back in time to 1922. In this year, a business man who built up his fortune in the USA, a fellow named Manuel Santo, bought a plot of land in Faro. He intended to build a stadium there and provide the town with a proper space for football playing.

It was by then known as O Estádio Santo, honoring its patron. A funny name, which translates as The Saint Stadium.

In 1924 the Sporting Clube Farense rents the stadium and starts playing home there. In 1930 the name changes to Estádio de São Luís. In 1970 the grass pitch is inaugurated. Since its start, in the early 20’s, the stadium changed ownership four times. From its original owner to another private, them to the City and finally to the club, Sporting Clube Farense. This last change took place on the 1st April 1986, the day of the 76th anniversary of the club.

In 1991 was one of the stadiums hosting the U20 World Cup. All the matches of the Group D (Syria, England, Uruguay and Spain) plus one of the matches of the quarter finals, Spain 1 Soviet Union 3.

The National Team played in Estádio de São Luís four times. Three friendly matches and a match against Cyprus (4-0) in 1977, in the qualifiers for the World Cup 78.

From 1982 to 2000 a handful of great concerts took place in the stadium: Roxy Music, King Crimson, Luciano Pavarotti and Dire Straits performed here.

Attending a Football Match in Faro

It’s easy to attend a match. The stadium is walking distance from the center. Roughly 1 km from the marina. There is a tickets selling booth and pretty much only one seat option for outsiders. While in the second division nobody cared about the seat number and people would just pick a spot of their preference. Probably that will change while the team plays in the first division.

Just ask in the ticket booth: “um bilhete” (don’t be shy, the seller will understand you). “Um” means one. Try body language if you need more.

A police officer will search you and your bag (don’t bring any larger bags, please) and then you will be in. Be aware that if it’s raining you will get wet. There is no cover in the stadium. At least in the area for non members.

Tickets price change all the time. Last season, second division, once it was free entrance, then I paid 8 Euros, and then 3 Euros. These values will definitely rise while the team plays in the first division. Perhaps 15 Euros for a simple ticket. Still not expensive, but don’t expect high quality football, just go for the fun.

Note that usually matches are peaceful. In Portugal violence is not common in football matches. During the match you might be able to buy an ice cream and some snacks and there is a bar you can visit for some non alcoholic drinks. And don’t you think you will be the odd one in the crowd. It’s not uncommon to spot foreigners watching a match. Some are tourists, some are residents.

How to know when there is the next match

Usually I look for information regarding day and time of matches in Livescore, a popular real time scores website. Here is the direct link for the Portuguese football competitions. Look there for Farense.