Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɨˈpɔɾ liʒˈβo.ɐ i βɐ̃jˈfikɐ] (listen)), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.
Founded on 28 February 1904 as Sport Lisboa, Benfica is one of the "Big Three" clubs in Portugal that have never been relegated from Primeira Liga, along with rivals Sporting CP and FC Porto. Benfica are nicknamed As Águias (The Eagles), for the symbol atop the club's crest, and Os Encarnados (The Reds), for the shirt colour. Since 2003, their home ground has been the Estádio da Luz, which replaced the larger, original one, built in 1954. Benfica is the most supported Portuguese club and the European club with the highest percentage of supporters in its own country, having over 250,000 members and an estimated 14 million supporters worldwide. The club's anthem, "Ser Benfiquista", refers to Benfica supporters, who are called benfiquistas. "E pluribus unum" is the club motto; Águia Vitória, the mascot.
Benfica is honoured with the Portuguese Orders of Christ, of Prince Henry, and of Merit. Competitively, with 83 major trophies won – 84 when including the Latin Cup – Benfica is the most decorated club in Portugal. They have won 80 domestic trophies: a record 37 Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) titles, a record 26 Portuguese Cup (Taça de Portugal), a record 7 Portuguese
League Cup (Taça da Liga), 8 Portuguese Super Cup (Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira) and 3 Campeonato de Portugal. Internationally, they won back-to-back European Cups in 1961 and 1962 – a unique feat in Portuguese football – and were runners-up at the Intercontinental Cup in 1961 and '62, at the European Cup in 1963, '65, '68, '88 and '90, and at the UEFA Cup/Europa League in 1983, 2013 and '14. Benfica's ten European finals are a domestic record and ranked seventh all-time among UEFA clubs in 2014.Benfica was voted 12th in FIFA Club of the Century and ranked 9th in the IFFHS Top 200 European clubs of the 20th century. In UEFA, Benfica ranks 8th in the all-time club ranking and was 24th in the club coefficient rankings at the end of the 2020–21 season. Currently, Benfica have the second most participations in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (41), tournament in which they hold the overall record for the biggest aggregate win, achieved in 1965–66. Moreover, Benfica hold the European record for the most consecutive wins in domestic league and the record for the longest unbeaten run in Primeira Liga, where they became the first undefeated champions, in 1972–73.
1904Feb, 28
S.L. Benfica is founded in Portugal
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Events on 1904
- 17Jan
The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre. - 3Mar
Thomas Edison
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's phonograph cylinder. - 8Apr
The Book of the Law
British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the first chapter of The Book of the Law. - 5May
Cy Young
Pitching against the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, Cy Young of the Boston Americans throws the first perfect game in the modern era of baseball. - 16Nov
Vacuum tube
English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube).