The Presidents of the Portuguese Football Federation (1914-2024)

Fernando de Sousa e Diogo Ferreira (coord.)

Men of sport, engaged in various disciplines such as athletics, gymnastics, cycling, handball and, of course, football, the first presidents of the Portuguese Football Federation were among the pioneers of this sport in Portugal. It was this passion for the game that led these individuals to get together and form clubs. The profile of the Federation's first presidents, professors, doctors and military officers, shows not only their prestige among their peers, but also how they fit in with the thinking of the time, when sports were increasingly being fostered in the various dimensions of hygiene, from the social to the economic and political.

With the advent of the Estado Novo regime, the governing bodies, including the presidents, were no exception to what was happening in other areas, and became men of trust of the ruling power. Between 1976 and 1994, especially during the 1980s, the presidents and their Boards of Directors began to lose the hegemony to which they were accustomed.

Meanwhile, the arrival of presidents with a more modern profile, linked to professional management, began a period of reform in the federative organisation. The stabilisation of the top positions, coupled with a substantial improvement in international performance, made it possible for the institution to gradually recover its credibility and prestige. Since then, its presence in practically all the final stages of major international competitions has ensured a continuous financial return, which has allowed the Federation to strengthen its economic and financial side, paving the way for sustained investment.

Today, the Federation is very different from what it was decades before, but its presidents and boards maintain the DNA towards the promotion of football, through the development of the other sports integrated into the institution, such as futsal, beach football and women's football. The road has been difficult, full of congresses and assemblies dedicated to adapting and revising the Federation's bylaws, in an attempt to respond to the numerous associative, political, institutional, legislative and social changes at s national and international level. The Federation's presidents have experienced the complexity of managing pressure from regional associations, the tensions between them, the application of regulations, rules, discipline and much more. It was an arduous but successful journey, thanks in no small part to the actions of the 31 personalities presented in this book, whose inevitable corollary came in the form of the autonomisation of the FPF president as a federative body in 1995, as part of the indispensable professionalisation of the position and the consequent strengthening of its own attributions.

Note: Due to publication rights, we can only offer the first few pages of the book, which can be purchased in bookshops or consulted in CEPESE's Library.

Contributors: Afonso de Melo, Ana Carolina Madail, Bruno Rodrigues, Diogo Ferreira, Eduardo Barros de Oliveira, Fernando de Sousa, João Marcelino, José da Cruz Lopes, Manuel Couto, Ricardo Rocha e Rui Miguel Tovar