Rio Ave F.c.

The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Rio Ave

Full name	Rio Ave Futebol Clube
Nickname(s)	Vilacondenses Rioavistas
Founded	18 January 1939; 85 years ago (18 January 1939)
Ground	Estádio dos Arcos
Capacity	12,815
Owner	Evangelos Marinakis
President	Alexandrina Cruz
Head coach	Luís Freire
League	Primeira Liga
2022–23	Primeira Liga, 12th of 18
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Founded in 1939, they play their home matches at Estádio do Rio Ave, also known as the Estádio dos Arcos. Built in 1985, the current stadium seats approximately 12,815 people.

The club's home colours are green and white striped shirts. Meanwhile, the shorts and socks have historically alternated between green or white. Portuguese internationals Alfredo, Paulinho Santos, Quim, Rui Jorge and Fábio Coentrão started their careers at the club. Goalkeepers Jan Oblak and Ederson 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.

Rio Ave was founded in 1939, soon being nicknamed Rio Grande (Big River). 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 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 fifth 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. In October 2020, the team reached the Europa League playoffs but lost at home to A.C. Milan, having conceded a penalty equaliser in the last minute of extra time and then losing 9–8 on penalties. The season, under the returning Cardoso, ended with relegation after a 5–0 aggregate defeat to F.C. Arouca in the playoffs.

After relegation, Rio Ave signed 35-year-old manager Luís Freire, who won promotion as champions in 2021–22 and was rewarded with a new contract.

In 2023, Rio Ave's affiliated paying members (sócios) approved the creation of a SAD and the entry of an investor, the Greek Evangelos Marinakis, who had already invested in Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest.

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	3Q	IFK Göteborg	0–0	1–0	1–0
		PO	IF Elfsborg	1–0	1–2	2–2 (a)
		Group J	Dynamo Kyiv	0–3	0–2	4th place
			Steaua București	2–2	1–2
			Aalborg BK	2–0	0–1
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	3Q	Slavia Prague	1–1	0–0	1–1 (a)
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Jagiellonia Białystok	4–4	0–1	4–5
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Borac Banja Luka	—	2–0	—
		3Q	Beşiktaş	—	1–1 (4–2 p)	—
		PO	Milan	2–2 (8–9 p)	—	—

Notes

• 3Q: Third qualifying round
• PO: Play-off round
• GS: Group stage

Current squad

As of 9 March 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   BRA Lucas Flores 2 DF   GEO Jorge Karseladze 3 DF   POR Miguel Nóbrega 4 DF   BRA Patrick William 5 MF   ARG Mateo Tanlongo (on loan from Sporting CP) 7 MF   POR João Teixeira (on loan from Al-Markhiya) 8 MF   POR Vítor Gomes (captain) 10 MF   FRA Amine Oudrhiri 11 FW   POR Umaro Embaló (on loan from Fortuna Sittard) 12 GK   POL Cezary Miszta (on loan from Legia Warsaw) 14 MF   POR Joca 15 MF   POR Adrien Silva 16 DF   BRA Sávio 17 FW   POR Ukra 18 GK   BRA Jhonatan

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF   POR Ruca 20 DF   POR Costinha 21 MF   POR João Graça 22 FW   GHA Emmanuel Boateng 23 DF   POR Josué Sá 24 DF   COL Cristian Devenish (on loan from Atlético Nacional) 27 MF   GRE Marios Vrousai (on loan from Olympiacos) 28 DF   POR Hélder Sá 33 DF   BRA Aderllan Santos 39 MF   NED Amine Rehmi (on loan from TOP Oss) 42 DF   CRO Renato Pantalon 70 FW   POR Zé Manuel 77 FW   POR Fábio Ronaldo 81 FW   GHA Abdul-Aziz Yakubu 82 GK   BRA Magrão 95 FW   POR André Pereira

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 MF   FRA Julien Lomboto (at Oliveirense until 30 June 2024) 90 FW   ANG Anderson Cruz (at Petro de Luanda until 30 June 2024) — MF   POR Bruno Ventura (at Leixões until 30 June 2024)