These notes are to help those who would like to
watch a live game while visiting the Algarve. I have been to many
of the grounds myself.
Page updated 10th January 2023
This is the Portuguese football set-up in
descending order for season 2022 - 2023. National Leagues consist
of four tiers. Lower tiers, where they exist, are the regional
leagues. Promotion and relegation operates between all tiers.
This English language website http://www.portugoal.net/
covers the top level and national team. Some information seems not
be updated regularly, so treat with caution.
Another good website, with areas in English and
several other languages, is www.zerozero.pt which, among a lot of
information has results, league tables and fixtures for all levels
of the game in Portugal.
There is only one website specifically for
Algarve football, the official Algarve FA website www.afalgarve.pt in
Portuguese only but easy enough to navigate and make sense of.
In Portugal, there is little or no recreational
or 'park' football as we know it in the UK. Most organised
football is played on enclosed grounds with 'proper' referees and
linesmen.
There are also national and regional set-ups for
U-19 etc type football. There are some unofficial veterans
leagues.
You will be pleased to hear that admission charges are a lot less than in the UK for the comparable level of football. Tickets are readily available apart from, for example, Benfica v Sporting or Benfica v Porto. In most top level grounds and all those below that level you can pay on the day.
Very few games are usually scheduled over the
weekend between the Christmas and New Year Holidays, or over the
two weekends at all if those holidays fall on a Friday, Saturday
or Sunday. At Easter there are usually no matches on Easter
Sunday, they are mostly played on the Saturday instead. Minor
leagues do not have games at Easter.
There is virtually no midweek football (ie Tuesday or Wednesday) anywhere in Portugal below the top two Divisions.
Would you like a football tour to the
Algarve? Algarve Football Tours can organise games at any level,
from full professional down to veterans and school-aged teams.
The company deals with top level and
semi-professional teams from Germany, Sweden, Norway etc during
their winter break and also arranges pre-season training matches
for top British and other clubs. Matches can be arranged against
suitable local opposition and also on a tournament basis between
visiting teams. Qualified referees are arranged for all matches
and those at higher level will be provided with appropriate people
from the Portuguese or Algarve Football Association lists.
Semi - professional clubs can also have suitable
matches arranged pre-season against local opposition. All matches
at such levels require official sanctions from the relevant
Football Associations. 
For those at the lower levels of the game, we
can organise end of season and pre- season tour games against
local teams of ex-pats, short end-of-season tournaments between
visiting teams, also trips for school age teams during the winter
and Easter holidays. Intending school aged teams should be
aware that most weekday matches would be played in the evenings on
3G pitches under floodlights. We ensure that age appropriate match
arrangements are in place.
It is not easy to organise anything in July and
August as it is too hot. The local football season, apart from the
top two divisions, ends in mid-May and resumes in late
September. Veteran's and school aged games are normally good
until the end of June.
For smaller groups, we have access to 3G pitches
with floodlights (and a bar adjacent!) for five a side and
seven a side matches, often in a short tournament format.
The Algarve is regularly visited not only by
teams from the UK but from Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Sweden,
Norway, Iceland and the USA. A chance to meet different
opposition!
Algarve Football Tours will make all the
arrangements necessary to make your trip a successful event -
except booking flights and the essential insurance! Hotels,
transport to and from matches, training venues (if required) and
other off the field and non football activities can be organised
Click the logo below to visit our website for
more information, testimonials and contact details.
As Women’s football gathers momentum and popularity,
we are delighted to offer Portugal as a great destination for
Women’s Football Tours offering bespoke packages including matches
or tournaments. Throughout Portugal we have women's/girls teams
providing ideal opposition for all levels, amateur to Semi
Professional. Selected hotels offer full training facilities for
the more serious, or we can create a tailor made package based in
a lively resort to make a perfect football holiday.
We can create a tailor made package for your women’s and girl's
football teams with hotels/accommodation to suit your
requirements, training facilities and those all important matches
or tournaments. In the Algarve, Lisbon or Porto we have
great conditions, venues and opposition choices to be sure your
team has a great football experience in Portugal.
If your prefer your tour to be a more sociable event, you can be
based in one of the Algarve’s lively resorts, to enjoy beautiful
beaches, good restaurants and nightlife based around your
football.
Women's Futsal tours with
matches and tournaments can also be arranged. 
Futsal in Europe has a long history in the sport and Portugal is
host some of the best players and teams. Take the chance to test
your skills on the European stage. Our package of accommodation,
training facilities and matches all set in a lively resort means
you and your team can enjoy a great tour in the Algarve.
Please click here
to make an enquiry for more information about football trips for
women. See also http://futebolfemininoportugal.com/
Strictly for the over 50's, we are now able to help you with
visits and competitions for walking football teams. There are a
growing number of active walking football teams in the Algarve.
Contact us if you would like a one-off game or perhaps we can
organise a small tournament. A full scale event involving around
40 teams will be taking place on 17th and 18th April 2023 at
Ferreiras FC, just outside Albufeira.
This website will be of interest to visitors - https://walkingfootballalgarve.com/
not connected with us, this is the site of the East Algarve
Walking Football club.
This map shows the various grounds used by the professional and
semi-professional clubs based in the Algarve. Zoom in to see a
more precise location, click the marker to see who plays there.
Many towns have no active senior football clubs, hence the big
gaps in the map!
The two marked in red are those of Portimonense and Farense, the
two top level teams of the Algarve.
Those marked in yellow are, so far as I know, used only by junior
age group teams. For interest I have marked, in grey, some of the
grounds I know and that are now not used by anyone.
Season 2022 -
2023 began on the weekend of 6 / 7 August and ends on the last
weekend of May 2023. In common with all European leagues, there
were no fixtures between mid November and the week after
Christmas to allow the corrupt FIFA to stage its World Cup.
Portimonense
(the team based in Portimão) play in. the top Division
A bit about their ground -
They play in Portimão's city centre municipal stadium, a short
walk from buses and trains. It is an 'old fashioned' ground in
that there are steep terraces close to the pitch and no running
track etc around it. To be honest it would barely pass muster in
the UK National League (5th tier) let alone the top division of a
national competition. Spectator facilities are minimal, there are
few toilets, one portable bar on the non-members side, no match
day programmes etc.
Their website is www.portimonense.pt
- it is only in Portuguese. The stadium holds about 5,500. If it's
looking like rain, be aware that the entire stadium, apart from
the executive area, has no roof cover. Average attendance this
season so far is 2,055 a little over a third full or nearly two
thirds empty depending on now you look at it. There is little or
no chance of a ticket when they play the big three teams i.e.
Benfica, Sporting CP and Porto. Members of home and away clubs get
priority.
Note for visitors - children under 6 years old are not allowed in.
The price of tickets will be €10 - 15 in non-members areas.
Tickets are not sold on websites etc except for the big games.
Ticket office opens 2 hours before kick-off. There are cafés and
bars in the surrounding area in which to wait, there is NOTHING
inside the ground in the way of spectator amenities before the
game starts.
There is a fairly large free car park outside,
which does get full as it also serves two large apartment blocks.
There are other places to park nearby. For those coming by bus,
the ground is 4 minutes walk from the main bus stop area on
Avenida Guanaré. The railway station is about 15 minutes walk.
However, given TV schedules, many games are played at times not
allowing journeys by train or bus.
The Lisbon based teams of Benfica, Sporting and Belenenses are about 3 to 4 hours drive from the Algarve or between 4 and 5 hours by bus or train. That includes the time spent in the city getting to the ground. It is impossible to travel to and from their games by train unless staying overnight. If going by coach (bus to non UK readers) you will have a long wait (until 0100) before your return journey! ALL top flight matches are shown live on TV and are therefore mostly played in the evenings, sometimes kicking off as late as 21.15hrs even on Sundays.
Games are scheduled for television purposes and
are played over Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday evenings. Very
rarely does a team play at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon, the
'default' time for kickoffs.
Dates and times of matches are confirmed four to six weeks in advance, except at the end of the season when certain games are ordered to be played at the same time, sometimes at less than a week's notice! Fixture dates and times can be found on the official League website which also has links to the club websites.
Apart from games involving the 'big three' and
the honourable exceptions of Braga and Guimarães, crowds often
number less than 5,000.
Season 2022 - 2023 began on the weekend of 6 / 7 August and ends on the last weekend of May 2023.
Most games are played on Sunday afternoons, but there will be some moved for TV broadcast and often at only a week or two's notice.
Farense,
the team of Faro, play in the renovated city centre São Luis
stadium, which has a capacity of about 12,000.
Average attendance so far this season is 2,620,
the best of the Division where thirteen of the eighteen teams
average less than 1,000 fans per game.
The stadium is located on the north side of the
city near the large hospital, about 15 minutes walk from the
railway and bus stations . There is no cover from the elements on
the non-members side of the stadium. Official website https://www.scfarense.pt/modalidades/futebol
The Portuguese FA Cup is open to all
teams in the National setup, including those in Madeira and the
Azores. Almost all games are played at the weekend, as the leagues
mostly consist of between 12 and 16 teams, thus creating plenty of
spare dates. The only regional teams allowed to enter are,
generally, the league runner's up and the regional cup
winners. The fixtures can be found at www.zerozero.pt
but kickoff times are harder to find and will have to be checked
locally.
The FA Cup has now reached the fifth round stage
with all Algarve teams eliminated
The League Cup (Taça Allianz) is played
by the Superliga and Segunda Liga teams only. The top teams are
obliged to play a majority of Under-23 players. This season,
the tournament's first round group stage is being played during
November and December while the top two divisions are closed.
Matchess are usually on Sunday afternoons. The
best place to check for fixtures and kickoff times is Portuguese FA Website
Season began on 18th September and will end late May or early
June depending on how teams progress in the playoffs. Fixtures can
be found week-by-week here.
Serie (Group) D includes the teams in the Algarve
This consists of regionalised divisions of twelve teams with two
phases to the season. After each team has played each other home
and away, the leagues split into two. A further round of matches
takes place, with the top teams playing for promotion places and
the rest playing to avoid relegation.
Matches are normally played on Sunday afternoons at 3pm / 1500hrs
but later in April, May and June.
Lagos
play in an open air stadium just outside the town centre, about 10
minutes walk from the bus and railway stations.
Olhanense play at the Estadio José
Arcanjo in Olhão. This is near the centre of town, not far from
the main N125 road and McDonald's. The tall floodlights can be
seen from a long distance. There is little cover from the elements
on one side, none at all on the other. There is a car park outside
and street parking a few minutes walk away. They do have a
small number of resident British fans who meet before the game in
a bar opposite the main entrance.
The Algarve
League First Division season began 24th September 2022 and will
run until May 2023
This is a semi-professional league, roughly the
equivalent of a good English county FA league. Matches are
normally played on Saturday afternoons, although some games are at
different times because of ground sharing. There are no matches
over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
First Division
- teams
Odiáxere, Culatrense, Os 11 Esperanças, Lagoa,
Guia, Internacional Almancil, Louletano, Lusitano VRSA, Quarteira
SC, Quarteirense, Silves and Almancil
Algarve League First Division games are played
on SATURDAYS normally at 1500hrs / 3pm but as before fixtures can
change, often at short notice. Best check locally if you can. Some
kickoff times are changed because of ground sharing.
The local FA website usually publishes changes
to the fixture lists with confirmed kickoff times on the TUESDAY
prior to the weekend concerned. The local press does not list
kick-off times in their information.
A problem is that kickoff times and even match
dates are altered with as little as a week's warning. It is
difficult therefore to keep up to date as none of the clubs has an
official website and the FA website does not highlight any
changes. So if I forget to look...
Fixtures (with kick-off times) can be seen at https://resultados.fpf.pt/Competition/GetCompetitionsByAssociation?associationId=224&seasonId=102
I list all fixtures with kick-off times each
Monday or Tuesday at www.albufeira.com/forum
The Algarve Cup is the regional cup
competition and most teams enter, including those in the national
Leagues. We have reached the third round stage. The draw is
awaited. The eight teams involved will be : Imortal Albufeira;
Quarteirense; Paderne; Culatrense; Silves; Moncarapachense;
Quarteira SC and Louletano.
Many bars in the Algarve, especially those run
by British people, have UK satellite dishes or internet streams.
In the Algarve you will almost always be able to find somewhere
showing the football. Some bars will also show Scottish games, but
you may have to look rather harder!
If you are coming to the Albufeira area and need to know a good bar in which to watch a game near where you are staying, go to www.albufeira.com/forum and ask there for a recommendation.
It is no longer simple for some bars to show
matches screened on BT Sport, BBC, ITV etc. Most now have devised
various internet based solutions of varying quality and quantity.
Interruptions and complete breakdowns happen from time to time.
Sky Sports channels are still available through satellite and
usually trouble free.
Portugal's Eleven Sport subscription channels
show English Premier League matches each weekend and during
midweek, including the 3pm Saturday matches not normally available
to UK viewers. English language commentary is not available.
Another subscription service, SportTV, shows FA Cup and League Cup
matches. Very occasionally there will be a match on free to air
channels, particularly if a Portuguese team is playing in Europe.
Many bars in tourist areas (ie the Algarve) have
access to various broadcast streams, notably Bein Sport also South
African, US and Canadian channels, which show many English Premier
League games with English commentary. Some have Irish channels.
You can fairly easily find bars showing three games at the same
time on a Saturday afternoon.
Portugal's SportTV (subscription channel) also
shows live US Major League, Dutch, Italian, French, German and
Spanish games fairly regularly. You may also get Brazilian games
late at night.
If you have a car while you are here, you might
be able to get over to Huelva or Seville. Seville play in the
Spanish First Division (La Liga) of course as do the other team in
Seville, Real Betis.
The local team just across the border in Huelva,
called Recreativo, are in the third division.
You can get fixtures from an English Language website at www.soccer-spain.com; which also has information about kickoff times and ticket sales generally. Beware that in Spain, many games are scheduled for TV purposes only a few days in advance of the weekend concerned. Tickets are therefore not normally available until a few days beforehand. Some games kick off as late as 10.15pm.
The city of Seville is easily accessible from
the Algarve by car, but there are no trains and by bus it is
fairly hard work with very few buses running. A trip out and back
in one day almost impossible! Click here for public transport information
Algarve - Seville.
The new season began 11th September for Guia, 2nd October for
Ferreiras and will end mid - May. As in previous seasons, Guia FC
will be the Algarve's sole representative in the top two
divisions. They are now playing their Division Two home games at
Ferreiras FC. Ferreiras has their own women's team who play in the
regionalised Third Division of the national system. Matches are
usually on Sunday afternoons, but rarely do teams play every week.
Fixtures can be found at https://www.fpf.pt/pt/ - click
MENU on the top right , then Futebol Feminino then the required
competition.
Very little women's 11-a-side football in played in the Algarve.
The whole Algarve Region has just those two active senior teams,
those of Guia FC and Ferreiras FC.