Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional roller hockey team based in Lisbon, Portugal.
Founded in 1917, Benfica play in the Portuguese first division, having won 24 league titles. Moreover, they have won 15 Portuguese Cups, nine Portuguese Super Cups, one 1947 Cup and four Elite Cup.
Internationally, Benfica have won, among other trophies, two CERH European League, two CERS Cup, three CERH Continental Cup, two Intercontinental Cup and one Golden Cup.
Benfica's roller hockey section was founded in 1917, making it one of the earliest roller hockey clubs in Portugal. The team achieved its first success in 1925âÂÂ26, winning the Campeonato Regional de Lisboa, the top competition disputed at the time. Following this triumph, the club won the seven subsequent regional titles.
Benfica's first participation in the national First Division came in 1944âÂÂ45, finishing fourth in their debut season.
Benfica's first golden era came in the 1950s, winning four league titles (1950âÂÂ51, '51âÂÂ52, '55âÂÂ56, '56âÂÂ57), five Campeonatos Regionais de Lisboa (1950âÂÂ51, '52âÂÂ53, '53âÂÂ54, '55âÂÂ56, '58âÂÂ59), and six Taças de Honra da APL (from 1951âÂÂ52 to 1957âÂÂ58). During the second half of the decade, Torcato Ferreira took charge as coachâÂÂa position he would hold until 1970.
Under Torcato Ferreira, with standout players like António Ramalhete and António Livramento, Benfica extended its dominance into the 1960s, winning six league titles (1959âÂÂ60, '60âÂÂ61, '62âÂÂ63, '65âÂÂ66, '66âÂÂ67, '67âÂÂ68), two Campeonatos Metropolitanos de Lisboa (1966âÂÂ67, 1967âÂÂ68) â a competition that served as an intermediate stage between the regional leagues and the national championship â the 1963âÂÂ64 Taça de Portugal (the inaugural edition of the competition), eight Campeonatos Regionais de Lisboa (1959âÂÂ60 to 1963âÂÂ64 and 1965âÂÂ66 to 1967âÂÂ68), and six Torneios de Abertura da APL (1960âÂÂ61 to 1963âÂÂ64 and 1965âÂÂ66 to 1967âÂÂ68).
Internationally, Benfica reached its first continental finals, finishing runners-up in the 1961 Nations Cup, winning the 1962 Nations Cup, and later reaching the 1968âÂÂ69 European Cup final, marking the clubâÂÂs emergence on the European stage.
Benfica maintained its strong momentum in the early 1970s, winning three of the five league titles contested in that period (1969âÂÂ70, '71âÂÂ72, '73âÂÂ74), along with four Campeonatos Metropolitanos de Lisboa (1969âÂÂ70, '71âÂÂ72, '72âÂÂ73, '73âÂÂ74), one Campeonato Regional de Lisboa (1969âÂÂ70), and one Torneio de Abertura da APL (1971âÂÂ72). Internationally, the team reached the 1972âÂÂ73 European Cup final.
However, Benfica struggled to maintain the same level of dominance in the latter half of the decade, winning only the 1978âÂÂ79 league title, two Taças de Portugal (1977âÂÂ78, '78âÂÂ79), and three Torneios de Abertura da APL (1974âÂÂ75, '77âÂÂ78, '78âÂÂ79).
The 1980s brought a period of mixed domestic success, with Benfica winning two league titles (1979âÂÂ80, '80âÂÂ81), three Taças de Portugal (1979âÂÂ80, '80âÂÂ81, '81âÂÂ82), and four Torneios de Abertura da APL (1979âÂÂ80, '80âÂÂ81, '81âÂÂ82, '85âÂÂ86). Internationally, the club reached three European finals â the 1979âÂÂ80 European Cup and the 1982âÂÂ83 and 1983âÂÂ84 Cup Winners' Cup.
The 1990s saw Benfica return to dominance under key players such as José Carlos, Rui Lopes, LuÃÂs Ferreira, Paulo Almeida, and VÃÂtor Fortunato, winning five league titles (1991âÂÂ92, '93âÂÂ94, '94âÂÂ95, '96âÂÂ97, '97âÂÂ98), three Taças de Portugal (1990âÂÂ91, '93âÂÂ94, '94âÂÂ95), four Supertaças António Livramento (1992âÂÂ93, '94âÂÂ95, '96âÂÂ97, '97âÂÂ98), and four Torneios de Abertura da APL (1989âÂÂ90 to 1991âÂÂ92 and 1994âÂÂ95). In Europe, the club won its second continental title, the 1991 CERS Cup, and reached the 1992âÂÂ93 and 1994âÂÂ95 European Cup finals.
The 2000s marked a period of decline, with Benfica winning only three Taças de Portugal (1999âÂÂ00 to 2001âÂÂ02) and two Supertaças António Livramento (2001âÂÂ02 and 2002âÂÂ03), with Panchito Velázquez emerging as the teamâÂÂs star player.
Benfica started the decade by winning the 2009âÂÂ10 Taça de Portugal, ending a seven-year trophy drought. The bigger highlights, however, were the victories in the 2010âÂÂ11 CERS Cup and the 2011âÂÂ12 league title, which ended a 13-year league drought. During this three-year span, the club also won the 2010âÂÂ11 Supertaça António Livramento and the 2011 Continental Cup.
The 2012âÂÂ13 season saw Benfica win its first-ever WSE Champions League title, defeating FC Porto at Dragão Caixa by 6âÂÂ5 <small>(aet)</small>, in an all Portuguese final, along with the Supertaça António Livramento. In the following years, led by key players such as Carlos Nicolia, João Rodrigues, and others, the team captured several major trophies: the Supertaça António Livramento, Continental Cup defeating CE Vendrell, and Intercontinental Cup in 2013, defeating Sport Recife by 10âÂÂ3 and winning the only missing trophy for the club and the second one for Portuguese roller hockey, after the 1993 ÃÂquei de Barcelos win; the 2013âÂÂ14 Taça de Portugal; the 2014âÂÂ15 league title and Taça de Portugal; and the 2015âÂÂ16 league title, without defeat, totalling 25 wins and one draw, and WSE Champions League, after beating Oliveirense in the final 5âÂÂ3.
On 15 March 2015, Benfica became the second European club, after CP VoltregÃÂ, to win CERH's most important club title in both men and women competitions, after defeating the French team Coutras in the final of the Women's European Cup. Domestically, earlier that season, the women's section had conquered the national Super Cup on 8 November 2014, and later also won their third consecutive national championship on 8 June 2015, and their second consecutive domestic cup on 14 June, accomplishing the treble, and winning all five competitions they played, including the Torneio de Abertura.
Benfica closed the decade by adding the 2017 Continental Cup, beating ÃÂquei de Barcelos (9âÂÂ2) in the second leg of the Continental Cup, and won the trophy for a third time, and the 2018 Intercontinental Cup, beating Reus Deportiu (3âÂÂ5), thus becoming the second team with most trophies in the competition.
In the first three years of the 2020s, Benfica only won the 1947 Cup in 2020. In the following seasons, the team regained momentum, winning the 2022âÂÂ23 league title, two Supertaças António Livramento (2022âÂÂ23 and 2023âÂÂ24), and three Elite Cups (2022âÂÂ23, 2023âÂÂ24, 2024âÂÂ25).
Table headers
Divisions
Results and rounds
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According to Benfica's official website