C.F. Estrela da Amadora (1932)

Estrela da Amadora
Full name	Club Football Estrela da Amadora
Nickname(s)	Tricolores (The Tricolours); Estrela (Star)
Founded	22 January 1932; 92 years ago
Dissolved	2011; 13 years ago
Ground	Estádio José Gomes
Capacity	9,288
Home colours	Away colours

Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɨʃˈtɾelɐ ðamɐˈðoɾɐ]), sometimes just Estrela, was a Portuguese sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon.

Founded in 1932, its football team won the Taça de Portugal in 1990 and played at Estádio José Gomes. After bankruptcy in 2011, it reformed in 2020 as Club Football Estrela da Amadora,^[1] a brand-new club that didn't take the honours and the exact name of the original one.

History

While never a contender to the place of the third-most important club in the Lisbon Football Association, Estrela da Amadora won a Cup of Portugal in 1990 and one second division championship in 1992–93. In 16 seasons in top flight football – eight consecutive – its best season was in 1997–98, when the team finished in seventh position, under the guidance of Fernando Santos.

After winning the cup in 1990, Estrela reached the second round in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In the following decades, the team maintained its first division status in most seasons. In 2008–09, however, amidst serious financial difficulties,^[2] it was (twice) relegated even though it finished the campaign in mid-table.^[3]

Coach António Veloso only managed to lead Amadora to the tenth position in the third level in the 2009–10 season. Subsequently, as the club's dreadful economic situation persisted – which led to a two-year suspension from all activity by the Portuguese Football Federation – it folded.^[4]

In 2011 the club was declared insolvent by a court and closed its doors.^[5] Some supporters created a new club, Clube Desportivo Estrela in the following year to keep with youth teams and other sports, and continue with the history and legacy of Estrela da Amadora.^[6]^[7] In October 2018, CD Estrela created a senior football team.^[8]

In 2020, the club's members voted 92% in favour in July 2020 of a merger with Club Sintra Football, taking that team's place in the third-tier Campeonato de Portugal. It was not possible to revert to Estrela's original name to form a Sociedade Anónima Desportiva.^[9] The club's first season ended with promotion, despite losing the play-off final 1–0 to C.D. Trofense.^[10]

The new club didn't take the honours of any of its predecessors (Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora, Clube Desportivo Estrela and Club Sintra Football), so Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora is effectively extinct.

League and Cup history

Season		Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Portuguese Cup	Portuguese League Cup	Notes
1988–89	1D	8	38	13	13	12	33	41	39
1989–90	1D	13	34	10	8	16	35	34	28	Winner
1990–91	1D	18	38	9	14	15	37	46	32
1991–92	2H	11	34	10	13	11	30	35	33
1992–93	2H	1	34	17	14	3	59	28	48			Promoted
1993–94	1D	9	34	9	15	10	39	36	33
1994–95	1D	15	34	6	14	14	27	40	26
1995–96	1D	11	34	7	4	3	35	50	35
1996–97	1D	9	34	12	11	11	39	38	47
1997–98	1D	7	34	14	8	12	42	41	50			Best classification ever
1998–99	1D	8	34	11	12	11	33	40	45
1999–00	1D	8	34	10	15	9	40	35	45
2000–01	1D	18	34	4	7	23	30	57	19			Relegated
2001–02	2H	4	34	16	9	9	44	38	57
2002–03	2H	3	34	15	12	7	42	32	57			Promoted
2003–04	1D	18	34	4	5	25	22	74	17			Relegated
2004–05	2H	3	34	17	9	8	47	30	60	Semi-final		Promoted
2005–06	1D	9	34	12	9	13	31	33	45	6th round
2006–07	1D	10	30	9	8	13	23	36	35	4th round
2007–08	1D	13	30	6	13	11	29	41	31	Quarter-final	3rd round
2008–09	1D	11	30	8	10	12	26	38	34	Semi-final	1st group stage	Relegated
2009–10	2B	10	30	11	8	11	26	24	41	1st round		Extinct due to bankruptcy

Europe

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
1990–91	Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Neuchâtel Xamax	1–1	1–1 (4–3 p)	2–2
1990–91	Cup Winners' Cup	R2	RFC Liège	1–0	0–2	1–2
1998–99	Intertoto Cup	R3	Ruch Chorzów	1–1	1–1 (2–4 p)	2–2

Honours

Kit

Estrela's kit was split with three colours (hence the nickname 'the tricolours'): red and green fimbriated white, with the shorts and socks white. The club was longtime sponsored by national brands Tepa and Cofidis.

In 2005, Estrela decided to change the club's kit to traditional white, copying the badge (left side was red, the middle white and the right green) and taking away the old kit.

Notable players

Throughout its history, Estrela da Amadora has formed and had some notable players in Portugal, and some of them internationally. Some examples are Paulo Bento (former Portuguese player and currently head coach of South Korea's national team) and Jorge Andrade (former Portuguese player who played for clubs as F.C. Porto, Deportivo de La Coruña and Juventus).^[11]

References

^ Almeida, Isaura (11 July 2020). "O Estrela da Amadora está de volta" [Estrela da Amadora is back]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ "Estrela da Amadora à beira da despromoção" [Estrela da Amadora on the verge of being relegated]. RTP (in Portuguese). 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ Lucas, Cipriano (July 2009). "Belenenses seguro na Liga e Estrela da Amadora rejeitado" [Belenenses safe in the League and Estrela da Amadora rejected]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 8 September 2021.
^ "Estrela da Amadora suspenso duas épocas" [Estrela da Amadora suspended for two seasons]. Público (in Portuguese). 2 October 2010. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ "Estrela da Amadora fecha portas" [Estrela da Amadora closes its doors]. RTP (in Portuguese). 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ "Há um novo Estrela na Amadora" [There is a new Estrela in Amadora]. Sol (in Portuguese). 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ "Nasceu o Clube Desportivo Estrela, em memória do E. Amadora" [Clube Desportivo Estrela was born, in memory of E. Amadora]. MaisFutebol (in Portuguese). 31 March 2012. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ Pereira, David (19 October 2018). "O futebol está de volta à Amadora. A segunda vida do Estrela" [Football is back in Amadora. The second life of Estrela]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 August 2020.
^ Almeida, Isaura (11 July 2018). "O Estrela da Amadora está de volta" [Estrela da Amadora is back]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 August 2020.
^ "Trofense derrota Estrela da Amadora e conquista Campeonato de Portugal" [Trofense defeat Estrela da Amadora and win the Campeonato de Portugal]. Record (in Portuguese). 6 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
^ Pereira, David (14 October 2018). "O futebol está de volta à Amadora. A segunda vida do Estrela" [Football is back to Amadora. Estrela's second life]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ Bebe who? How Portugal reacted to the news of Manchester United's new signing; Goal.com, 12 August 2010