From the mythical jersey to the first doubt: Villas-Boas’ victory in five interesting facts | FC Porto

“FC Porto is free again.” The phrase of the night was delivered around two in the morning by André Viilas-Boas, who won an unprecedented victory in the club’s elections, succeeding Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, to whom he left a word of gratitude. “It is a historic moment for FC Porto and for Portuguese football. I would like to say a word to the remaining candidates, especially Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa. I would like to express my gratitude for everything he gave to our FC Porto, to life he gave to FC Porto and the guarantee that this is and will always be his home”.

Regarding the future, he said that his team has “a long mission ahead” and “hard work in a house that has to be structured, tidy and organized”.

Win at every table

André Villas-Boas didn’t just win the FC Porto elections with more than 80.28% of the votes — he also won them in all 44 polling stations. He thus became the 34th president in the club’s history, following a historically well-participated vote (26,876 members made a point of voting). The winning list (B) obtained 21,489 votes. The Pinto da Costa (A) list stood at 5224 (19.52%). And C, owned by businessman and professor Nuno Lobo, only had 53 (0.2%).

The night shirt

The newly elected leader of the “dragons” spoke to the fans early in the morning, wearing a historic blue and white shirt. With the number 13, the shirt was worn by former Brazilian player Juary, who scored one of the club’s winning goals in the European Cup final, played in Vienna in 1987. The newspaper says Record that this was also the shirt of Rui Filipe, a footballer from the club who died in a car accident in 1994.

Two years older than Pinto da Costa

Pinto da Costa became president of FC Porto on April 17, 1982, when he was 44 years old (he is now 86). His reign as sports director is the longest in world football. In the 42 years of his presidency, Pinto da Costa served 15 terms and, at national level, won 23 championship titles. When he takes office, André Villas-Boas will be 46 years old, two years older than his predecessor when he became leader.

Baía faced defeat

It was not up to Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa to make any defeat speech. The person who spoke to the members on Saturday night was Vítor Baía. “The members are the ones in charge of the club, that’s what they wanted. The transition must be prepared,” he said. The outgoing president left the stadium after 11pm, amid applause from FC Porto fans and members of the Super Dragões, who surrounded the vehicle in which he followed in a show of support. The police had to intervene so that the car could move forward.

The (dissolved) doubt of the first day

It was a coincidence that on the new president’s first day there was a game between FC Porto and Sporting, at Estádio do Dragão. The question of the day began with knowing whether André Villas-Boas would be invited to watch the game from the presidential stand (he was) or whether he would take his usual place (he will). In his first statements this Sunday, when he was leaving home to “get lunch”, he confirmed that he had received an invitation to go to the presidential stand, but added that he intended to watch the game among the fans.

Note: News updated at 1:10 pm with confirmation that André Villas-Boas will watch the game in his usual seat.