“Would we ever lose to Jose Gomes?” The question, by way of delight, comes from one of the many supporters who waited next to Estádio José Gomes this Monday night to see the heroes of Estrela da Amadora’s rise to the First League. The fan was referring to the fact that they took out Marítimo, coached by the president’s namesake who first led the tricolor club under the greats in 1988-89 and who now gives his name to the stadium.
Since then, Estrela has seen glory with the capture of a Portuguese Cup (1992) and 16 presences in the main division until it descended to hell with an insolvency that led to extinction… until the re-foundation and the merger that used the tri-color crest and stood this return, led by Paulo Lopo at SAD.
He invested in the recovery and is now reaping the rewards with the rise to the First League, but he doesn’t forget “the members who refounded the club”, nor does he forget Dinis Delgado from Club Sintra Football who made the merger possible , nor the “cheerleaders”, led by Marco Fernandes, who took care of cleaning the stadium “without daring to dream of a new Estrela da Amadora”, abandoned after it had died out.
Therefore, “the climb is for a lot of people” and not just the team and the current structure. “As president of SAD, I couldn’t be happier. The people of Amadora deserve to have a top star and the club is finally where it belongs.” through the streets of Amadora. Captain Miguel Lopes and Vitó, who scored the decisive penalty, received the most applause.
Today it was still time to celebrate, tomorrow it’s time to rest and the day after tomorrow it’s time to think about the future… The 2023-24 season starts with José Gomes. At least that is the conviction of the leader of SAD: “The deed for the stadium will be done this month, after that some work will have to be done and the capacity of the light towers will be strengthened, but the structural work has already been done.” year and for that reason I think we will play the new season at Reboleira. The big games will be back with Jose Gomes.”
The work of professional football goes hand in hand with youth football under the auspices of the club now led by José Manuel Francisco. The B team rose, the Under-23 won the Liga Revelação and almost all teams of the youth teams secured promotion to the national side.
From the desperation of being evicted to getting up in one year
Amadora took to the streets to thank the rebirth of the club that saw it go bankrupt and completely disappear from the football map 14 years ago when it played its last match in the I Liga. In the 2008-09 season, despite guaranteeing their permanence on the field, the tricolor club went to the secretariat due to recognized debts of 36.8 million euros. It was deemed insolvent in 2010 and disappeared in 2011 – even today the list of creditors exceeds 30 people/entities claiming arrears of funds from that era -, the year it was re-founded by six partners as Clube Desportivo Estrela .
On July 11, 2020, the members of the former Estrela da Amadora Clube de Futebol approved the merger with Club Sintra Football, which had been founded in 2007 by a young amateur, Dinis Delgado (today in the structure of the new Estrela), and whose vacancy in the Portuguese championship, the emblem of Reboleira allowed to leave the districts and return to the national level.
This was followed by the restoration of the symbol, handed over to SAD. Paulo Lopo and his son finally gave face to the project last year, when they once again embarked on an uphill battle: to buy the José Gomes stadium and the Reboleira complex at auction, for a total investment of 2.2 million euros. He still faced a threat of eviction and unexpected logistics expenses that forced Sérgio Vieira’s team to spend months at home on loan. Often in Leiria, 130 km away.
Despite all this, the dream of climbing the division came alive on the field and ended in celebration, after some stumbling in the final stretch of the II League that relegated Estrela to a final play-off with Marítimo, surpassed on penalties. Paulo Lopo acknowledges that “the most realistic plan” when he took charge of SAD in May 2022 was to rise within two years, but the team and fans showed this season that it was possible.
And now with a new investor. The American technology company My Football Club (MYFC) already sponsored the team and has now acquired 90% of Sociedade Anónima Desportiva do Estrela da Amadora. Patrice Evra, historic player of the French national team and Manchester United, is one of the owners. “Joining forces with MYFC opens up new opportunities,” said the current leader of SAD, leaving talk about the size of the investment that will support the 17th main championship presence for later – the most anticipated of the club where Abel Xavier, Dimas, Paulo Bento, Miguel, Jorge Andrade, Calado, Chainho or Rebelo (the eternal captain of Estrela) played and where Cabrita, José Torres, Medeiros, Jesualdo Ferreira, Quinito, Fernando passed Santos and Jorge Jesus.
Source: DN
