S.L. Benfica is a Portuguese football team based in Lisbon. The club was formed as Sport Lisboa on 28 February 1904 following a meeting of former Casa Pia students at Farmácia Franco (Franco Pharmacy) led by Cosme Damião. Since the club lacked a field to play, they merged with Grupo Sport Benfica on 13 September 1906, to form Sport Lisboa e Benfica.
Contents
Benfica won the Primeira Liga title for the first time in 1936; since then, they have won a further 33 league titles, along with 25 Portuguese Cups, plus a number of other more recently established trophies. They have also been crowned champions of European football on two occasions by winning the European Cup in 1961 and 1962. The club was one of 8 members of the Primeira Liga when it was formed in 1934.
This chronological list comprises all those who have held the position of manager of the first team of Benfica since their foundation in 1904. Each manager's entry includes his dates of tenure and the club's overall competitive record (in terms of matches won, drawn and lost), honours won, and significant achievements while under his care. Caretaker managers are included (when known), as well as those who have been in permanent charge. The club's longest-serving manager was Cosme Damião, who managed the team from 1908 to 1926, totalling 18 years.
Managerial history
The first ever manager was Manuel Gourlade, an employee of Fármacia Franco and also the treasury manager He served for sixteen matches from the first official match on 4 November 1906, until the end of the second season in 1907–08, when eight players defected to Sporting CP. From then on, Cosme Damião took over, leading the club to its first ever Lisbon Championship, two years later. Until the end of the 1910s, he added seven more championships, the last in 1920 was particularly hard because of another mass defection to join recently created clubs Os Belenenses and Casa Pia. Facing a much less talented squad, and an ever increasing debt related to the construction of the football fields, the club entered a trophyless period which led to the departure of Cosme Damião in 1926, after 18 years in charge. He was replaced by Ribeiro dos Reis, a former club player that had recently managed the national team. Although performances improved slightly, he failed to win any silverware, ending his spell in 1929, to make way for a foreign manager, Arthur John, who would also double as a masseur for the club other sports. He was much more successful, leading the club to its first national title, the Portuguese Championship in 1929–30, retaining it in the next season. He moved to Sporting in the next season, with Benfica reappointing Ribeiro dos Reis for a second spell. He did not fare much better, adding only a Lisbon Championship on his second year, by now a second grade competition. He was succeeded by Vítor Gonçalves in 1934, who would reconquer the Portuguese Championship in his first season and lead the team to the first ever Primeira Liga title in his second year. The managerial changes continued in 1936, with Benfica hiring the first of six Hungarian managers: Lippo Hertzka. Hertzka led Real Madrid to its first La Liga title in 1932, and at Benfica, he remained victorious, adding another two Primeira Liga titles in three seasons. In 1939, Benfica changed manager again, hiring János Biri. In his first year, he won the club's last Lisbon Championships and the club's first Portuguese Cup. Over the following six seasons, he managed the team in 272 games, winning three Primeira Liga titles and another two Portuguese Cup. With the appearance of Sporting CP's "five violins" in 1946, the club attempted to fight them, sacking Biri at the end of the season and rehiring Hertzka. Benfica led the league 1947–48 season for most part but ended in second place, equalized on points, but with a goal less. Benfica then returned to English managers, hiring Ted Smith in 1948. He guided the team to a Portuguese Cup in his first year, the league title and the first European trophy, the Latin Cup, in his second year, and finished his two remaining seasons with two more Portuguese Cup titles, although in the latter, it was his assistant, Cândido Tavares who conquered it, after he returned to England. In 1952–53, Benfica hired Alberto Zozaya only to be replaced mid-season by Ribeiro dos Reis in his third spell, ending the season in second, but with one more Portuguese Cup. Ribeiro dos Reis would lead the club halfway through the next year, with José Valdivieso finishing the first trophyless season in five years. Benfica then hired Otto Glória, a manager that would revolutionize the club, starting the professionalism of the club. He created a house for the players to focus before matches, to strengthen the discipline; increased wages which allowed for professional footballers instead of part-time players; improved the physical training; carefully supervised what players ate; regular medical check-ups; implemented an academic program to improve the players' education; began the teaching of English language and also, through etiquette, how to dress and eat.
Statistics
Information correct as of match played 19 February 2017. Only competitive matches are counted.