Leça Futebol Clube

Leça were born in 1912 from the merger of two informal teams sharing the Hintze Ribeiro field in Leça da Palmeira, and from day one they have measured themselves against neighbours Leixões in the Matosinhos derby. The Leceiros first reached the top flight in 1941/42 with a side of local amateurs, but the great years came in the nineties: champions of the 2.ª Divisão B in 1993 and of the Honra in 1995, they spent three straight seasons in the top tier, with an unprecedented 12th place in 1997/98 and names like Sérgio Conceição and Ricardo Carvalho leaping from there to the world, before the 1998 fall over financial irregularities. In 2026, the club of the green and white stands smiled again: Campeonato de Portugal champions at the Jamor on 10 June, 1-1 against Vitória de Sernache and 5-4 on penalties, with Miguel Paiva saving two.