Rio Ave F.C.

Rio Ave F.C.

Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave ([ˈʁi.u ˈavɨ]), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Founded in 1939, they play their home matches at Estádio do Rio Ave FC, also known as the Estádio dos Arcos. Built in 1985, the current stadium seats approximately 5,300 people.

The club's home colours are green and white striped shirts. Meanwhile, the shorts and socks have historically alternated between green or white. Portuguese internationals Alfredo, Paulinho Santos, Quim, Rui Jorge and Fábio Coentrão started their careers at the club. Goalkeepers Jan Oblak and Ederson are some famous talents that were part of this side.

The Vilacondenses' best top-tier league finish was fifth in the 1981–82, 2017–18 and 2019–20 seasons. They reached the 1984 Taça de Portugal Final, where they lost to Porto 4–1, and the 2014 Taça de Portugal Final, where they lost to Benfica 1–0. With this result, Rio Ave qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, their first participation in a major European competition.

History

Rio Ave F.C.

Rio Ave was founded in 1939, soon being nicknamed Rio Grande (Big River). The side had two of its best moments in the 1980s, under the management of Félix Mourinho, father of José Mourinho: in 1981–82, the club finished in a joint-best fifth place, and two years later it reached the Taça de Portugal final, losing to Porto 4–1.

In 2013–14, the club reached both cup finals under the management of Nuno Espírito Santo, but lost to treble-winners Benfica in both. This qualified them to their first European campaign, the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. New manager Pedro Martins led them past Swedish duo IFK Göteborg and IF Elfsborg to reach the group stage, where they came last.

Under Miguel Cardoso, Rio Ave came fifth in 2017–18, equalling their best finish. Two years later, with Carlos Carvalhal in charge and Iranian Mehdi Taremi the league's joint top scorer, the club equalled this position with a new points record of 55. In October 2020, the team reached the Europa League playoffs but lost at home to A.C. Milan, having conceded a penalty equaliser in the last minute of extra time and then losing 9–8 on penalties. The season, under the returning Cardoso, ended with relegation after a 5–0 aggregate defeat to F.C. Arouca in the playoffs.

After relegation, Rio Ave signed 35-year-old manager Luís Freire, who won promotion as champions in 2021–22 and was rewarded with a new contract.

In 2023, Rio Ave's affiliated paying members (sócios) approved the creation of a SAD and the entry of an investor, the Greek Evangelos Marinakis, who had already invested in Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest.

European record

UEFA club competition record

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	3Q	IFK Göteborg	0–0	1–0	1–0
PO	IF Elfsborg	1–0	1–2	2–2 (a)
Group J	Dynamo Kyiv	0–3	0–2	4th place
Steaua București	2–2	1–2
Aalborg	2–0	0–1
2016–17	3Q	Slavia Prague	1–1	0–0	1–1 (a)
2018–19	2Q	Jagiellonia Białystok	4–4	0–1	4–5
2020–21	2Q	Borac Banja Luka	—N/a	2–0	—N/a
3Q	Beşiktaş	—N/a	1–1 (4–2 p)	—N/a
PO	Milan	2–2 (8–9 p)	—N/a	—N/a

UEFA coefficient

Rank	Team	Points
131	Santa Clara	12.453
132	Paços de Ferreira	12.453
133	Rio Ave	12.453
134	Astana	12.000
135	Rijeka	12.000

Players

First Team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	POL	Cezary Miszta
5	DF	GRE	Andreas Ntoi
6	DF	ENG	Nelson Abbey
7	FW	BRA	Diogo Bezerra
8	MF	BRA	Ryan Guilherme
10	MF	CRC	Brandon Aguilera
11	FW	ESP	Jalen Blesa
14	FW	ISR	Karem Zoabi
17	DF	GRE	Marios Vrousai (captain)
18	FW	CRO	Dario Špikić
19	MF	GRE	Antonis Papakanellos (on loan from Olympiacos)
20	DF	POR	João Tomé
21	MF	POR	João Graça
22	GK	CRC	Kevin Chamorro
No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	DF	ARG	Pancho Petrasso
24	DF	POR	Leonardo Buta (on loan from Udinese)
25	FW	BRA	Rafael Lobato
27	FW	ARG	Tobías Medina
28	FW	ESP	Marc Gual
32	DF	CZE	Jakub Brabec
39	DF	BRA	Gustavo Mancha (on loan from Olympiacos)
44	MF	HUN	Tamás Nikitscher
54	MF	GRE	Georgios Liavas
63	DF	FRA	Julien Lomboto
77	DF	ENG	Omar Richards (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
80	MF	GER	Ole Pohlmann
90	FW	POR	Tamble Monteiro
99	GK	NED	Ennio van der Gouw (on loan from Zulte Waregem)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	GK	ALB	Anxhelo Sina (at PAS Giannina until 30 June 2026)
16	DF	CYP	Georgios Okkas (at Panionios until 30 June 2026)
94	FW	POR	Valentim Sousa (at Marco 09 until 30 June 2026)

U23 squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	GRE	Georgios Lemonakis
3	DF	POR	Fil Azevedo
4	DF	POR	Tomé Almeida
9	FW	SEN	Mamadou Sawané
12	GK	POR	Tiago Ribeiro
13	GK	POR	Pedro Virgínia
31	DF	BRA	Vinicius Cressi
41	FW	MAR	Amine Rehmi
42	GK	POR	Santi Gomes
43	DF	POR	Guilherme Venâncio
45	MF	FRA	Etienne Michut
46	MF	SEN	Antoine Wenck
47	MF	POR	Pedro Pereira
No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
48	FW	POR	Franco Pinho
49	FW	POR	Francisco Curvelo
68	FW	GEO	Saba Samushia
69	DF	BRA	Caike Valença
70	FW	BRA	Eduardo Gualberto
71	MF	KOS	Lorent Talla
75	MF	ALB	Dijar Ferati
83	MF	GNB	Dai Baldé
86	MF	POR	Ferna
87	DF	POR	Francisco Brás
88	FW	POR	Alex Sousa
95	DF	EGY	Hassan Abouelmaati

U23 squad out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
93	DF	GEO	Jorge Karseladze (at Académica de Coimbra until 30 June 2026)

Club staff

Coaching staff

Role	Name
Head Coach	Sotiris Silaidopoulos
Assistant coach	Vaggelis Samios
Assistant coach	Dimitris Gkoumas
Assistant coach	Augusto Gama
Goalkeeping coach	Spiros Christopoulos
Fitness coach	Ilias Ampatzidis
Analyst	Nuno Cardoso

League and cup history

Rio Ave F.C.

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	League Cup	Notes
1978–79	2DS	2	30	20	5	5	51	26	45	Round 4		Promoted
1979–80	1D	16	30	5	3	22	22	61	13	Round 4		Relegated
1980–81	2DS	1	30	16	10	4	43	17	42	Round 3		Promoted
1981–82	1D	5	30	13	8	9	26	31	34	Round 5		[A]
1982–83	1D	8	30	13	3	14	43	45	29	Round 3
1983–84	1D	9	30	11	7	12	35	35	29	Runner-up		[B]
1984–85	1D	13	30	7	9	14	27	43	23	Quarter-final		Relegated
1985–86	2DN	1	30	19	11	0	52	19	49	Round 4		Promoted
1986–87	1D	13	30	8	9	13	33	40	25	Round 5
1987–88	1D	18	38	7	14	17	29	67	28	Round 6		Relegated
1988–89	2DS	4	34	16	9	9	51	30	41	Round 3
1989–90	2DS	10	34	10	11	13	44	47	31	Round 3
1990–91	2DS	4	38	23	10	5	79	21	56	Round 6		Promoted
1991–92	2H	4	34	16	7	11	47	30	39	Round 5
1992–93	2H	5	34	14	10	10	39	36	38	Round 5
1993–94	2H	4	34	18	8	8	43	23	44	Quarter-final
1994–95	2H	11	34	12	8	14	47	46	32	Round 6
1995–96	2H	1	34	21	5	8	58	42	68	Round 5		Promoted
1996–97	1D	15	34	8	11	15	35	42	35	Round 4
1997–98	1D	9	34	12	10	12	43	43	46	Round 5
1998–99	1D	14	34	8	11	15	26	47	35	Round 4
1999–00	1D	17	34	8	9	17	34	54	33	Semi-final		Relegated
2000–01	2H	5	34	17	9	8	68	35	60	Round 6
2001–02	2H	8	34	12	10	12	45	36	46	Round 3
2002–03	2H	1	34	19	6	9	49	36	63	Round 5		Promoted
2003–04	1D	7	34	12	12	10	42	37	48	Quarter-final
2004–05	1D	8	34	10	17	7	35	35	47	Round 6
2005–06	1D	16	34	8	10	16	34	53	34	Round 5		Relegated
2006–07	2H	3	30	15	8	7	44	37	53	Round 4
2007–08	2H	2	30	13	12	5	38	26	51	Round 6	Round 1	Promoted
2008–09	1D	12	30	8	6	16	20	35	30	Round 3	Second Group Stage
2009–10	1D	12	30	6	13	11	22	33	31	Semi-final	Second Group Stage
2010–11	1D	8	30	10	8	12	35	33	38	Quarter-final	Round 1
2011–12	1D	14	30	7	7	16	33	42	28	Round 4	Second Group Stage
2012–13	1D	6	30	12	6	12	35	42	42	Round 4	Semi-final
2013–14	1D	11	30	8	8	14	21	35	32	Runner-up	Runner-up	Qualified Europa League [B] [C]
2014–15	1D	10	34	10	13	11	38	42	43	Semi-final	Second Group Stage
2015–16	1D	6	34	14	8	12	44	44	50	Semi-final	Second Group Stage	Qualified Europa League
2016–17	1D	7	34	14	7	13	41	39	49	Round 3	Group stage
2017–18	1D	5	34	15	6	13	40	42	51	Quarter-final	Group stage	Qualified Europa League [A]
2018–19	1D	7	34	12	9	13	50	52	45	Round 5	Group stage
2019–20	1D	5	34	15	10	9	48	36	55	Quarter-final	Group stage	Qualified Europa League [A]
2020–21	1D	16	34	7	13	13	25	40	34	Round 5	DNP	Relegated