“Being an FC Porto member for 50 years is a mark of excellence” | OneFootball

“To have worn FC Porto on your chest for 50 years, with your membership number in good standing and your dues paid, is a healthy addiction,” and André Villas-Boas described that distinction as “an achievement reserved only for excellence.” At the ceremony to present the Gold Rosettes to members who have shown “a lifetime of dedication and singular love for a cause,” the president took “a journey through time” and recalled that “FC Porto would not be what it is without its members.”

“A club may have great players and great coaches, but only a members’ club has this depth. Only a club with members has this identity,” said the president, for whom the Gold Rosette is “a symbol of those who were here before it was easy, before it was natural, before it was almost inevitable for FC Porto to win,” awarded by “a club that knows where it came from and respects those who stood by it” at every stage.

Because “the future is built with members who step forward, who support, who demand, who push and who never leave the Club alone,” André Villas-Boas highlighted the “consistency, high standards, support, critical spirit and sense of belonging” of Porto supporters, who are “witnesses to and an active part of one of the greatest transformations of a European club in the last half-century.”

Examples of loyalty

“Reaching 50 years as an FC Porto member is an achievement reserved only for excellence. These are decades of presence, identity, pride and, many times, resilience. While there are titles won in a single match—and tomorrow we hope for a victory that takes us to Jamor—this one is earned through a lifetime of dedication and singular love for a cause. This is called loyalty. And let me begin with a playful provocation: I’m full of good envy. I can’t wait to be in your place. I can imagine what you must be feeling and the intense, immense joy you are experiencing.”

50 years of history

“Secondly, I want us to take a journey back through these 50 years, which are both yours and ours. You were members during a period when Portugal changed abruptly. The end of the dictatorship, the arrival of Freedom. April 25, 1974 marked the social, political and cultural change we had all longed for. The country changed, people’s lives changed, and so did their way of being, but in the midst of that transformation one constant light remained: FC Porto. Not as social entertainment, but as an anchor. As home, as belonging, as a magical place where, guided by a grandfather, a father, an uncle or a friend, your life as Porto supporters began. Unique memories that profoundly mark our childhood and that we are determined our descendants should experience in the same way.”

Always present

“In sport, and in football in particular, you also saw a world turned upside down. From radio and match commentary in the living room, to the giant screen, to minute-by-minute updates, to social media and constant judgment. From Sunday football to global football, where everything is discussed and everything is subject to influence. And now comes the important point: FC Porto did not merely survive that time. FC Porto established itself in that time. Fifty years ago, being an FC Porto supporter often meant believing before having proof. It meant knowing greatness was there, but that the road to the top would demand far more than it did from others. And you were there when that cycle began to change.”

The end of the drought

“You were there when the Club broke a drought that seemed endless: the 1977/78 title, with José Maria Pedroto. A championship that was not just a trophy, but a turning point, and the day FC Porto once again told the country, with facts, that it would not accept living on promises. And it is impossible to speak of those years without speaking of figures and symbols such as João Pinto, for whom I ask a special round of applause, Fernando Gomes, Lima Pereira, António Oliveira, Cubillas, Zé Beto, Rui Barros and so many others who defined a generation.”

A golden symbol

“So when you receive this Gold Rosette, you are not receiving a medal, you are receiving a symbol. A symbol of those who were here before it was easy, before it was natural, before it was almost inevitable for FC Porto to win. You receive the recognition of a club that knows where it came from and respects those who stood by it throughout this entire phase of its life. I will finish with the same frankness with which I began: FC Porto still needs you. The future is not waited for, it is built. And it is built precisely on this foundation, with members who step forward, who support, who demand, who push and who never leave the Club alone. So, congratulations. Congratulations on 50 years of membership and 50 years of FC Porto. Congratulations on having been witnesses to and an active part of one of the greatest transformations of a European club in the last half-century. And yes, I am very envious and very jealous, because you have already completed 50 years of this story and I still have to wait two more. Like all Porto supporters, I want to go on writing it with you. Long live Futebol Clube do Porto.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.