Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Portuguese pronunciation:[sɨˈpɔɾliʒˈβoɐiβɐ̃jˈfikɐ]ⓘ), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional handball team based in Lisbon, Portugal.
In addition to the club's men's reserve team, Benfica B, playing in the second division,[3] Benfica also has a women's team, who are the current Portuguese champions, having won 10 League titles, 8 Cups, 1 Federation Cup and 4 Super Cups.
History
Beginning
Founded on 8 May 1932, Benfica's handball section endured a troubled start shortly after being founded. It was inactive from 1939 to 1942–43 because of a conflict between Benfica and the Portuguese Handball Federation.[4] Until the 1960s, handball was played by eleven players, and after 1962–63, in another dispute with the federation, Benfica closed the eleven players team and opted for the current team handball.[5]
The handball section did not achieve success until 1961–62, being overshadowed by the football, cycling, basketball and roller hockey sections of the club during that time.
In the 1997–98 season, club president João Vale e Azevedo decided to shut down the section.[11] It was restarted in the next season, but from the Regional Championship, four divisions away from the top flight.[12]
Rebuilding years
In 2005, after years in anonymity, Benfica hired former ABC Braga coach Aleksander Donner on a three-year deal.[13]
Because of a dispute between Liga and the Handball Federation, which managed the Divisão de Elite, there were two simultaneous championships. In the 2005–06 season, Benfica played in the Divisão de Elite. In 2006–07, Benfica joined the Liga Portuguesa de Andebol along with Sporting CP. During that season, Benfica won their first title since 1994, the League Cup.[14] In the following season, Benfica finally achieved their first league title since 1990.[15] Despite the success, Aleksander Donner did not renew his contract at the end of the season.[16]
Recent years
To replace Donner, Benfica hired José António Silva, who won three titles in three years: the 2008–09 League Cup, 2010–11 Portuguese Cup[17] and 2010 Super Cup.[18] In the 2010–11 season, Benfica reached the final of the EHF Challenge Cup, but lost to Slovene side RK Cimos Koper.[19] In 2011–12, José António Silva was replaced by another former ABC Braga coach, Jorge Rito.[20] With him, Benfica finished fourth in league for the first time.[21] On 2 September 2012, Jorge Rito won Benfica's fourth Super Cup trophy.[22] The season ended with only a second place in the league.[23] In 2013–14, Benfica's performances worsened, and the team finished the league in fourth place. Jorge Rito did not renew his contract and was replaced by Mariano Ortega.[24][25] On 3 April 2016, Benfica, who had beaten rivals FC Porto in the semi-finals the day before,[26] beat Lisbon rivals Sporting in the final and conquered their fifth Portuguese Cup, ending a four-year trophy drought.[27][28]
^Dores, Márcia; Nascimento, Diogo (30 July 2019). "Andebol: apresentação à Comunicação Social" [Handball: presentation to the media]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 July 2019.
Perdigão, Carlos; Pires, Fernando (2004). 100 Anos de Lenda [100 Years of Legend] (in Portuguese) (First ed.). Diário de Notícias. pp. 254–257. ISBN972-9335-52-4.