By Melody Gross 
Vilafranquense SAD will take on a new name and image with the move to Vila das Aves in the 2023/24 season, after the lease of the CD Aves 1930 stadium, but the colors will remain the same. The president of the association, Henrique Sereno, made it clear on Monday that it was not possible to stay at Vila Franca de Xira and talks about starting a “much better” course.
“We will change our name, which will become Aves Futebol Clube SAD, and our symbol, but the red and white colors of our kit will remain. We will have to play as União Desportiva Vilafranquense SAD in Rio Mayor until June 30th and we will continue to do so with pleasure, not least because we have a good relationship with the club and the people. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay there. Sereno, at a news conference, defended it, adding that infrastructure investment would be necessary.
Renewed partners Desportivo das Aves 1930, who play in the Division d’Honneur of the Porto Football Association, on Saturday agreed to the agreement negotiated with SAD Vilafranquense so that the fifth seed from La Liga can use its stadium.
“Obviously there has to be a lot of investment here. The case has been without work and maintenance for two and a half years and we know we are going to spend a lot of money. We don’t know for sure how much, but it would be a significant amount. We are ready to do it and for sure next season there will be very good conditions, ”remarks the former footballer, who also explained the choice of Aves.
“We went through a phase where we were not well received, not by the fans, but by people who were connected to the city. [ndr: de Vila Franca de Xira]. We wanted a club where we would feel welcome and that was the main reason we chose this location. It is very important for any project to have this unit,” he said, adding that he expects progress to be made at the level of two training camps in the municipal parish of Santo Tirso.
«This solution was very important, because we have nothing to do with Avis 1930, which had a catastrophic situation and would stop playing football after June 30. We will own 100 percent of SAD and hopefully two training camps will be completed this month,” he said, of land belonging to the parish council and Vila das Aves firefighters.
Contracts and documents concluded between the two parties were approved, on Saturday, by majority vote at an extraordinary general meeting held in Vila das Aves, with eight abstentions and four against, in an electoral world of nearly 200 members. Under discussion was a proposal to lease the stadium CD Aves for ten years with the motto of Vila Franca de Xira, a municipality in the Lisbon region which is located 320 kilometers from Vila das Aves, belonging to the Porto region.
The agreement is “automatically renewable” at the end of ten years and allows Ribatejo SAD to resolve the sale of its license to participate in the II Liga, as well as take control of the CD Aves 1930 youth teams. The professional returns to Aves three years after saying goodbye to the I Liga.
The club will continue to run futsal teams and will open a basketball section.
Avenses has been banned by FIFA from registering new athletes for two seasons, following a temporary collection of 17.1 million euros (ME) of debt to the 110 creditors of the respective SAD, which was declared bankrupt in 2021, at Oriental’s request.
After it moved through the sport to the second Spanish league in 2019/20, the company then faced, led by the Chinese Wei Zhao, many unilateral terminations for players, technical staff and employees and failed to obtain a license for professional competitions for the following season, without competing in the Portuguese championship and then the level Third National.