By Melody Gross 
On 17 April 1982 (40 years ago today) Bento da Costa became FC Porto president for the first time.
The electoral law was, in fact, just a formality to confirm the leading role he had already played in the life of the club. Dragon captain for the past four decades, he has been a member since 1954 and has been working as Technical Director at Antas since 1962. He went through the hockey, boxing division and was also responsible for amateur sports. He rose manually in the most representative emblem of the city of Invicta until it reached the main sport, football, which dictated as a condition at the time the return of José María Pedroto to Antas, who had previously been rejected in the General Assembly.
This duo ended up being a preponderance in the national and international growth of FC Porto. He began a fruitful relationship between 1976 and 1977, so much so that the Dragons broke the dominance shown by Benfica rivals in national football and crossed the border, with seven international titles, in a total of 63 trophies.
This successful partnership had the ability to select good teams and coaches, who took FC Porto to an unprecedented level, always in an atmosphere of guerrilla warfare against what they saw as an established force in Lisbon in favor of Segunda Circular’s rivals – Benfica and Sporting.
Bento da Costa survived the infamous Hot Summer, in 1980, the year the coaching team showed their solidarity with Bento da Costa and he was also disqualified. In general, President Americo Sa, at the start of a new term of office, replaced Pinto da Costa at the head of the football department by Luis Telles Roxo and Pedroto, and they responded violently and submitted his resignation, in which was the rest of the technical team and the others. accompanied.
When the 1980/1981 pre-season began, under Hermann Stesl, a large part of the team, in solidarity with Pinto da Costa and indirectly instigated by Pedroto, interrupted the trainings he had started on the sidelines in Pinhal. de Santa Cruz do Bispo, under the direction of Hernâni Gonçalves, known as the Bitaites. Things eventually settled and the players returned to Antas, with the exception of the company’s star, Antonio Oliveira, who, thanks to the strange regulations at the time, was able to free himself from the contract he had with the club and would appear shortly thereafter. As a player-coach for Penafiel (and the following season he headed to Alvalade).
With the logo if you want a strong Porto team in Portugal and Europe.And Vote for List B, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, leader of the Dragons promised in the first victory “Let us put all our goodwill, all our experience and knowledge at the service of the club, to respond to the wishes and desires. which I felt its presence in the members.”
Read it in full in the print or Digital from the ball.