Boavista supporters gathered outside the Bessa stadium on Saturday to mark the club's 123rd anniversary, turning a birthday celebration into a show of support for a club fighting to survive.
Fans raised scarves and applauded, with some sharing long embraces and tears, especially when Gustavo, Daniel and Erica, the leaders of the 'Salvar o Boavista' (Save Boavista) movement, symbolically handed over the group's first jersey.
The ceremony took place at the club store, where the first jersey went to Jorge Lopes, member number 305, who has taken part in previous movements supporting the club.
Jerseys and a quota plan
About 100 jerseys have been produced so far, well below the more than 1,500 orders received. Each jersey costs 50 euros, and official deliveries are due to begin next Monday.
Gustavo Santos, who leads the movement, told reporters that they had presented Boavista's board with a quota plan the previous day, Friday, which they believe will guarantee ongoing revenue through the end of the season.
Santos said he was aware of the scale of the problem, with the club's debt estimated at around 150 million euros, but said he had not lost hope of a happy ending.
He said the movement needs between 50,000 and 55,000 euros a month, and that in just three days it had raised that amount, which quickly grew to 80,000 euros. He said all kinds of donations are accepted, arriving from across the country, including from fans of other clubs, and from abroad, with a minimum contribution of 50 cents. Santos, 39, has spent the last 13 years living in the Azores.
He said it was not possible to sit on the sofa and watch Boavista wither and die.
More than football
Santos said the movement will try everything to keep the club going. He said they are prepared to go without senior football for years, but stressed that Boavista is not just football, pointing to more than 1,500 people taking part in 31 different sports under the club's name.
The 'Salvar o Boavista' movement now has more than 100 members and reflects the idea heard at the Bessa stadium on Saturday that Boavista is still alive.
Fernanda and Joaquim, both in their nineties and connected to the club for more than half a century, watched the ceremony and, despite the caution that comes with age, applauded the younger generation's initiative without hesitation, backing any effort to save the club. The same view was shared by the man known as 'cobrador Moutinho', still active at 84 and the oldest collector in Portugal, who embraced them at length.
He said, smiling, that only the older generation goes to the grave feet first, and that the club will carry on. He said this standing with his back to a banner hanging on one of the stadium walls that read: "Until the last man. 1903."
President cites progress with creditors
The celebration came as Boavista president Rui Garrido Pereira said on Saturday that he had secured the funds needed for the club's recovery operation. He said he is awaiting, with moderate optimism, an agreement with creditors aimed at reopening the historic Portuguese football club.
