Rio Ave F.C.

Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave , is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, northern Portugal, which competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlantic Ocean.
Founded in 1939, Rio Ave currently play in the Primeira Liga, Portugal's top-tier division of professional football. They play their home matches at Estádio do Rio Ave, also known as the Estádio dos Arcos. Built in 1985, the current stadium seats approximately 12,815 people and is a multi-sports venue, although it is used mainly for Rio Ave's football matches.
The club's home colours are green and white striped shirts with white shorts and socks, while their away kit consists of a red and white striped shirt and white shorts with yellow socks. Portuguese internationals Alfredo, Paulinho Santos, Quim, Rui Jorge and Fábio Coentrão started their careers at the club. Goalkeepers Jan Oblak and Ederson are some famous talents that were part of this side.
The "Vilacondenses"' best top-tier league finish was fifth in the 1981–82, 2017–18 and 2019–20 seasons. They reached the 1984 Taça de Portugal Final, where they lost to Porto 4–1, and the 2014 Taça de Portugal Final, where they lost to Benfica 1–0. With this result, Rio Ave qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, their first participation in a major European competition.
History.
Rio Ave was founded in 1939, soon being nicknamed "Rio Grande" (Big River). The side had two of its best moments in the 1980s, under the management of Félix Mourinho, father of José Mourinho: in 1981–82, the club finished in a joint-best fifth place, and two years later it reached the Taça de Portugal final, losing to Porto 4–1.
In 2013–14, the club reached both cup finals under the management of Nuno Espírito Santo, but lost to treble-winners Benfica in both. This qualified them to their first European campaign, the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. New manager Pedro Martins led them past Swedish duo IFK Göteborg and IF Elfsborg to reach the group stage, where they came last.
Under Miguel Cardoso, Rio Ave came fifth in 2017–18, equalling their best finish. Two years later, with Carlos Carvalhal in charge and Iranian Mehdi Taremi the league's joint top scorer, the club equalled this position with a new points record of 55. The team reached the play-offs for the Europa League in October 2020 but lost at home to A.C. Milan, having conceded a penalty equaliser in time added on to extra time and then lost 9–8 on penalties.
Players.
Out on loan.
 