The (almost forgotten) Barreiro Soccer Stars’ Factory
Bringing into the spotlight the breeding place of some World-Class Footballers.
It is in the once industrial hub of Barreiro, a riverside town with less than eighty thousand inhabitants, opposite the Portuguese capital on the left bank of the Tagus River, now branded as Lisbon South Bay, where for almost a century, the hot rivalry between the two main clubs in the city have built one of the world’s biggest (at least, per square foot) hotbed of talented football players.
History of football in the homeland of CR7, Eusébio, Futre & Co., would be another without the mythical school of football players that, since the 1930s, emerged from the playing fields, primarily from Luso FC and FC Barreirense, and later also from GD CUF, meanwhile renamed GD Fabril, which although based in Lavradio’s parish is a mere two kilometers from local rivals.
At France’s 1984 European Championships, Portugal’s national squad showed up in a game with 7 starters breed between the Alfredo da Silva Stadium, named in honor of the notable leader of the industrial conglomerate CUF, who started the club, and D. Manuel de Melo Field, the now defunct Barreirense’s modest venue.
It should be noted that this is not a dichotomy between two Big Ones of Portuguese football, such as SL Benfica, Sporting CP or FC Porto, who have always, as in other countries, ensured the predominance among the national team’s starting-11. Similarly, at the time of winning Euro 2016, Portugal had ten players from Sporting’s Alcochete Academy, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma and Nani.
We are talking of sporting organizations that have evolved within a working-class community, often ostracized by Salazar’s old regime and which, in the last fifty years, faced the dismantling of what became one of Europe’s largest industrial facilities and the most important railway hub for the South. This decline was reflected in the financial fragility of the clubs and their consequent competitive weakening, ending up relegating both teams to the regional divisions.
But, given the history of both clubs, this is not the place they deserve. They definitely deserve to be a few levels higher, which will only be possible with the involvement of everyone, from mayors to businessmen, from former workers of local factories to young people full of potential to succeed, not only in football but in other sports too. Barreiro is also the hotbed of national basketball, from where Neemias Queta, the first Portuguese to play in the NBA, has emerged.
Hundreds stood out, decade after decade, with the colors of both Barreiro badges. A few dozen achieved stardom, signing for great national and foreign clubs, even wearing national teams’ Quinas jersey, like Stuttgart’s Hero, midfielder Carlos Manuel, who played for both, CUF and Barreirense, before leaving to Benfica. He scored the famous cannon-goal which qualified the Portuguese team to the 1986 World Cup, in Mexico.
Of the players and coaches still active, we can highlight Manchester City’s full-back João Cancelo, who before heading to the Premier League, took his first steps with a ball in the soccer school of his hometown club, Barreirense. Also with long years at the red-and-white striped jersey, was the now coach Paulo Fonseca (ex-Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk). Later in the series we will introduce these and other giants of world football. Who doesn’t remember the brilliant Chalana, known as the little genius, who lived close to me, or goalkeepers like Azevedo, Bento or Neno?
May this work inspire all young people who play football, not only in the aforementioned Barreiro clubs, but in the entire region of the Lisbon South Bay peninsula. It is not by chance that both Sporting CP (Alcochete) and SL Benfica (Seixal) established their training academies in the region.
CHALLENGE: Do you know any other places where talented young people come out from “under the rocks”? Unknown clubs or small towns (or both), with an outstanding work producing the football stars of the future. Any, except professional teams or elite soccer academies. Share other remarkable examples with us in the comments below!
