Club
HISTORY
Sydney Benfica Futsal Club is associated with Casa Do Benfica of Sydney, Australia and Sport Lisboa e Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal.
Sport Lisboa e Benfica, commonly referred to as simply Benfica, S.L. Benfica and in many fan anthems as SLB is an eclectic multisports club based in Lisbon, Portugal, best known for its football team. Sport Lisboa e Benfica was founded in 1904 by a group of twenty-four men. The club's main stadium is the Estádio da Luz.
The SL Benfica professional futsal team plays in the Portuguese Futsal First Division. Since its creation in 2001 the team has never positioned below second place in Portuguese National Championship. Every two years the team has won the double.
The emblem is composed of an eagle, a shield in the club colours of red and white, and the acronym SLB for "Sport Lisboa e Benfica" over a football, all superimposed over a bicycle wheel, which was taken from the Grupo Sport Benfica emblem. The club motto is E Pluribus Unum, "Out of many, one".
Benfica were founding members of Portuguese Liga in 1933, and, together with FC Porto and Sporting CP, they have never been relegated from the Primeira Divisão. Benfica is the most successful club in Portugal with a total of 31 Portuguese Liga, 27 Portuguese Cup, 4 SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira, 2 UEFA Champions League and 1 Latin Cup As a club oriented to multiple sports, Benfica has departments for athletics, basketball, cycling, football, futsal, handball, judo, rink hockey, rugby, swimming, volleyball, and others. In total, Benfica has won several titles in these sports.
SL Benfica has the Biggest fan base among portuguese clubs, having also the largest number of supporters outside of Portugal for a Portuguese club, with a total of 14 million Benfica's supporters worldwide. It is also the biggest club in the world in number of associates (registered paying supporters), with a current (November 2006) number of 160,398, a fact which was attested by the Guinness Book of Records on November 10, 2006.
During the 2005-06 season, SL Benfica was ranked 20th in the Deloitte Football Money League with an estimated revenue of €85.1 million.
In September 2007, SL Benfica was considered the 17th most valuable Footbal brand in Europe, by BBDO. Benfica is then the most valuable football brand in Portugal and 4th in the Iberian Peninsula (after Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia).
Sydney Benfica Futsal Club was incorporated in June 2008. The club was formed in 2000, where it concentrated in the football. In 2005/06 it entered the FNSW Premier League under the name of Red Eagles. The club finished a distant last, with only their 14 Boys who were FNSW State Champions and FFA National Club Champions making the Preliminary Finals.
In 2006/07 the club was renamed SLB. This was a two tiered competition and the club finished 3rd. They had the 12 Boys, 16 Boys and Youth Men in the Grand Final, with the Youth being crowned champions over Liverpool Fusion.
2007/08 saw the club finish 4th in the FNSW Futsal Super League competition. Whilst the club, did not win any of the titles, several of the teams were crowned State Champions.
In what can only be described as the clubs finest moment, the 2008/09 FNSW Futsal Super League season was a year not to be forgotton. The club were crowned Club Champions and promoted to the FNSW Futsal Premier League. Their 12 Boys, Youth and Men were crowned Champions with the Youth taking out the Premiers title. Earlier in the season the Men’s and 16 Girls took out the 5 Star Futsal Pre – Season Cup.
The 12 Boys who were mostly 11 years of age, were crowned FNSW State Champions.
The 2009/10 season sees the club taking on the might of Premier League at possibly a new home venue, being Menai Indoor Sports Centre. The club will play in a pink home strip, raising monies for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.