C.D. Tondela

Foundation and early years (1933–1986)

On 6 June 1933, Clube Desportivo de Tondela was founded through a merger of two clubs in the village of Tondela: the Tondela Football Club, founded in 1925, and the Operário Atlético Clube, founded in 1932.^[1]

Third Division (1986–1988)

On the 1985–86 season, Tondela won the Divisão Honra title for the third time and achieved the promotion to the Terceira Divisão for the first time. They came in 10th in their first season on a competition ruled by the Portuguese Football Federation. They were relegated in the next season as they finished in 15th.

Lower divisions (1999–2005)

After the relegation from Terceira Divisão in 1999, Tondela went on to compete in the Viseu Regional Division.

In the 2003–04 season, Tondela won the Taça AF Viseu, also known as Taça Sócios de Mérito, the club's first piece of silverware since 1986. In the next season, Tondela became champion of the AF Viseu Liga de Honra. They ended the season eight points ahead of runners-up Tarouquense, and ensured the return to Terceira Divisão.

Days later, Tondela retained the Taça AF Viseu title thus sealing the season with the double.

Returning to Third Division (2005–2009)

During the 2005–08 seasons, Tondela consolidated its position as an upper mid table club, ending those three seasons always in the seventh place.

In the 2008–09 season, Tondela signed central defender Diego, midfielder Gomes and Argentine striker Piojo. On 6 June 2009, Tondela became Third Division champion, after a 4–2 win against Fiães, thus being promoted to Segunda Divisão.

Second Division Era (2009–2012)

After the promotion from the Third Division, and a fourth place in the 2009–10 season, Tondela aimed the promotion to Segunda Liga. During the 2010 summer transfer window, Tondela signed Portuguese under-17 European champion, playmaker Márcio Sousa, veteran goalkeeper Rui Marcos and midfielder Fernando Ferreira. The club finished third in the 2010–11 season with 55 points. Despite not reaching their objectives, Tondela supporters wanted the continuity of manager Filipe Moreira, but he eventually left to Oriental.

The following season, former Benfica and Portugal player, Vítor Paneira was appointed as the new manager. Paneira further increased the efforts to build a solid Tondela team, with such signings as midfielders Magano and Tiago Barros, and Brazilian striker Rafael Batatinha.

Tondela topped the table after a 4–2 win against Espinho on 7 April 2012 and never relinquished their lead. They were crowned champions of Segunda Divisão – Série Centro in Estádio do Bessa after a 1–0 win against Boavista. Their renewed defence, consisting of central defenders Daniel Materazzi, Pica, and the versatile Carlos André, fullbacks Hélder Lopes and Pedrosa, defensive midfielder Fábio Pacheco and former Portuguese under-20 international goalkeeper Nuno Avelino, conceded just 22 goals all season and kept 13 clean sheets.

Consequently, they took part in the promotion play-off against Varzim and Fatima, Serie Norte and Serie Sul champions respectively. On 3 June 2012, after a 1–1 draw against Fatima in Estádio João Cardoso, Tondela achieved their third promotion in eight years, and their first promotion to Segunda Liga. They were runners-up in the play-off, finishing five points behind Varzim.

Joining the Liga de Honra (2012–2015)

The 2012–13 season, the club's first at the professional level, ended with a mid-table finish. It was also Tondela's first appearance in the Taça da Liga.

On 8 November 2013, Paneira was sacked, being replaced three days later by his former teammate, Álvaro Magalhães.^[2][3] After a 9th place in the championship, Álvaro Magalhães left Tondela by "mutual consent"^[4] and Carlos Pinto (who had won the 2013–14 Campeonato Nacional with Freamunde) was appointed as the club's new manager.^[5] He took with him five players: goalkeeper Rui Nereu, defender Vítor Alves, midfielder Edu Machado and forwards Luís Machado and Joel Silva.

On 6 October 2014, Pinto left Tondela due to poor results.^[6] One day later, Quim Machado was announced as Pinto's successor.^[7]

The club spent most of the 2014–15 season near the top of the table, and by early April they were at first place. On 24 May 2015, on the final day of the season, a 1–1 draw away at Freamunde was enough to clinch the Championship title, and a first promotion to the top flight of Portuguese football.^[8] The goal was scored by André Carvalhas through a direct free kick in the last minute of the game.^[9]

Into the Primeira Liga (2015–2022)

On 30 May 2015, Tondela announced the return of Vítor Paneira as the club's manager on a one-year contract.^[10] As part of the pre-season friendlies, Tondela played its first two matches abroad: the first one was a 1–1 draw against Hamm Benfica, in Luxembourg;^[11] the second was a 3–2 win against Millwall, at their ground, The Den.^[12]

Since Tondela's home was undergoing reconstruction, the club debuted in the top flight of Portuguese football playing at the Estádio Municipal de Aveiro on 14 August 2015. The match ended in a controversial 1–2 defeat against Sporting CP.^[13] The club's first win in the competition came on the third-round, a 1–0 home win against Nacional da Madeira.^[14]

On 6 October 2015 manager Vítor Paneira left the club by mutual consent, with Rui Bento being appointed his successor on the same day.^[15][16] Bento was sacked two months later, following a succession of poor results, leaving the club on the last place with only 5 points.^[17] Petit was appointed the new manager on the next day.^[18]

At the end of the first half of the season, Tondela had only 8 points from 17 games. By 14 March 2016 they were 11 points adrift from safety. Between the 27th and the 33rd matchdays, the club made 14 points. In the last round, Tondela won against the relegated Académica de Coimbra by 2–0 and Rio Ave won 2–1 against União da Madeira, meaning that the Auriverdes finished the season in 16th place with 30 points, ahead of União da Madeira.^[19] Petit successfully led Tondela to safety from relegation with the feat being dubbed a miracle.^[20] Highlights included a 2–2 away draw against Sporting, an historic first time win at Estádio do Dragão by 1–0, and a 4–1 win at Paços de Ferreira.^[21][22][23]

On the first match of the 2016–17 season, Tondela lost 0–2 against Benfica in the first match that one of the Big Three played in Tondela's ground.^[24] On 9 January 2016, Petit left the club and was replaced by Pepa.^[25][26]

Tondela were relegated at the end of the 2021–22 season, but at the same time made history by reaching the 2022 Taça de Portugal final where they lost 3–1 to Porto. Tondela also qualified for the 2022 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira as Taça de Portugal runners-up due to Porto winning the double that season. Porto won the Supertaça by 3–0.

Current squad

As of 3 February 2026^[29]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  BRA Gabriel Souza 2 DF  BRA Bebeto 4 DF  POR Christian Marques 5 DF  POR João Afonso 7 FW  BRA Pedro Maranhão 8 MF  CPV Hélder Tavares 10 MF  IRL Joe Hodge 14 MF  ESP Xabi Huarte 15 MF  RSA Yaya Sithole 16 FW  POR Rony Lopes 20 DF  COL Brayan Medina 21 DF  COM Rémy Vita 23 FW  SWE Benjamin Kimpioka

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 FW  NED Arjen van der Heide 27 DF  POR Rodrigo Conceição 29 FW  USA Jordan Siebatcheu (on loan from Reims) 30 GK  ESP Lucas Cañizares 31 GK  BRA Bernardo Fontes 32 MF  ECU Juanse Rodríguez (on loan from LDU Quito) 44 DF  POR João Silva (on loan from Sport Recife) 48 DF  POR Tiago Manso 60 DF  NGA Emmanuel Maviram 70 FW  CIV Moudja Sié Ouattara 79 MF  POR Hugo Félix 90 FW  FRA Makan Aïko 97 MF  BRA Cícero

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Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  POR Gabriel Ramalho (at Florgrade until 30 June 2026) 6 MF  POR Leonardo Silva (at Anadia until 30 June 2026) 28 MF  POR Cascavel (at Académica de Coimbra until 30 June 2026)

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Player of the Year

More information Year, Winner ...

Year Winner 2012–13[30] Fábio Pacheco 2013–14[30] Fábio Pacheco 2014–15[30] Tozé Marreco 2015–16[30] Cláudio Ramos 2016–17[31] Cláudio Ramos 2017–18 Not awarded 2018–19[32] Tomané 2019–20[33] Jonathan Toro 2020–21[34] Mario González

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Managerial history

More information Name, Nationality ...

Name	Nationality	From	To	Record							Trophies	Notes
				P	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA
Bernardino Mirita	Portugal	1971	1973
Augusto Rocha	Portugal	1974	1975
Vítor Correia	Portugal	1975	1978
Mário Vasconcelos	Portugal	1978	1979	32	11	10	11	034.38	32	35
João Augusto Alves	Brazil	1979	1981	68	23	16	29	033.82	80	89
Arménio Gonçalves	Portugal	1981	1982	31	12	6	13	038.71	49	49
Vítor Correia	Portugal	1982	1983	32	10	8	14	031.25	44	53
João Maia	Portugal	1985	1986
José Vítor Rodrigues	Portugal	1986	1987	33	13	7	13	039.39	38	41
Álvaro Lima	Portugal	1987	1988	40	13	8	19	032.50	33	48
Carlos Manuel Correia	Portugal	1990	1991	26	15	10	1	057.69	60	15
João Cavaleiro	Portugal	1992	1994	72	29	22	21	040.28	66	58
Luís Amaral	Portugal	1994	11 November 1994	12	2	3	7	016.67	10	19
Luís Almeida	Portugal	11 November 1994	1996	58	21	13	24	036.21	66	83
João Salcedas	Portugal	1 September 1996	16 February 1997	23	4	9	10	017.39	16	33
Álvaro Lima	Portugal	23 February 1997	25 May 1997	12	3	2	7	025.00	9	20
Joaquim Figueiredo	Portugal	1997	1998
José Lobo	Portugal	1998	2000
João Vinagre	Portugal	2000	2001
José Marcelino	Portugal	2002	2002
Celso Mendes	Portugal	2002	2003
José Marcelino	Portugal	2003	2004
Flávio Coimbra	Portugal	2004	2004								2003–04 Taça AF Viseu
Diamantino Mocho	Portugal	2004	2005
João Bento	Portugal	2005	2006	36	15	10	11	041.67	56	39	2004–05 Liga de Honra 2004–05 Taça AF Viseu
Luís Augusto Almeida	Portugal	10 September 2006	18 February 2007	16	8	5	3	050.00	23	15
José Leal	Portugal	25 February 2007	13 May 2007	12	3	3	6	025.00	12	16
Carlos Manuel Correia	Portugal	26 August 2007	9 September 2007	5	2	0	3	040.00	6	10
Sérgio Freitas Abreu	Portugal	7 October 2007	11 November 2007	5	2	2	1	040.00	8	2
João Bento	Portugal	25 November 2007	11 May 2008	23	9	7	7	039.13	27	18
António Jesus Pereira	Portugal	2008	2010	70	34	16	20	048.57	124	77	2008–09 Terceira Divisão – Série C
Filipe Moreira	Portugal	1 August 2010	13 May 2011	31	16	7	8	051.61	46	29
Vítor Paneira	Portugal	24 May 2011	8 November 2013[2]	104	49	25	30	047.12	157	125
Paulo Cadete*	Portugal	8 November 2013	11 November 2013	1	1	0	0	100.00	2	1
Álvaro Magalhães	Portugal	11 November 2013[3]	11 May 2014[4]	27	9	7	11	033.33	18	19
Carlos Pinto	Portugal	11 August 2014[5]	6 October 2014[6]	10	3	5	2	030.00	10	12
Quim Machado	Portugal	7 October 2014[7]	24 May 2015[35]	36	18	13	5	050.00	57	39	2014–15 Segunda Liga
Vítor Paneira	Portugal	30 May 2015[36]	6 October 2015[37]	7	1	1	5	014.29	3	7
Rui Bento	Portugal	7 October 2015[38]	8 December 2015[39]	7	0	2	5	000.00	3	12
Petit	Portugal	9 December 2015[40]	9 January 2017[41]	42	11	8	23	026.19	49	70
Pepa	Portugal	10 January 2017[42]	24 May 2019[43]	95	29	22	44	030.53	116	137
Natxo González	Spain	14 June 2019[44]	5 August 2020[45]	36	9	9	18	025.00	30	48
Pako Ayestarán	Spain	10 August 2020[46]	16 March 2022[47]	68	22	9	37	032.35	81	115
Nuno Campos	Portugal	16 March 2022[48]	30 June 2022[49]	10	1	5	4	010.00	12	19
Tozé Marreco	Portugal	1 July 2022[49]	10 April 2024[50]	76	26	29	21	034.21	102	94
Sérgio Gaminha	Portugal	11 April 2024[51]	23 May 2024[52]	6	1	1	4	016.67	5	8
Luís Pinto	Portugal	30 May 2024[53]	14 June 2025[54]	34	17	13	4	050.00	58	35	2024–25 Liga Portugal 2
Ivo Vieira	Portugal	14 June 2025[55]	11 November 2025[56]	13	2	3	8	015.38	11	24
Cristiano Bacci	Italy	13 November 2025[57]	29 March 2026	0	0	0	0	!—	0	0
Gonçalo Feio	Portugal	29 March 2026[58]	Present

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