On 28 September 1893 a young wine merchant brought football to Porto, and the city has had a dragon ever since. On 28 September 2027 FC Porto turns 134 years old. Let's see how the blue-and-white shirt that became the symbol of Portugal's north came to be.

A wine merchant and a ball from England

The founder was António Nicolau de Almeida, a merchant of the famous port wine, aged just 20. He had discovered football on his trips to England and wanted to bring it to his home city. So Foot-Ball Club do Porto was born, playing its first match on 8 October 1893 against a side from Aveiro.

That first club soon fell silent, though. On 2 August 1906 José Monteiro da Costa, who had also discovered the game in England, persuaded his friends from a social circle called the "Grupo do Destino" to revive the team. The name was kept at Almeida's own request.

For decades the official birthday was this "second founding" of 1906. Only in 1988 did the members change the statutes and return to the 1893 date.

Blue and white: the colours of the kingdom

The colours were proposed by Monteiro da Costa, and there is a nice twist. He was a committed Republican, yet he chose the blue and white of the Portuguese monarchy's flag of the time. He believed this would give the club a strong national identity.

The decision was not an easy one. The city's own colours were also on the table, and even a red-and-blue combination inspired by Arsenal. In the early years the players often wore red shirts too, but the 1909 statutes finally set blue vertical stripes with black shorts.

From a ball with three letters to the Dragon

The first badge was simple: a blue ball with white seams and the initials FCP. On 26 October 1922 the player and artist Augusto Baptista Ferreira, known as "Simplício", combined it with the coat of arms of the city of Porto.

On top of the coat of arms stands a dragon. It gave the club the nickname heard all over Europe: the "Dragões", the Dragons.

Stripes, sponsors and three grounds

In 1975 adidas became the club's first kit supplier. In 1983 Porto made history on the fabric as well: with Revigrés it became the first Portuguese team with a shirt sponsor, in a partnership that lasted around twenty years.

The first ground, the Campo da Rainha of 1906, held about 600 spectators. It was followed by the Campo da Constituição in 1913 and the legendary Estádio das Antas in 1952. Since 16 November 2003 the team has played at the Estádio do Dragão, which opened with a 2-0 win over Barcelona, the match in which a young Lionel Messi made his professional debut.

A backheel, Mourinho and Falcao

In 1987 Porto won the European Cup, overturning a 1-0 deficit against Bayern with two goals in two minutes. The first was the famous backheel by Rabah Madjer, and Juary scored the second.

Under José Mourinho came the 2003 UEFA Cup against Celtic and, a year later, the 2004 Champions League with a 3-0 win over Monaco. In 2011 Falcao delivered the Europa League in Dublin, and André Villas-Boas became the youngest coach to win a UEFA competition.

The shirt's pantheon includes Fernando Gomes with 352 goals, goalkeeper Vítor Baía with 25 trophies and Mário Jardel, who won the Golden Shoe with 36 goals in 1998-99. In 2025-26, with Francesco Farioli as coach and Villas-Boas as president, Porto celebrated their 31st league title.

Celebrate with us

From a dream that came by ship from England to two Champions League trophies, the blue-and-white striped shirt tells a 134-year story. Happy birthday, Porto, and long may the Dragon fly high!

See our FC Porto jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Porto's Estádio do Dragão during a Champions League match – Edgar Jiménez, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.