Maritimo fans.

Maritimo is one is one of my favourite football clubs to watch at the stadium when I travel the world. And I get to see them every now and then, as I work a fair bit on Madeira Island. They have a cozy little stadium in a great setting and a very lively crowd.

Maritimo is as old as the Portuguese republic.

Maritimo fans blowing their horn.

The club was founded in 1910. The same year that Portugal went from being a monarchy to being a republic. That fact actually reflects the green and red shirts they are wearing. When Portugal was a monarchy, the national flag was blue and white, but when Portugal became a republic the flag was changed to a green and red banner. And because of that the founders of the club decided to play in green and red shirts, as they were non royalist republicans. So Maritimo is in a way a club that portrays Portugal transition from being a monarchy to being a modern republic.

It started down by the docks.

Maritimo was founded by people who worked at the docks in Funchal. In the beginning they mostly played games with teams consisting of visiting sailors from foreign ships. Because it was founded by poor dock workers, it remains the working class team of Madeira today. Unlike their rivals National, who have mostly been supported by the wealthy merchants from Madeira.

Maritimo were once champions of Portugal.

Maritimo used to be champions.

The club grew quickly to become a success team. and They won the Portuguese championship in 1926. It’s one of the only teams outside Lisbon and Porto ever to win the Portuguese championship.

Maritimo was isolated during the Salazar dictatorship.

When the fascist dictator Antonio Salazar took power, Madeira revolted against the Salazar government. But the island was quickly defeated. That revolt resulted in Salazar hating everything that came from Madeira. so the teams from the island were not competing in the national championships for more than 4 decades. Leaving them to only play against each other. Officially it was because of the travel expenses to the mainland that they did not play in the national league. But I can assure you that this was nothing but a political move, because of Salazar’s hatred towards the island.

Maritimo’s stadium was a bit of a rundown construction site. But construction has finished now, and it has a lot of charm.

Maritimo’s stadium has been under renovation for quite a while.

There are few football stadiums in this world that I like more than Estadio dos Barrieros in Funchal. The stadium is perched on a hilltop quite close to the city center of Funchal and it’s quite old and quirky and a quarter of the stadium was under renovation for years. but things kept getting delayed because of financial issues. But that did not stop the good fans of Maritimo from coming to the stadium. But now construction is finished and the new stadium looks good. And they have a good showing at their little stadium. The crowd is very lively and very mixed. Being a guy, I personally love the fact that many young girls come to watch Maritimos games. But you have people of all ages coming to the games..

Section 2 is where it happens.

Enjoying the game with Carlos Mane, who used to play for the club and now trains youth players at Maritimo.

Behind one of the goals, there is an area called section 2. This where you want to be if you like a bit of action, as this is where the hardcore fans are standing. Mostly together with the brass band that comes to every game and supports their team with constant music, from the second the players enter the ground. Section 2 is also the cheapest part of the stadium to be. Regular tickets costing 12€ at the moment of writing. Tickets at other parts of the stadium costs between 15 and 35€.

The captain is nicknamed after a German legend and he has a nice little bar.

The current captain of Maritimo is nicknamed “Briguel” after the german defender Hans Peter Briegel. Hans Peter Briegel played on the West German team that were runners up in the 1982 world cup. Briguel also owns a really cosy little tropical style lounge bar called Maresia Bar, that I love to hang out at. It’s located on Praia Formosa, just outside Funchal and is well worth visiting. I’m actually sitting there writing these lines as it’s next to where I live when I am working on the island. Great island to live and work and a great island to watch football.

The stadium DJ doing his job.

Maritimo has nice fans.