Big Three (Portugal)
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The big three (Portuguese: os três grandes) is the nickname of the three most powerful sports clubs in Portugal. The football teams of F.C. Porto, Sporting Clube de Portugal and S.L. Benfica have a great rivalry, and are usually the natural contenders for the title. Between them they share all but two of the Portuguese Football Championships ever played and generally end up sharing the top three positions. The two champion outsiders are C.F. Os Belenenses (1945-46 season) and Boavista F.C. (2000-01 season). In other sports, the rivalry between the "big three" is also considerable (although currently football and handball are the only team sports where all three clubs field professional teams) and it usually leads to arguments between the fans and players. These clubs dominate Portuguese football so completely that it is very rare for anyone to claim to support any other team as his/hers "first club". The general rule in Portugal is that, first and foremost, you support one of the "big three" with your local team coming in second place (or in many cases not coming at all). The lack of support for local teams is thought to be one of the main reason why Portuguese Football registers one of the worse attendance ratings in European Football´s main championships.
The expression "the fourth big one" (Portuguese: o quarto grande) is often applied to whatever club appears to challenge that domination. Since the 1980s, it has been mostly applied to Boavista, but during the 1940s and 1950s it was property of Belenenses. Vitória S.C. (de Guimarães) claims to be the fourth in terms of suppporters and, in fact, the greatest attendances outside the big three belong to them. However the club hasn´t managed to win any trophee in their 80-year history. In recent years S.C. Braga have been claiming that title, after achieving European competition three times in a row. Other criteria used is the number of associates with clubs like A. Académica de Coimbra and Vitoria Setubal claiming to follow the "big three".
Benfica is the team with most titles won but FC Porto has been the dominating force in the last two decades with 12 championships. During that period, Benfica has won five, Sporting two, and Boavista one championship.
