(Reuters) - Former FC Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, who led the Portuguese club during their most successful period, died aged 87 on Saturday.
Pinto da Costa took charge of Porto in 1982 and led them to 69 titles including two Champions League trophies in his 42-year tenure at the Portuguese club.
In the 89 years prior to Pinto da Costa's presidency, Porto had won only 16 trophies, three of three of those with him as the head of the football department.
"The departure of the President of Presidents leaves Futebol Clube do Porto orphaned of its greatest figure, the main organiser of great victories and the person most responsible for building an unmistakable identity and legacy. Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa will live on forever in the memory and hearts of all Porto fans," Porto said in an statement.
"Between 23 April 1982 and 7 May 2024, the biggest club in the North became the best club in Portugal and grew from local and regional to European and world level.
"Without ever forgetting its roots, FC Porto grew with the city and the city grew with FC Porto. The club has more than 131 years of history, but there is a before and after Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa.
"Since then everything has changed. Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa transformed FC Porto the Portuguese club with the most official titles by lifting 23 championships, 22 Super Cups, 15 Portuguese Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, a European Champion Clubs' Cup, Champions League, a UEFA Cup and a Europa League, a European Super Cup and a League Cup."
His tenure ended in April 2024 when former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas was elected president and hailed the influence of his predecessor.
"I would like to thank him for everything he has given to Porto, for the life he has given to Porto, and I would like to assure him that this is and always will be his home," Villas-Boas said after the election.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
