Editing FC Porto (section)

===First national titles and drought years (1921–1977)===
The 1921–22 season was marked by the creation of the first nationwide football competition&nbsp;– the [[Campeonato de Portugal (1922–1938)|Campeonato de Portugal]].{{sfn|Tovar|2011|pp=49–50}} Organised by the [[Portuguese Football Federation|national federation]], this knockout tournament gathered the winners of the regional championships to determine the Portuguese champion.<ref name="FPF history">{{cite web|title=História|url=https://www.fpf.pt/Institucional/Sobre-FPF/Hist%C3%B3ria|website=FPF.pt|publisher=[[Portuguese Football Federation]]|access-date=22 June 2014|language=pt|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715035454/http://www.fpf.pt/Institucional/Sobre-FPF/Hist%C3%B3ria|archive-date=15 July 2014}}</ref> After clinching its fourth consecutive regional title, Porto defeated [[Sporting CP]] in the [[1922 Campeonato de Portugal|inaugural edition]] and became the first national champions.{{sfn|Tovar|2011|pp=49–50}}<ref name="campeonato portugal">{{cite web|last1=Claro|first1=Paulo|title=Campeonato de Portugal 1921–1938|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/portchamp.html|access-date=22 June 2014|website=[[RSSSF]]|date=15 May 2004}}</ref> While a dominant regional force,{{efn|Porto won the regional championship consecutively between 1918 and 1939.<ref name="regional championship" />}} the club faced stronger opposition in the national championship, winning it only three more times in a span of sixteen years (1925, 1932 and 1937).<ref name="campeonato portugal" /> In 1933–34, Porto was denied participation in the Campeonato de Portugal by its football association for refusing to release players for a match between the Porto and Lisbon regional teams.{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=89}}

In the following season, a second nationwide competition named "Campeonato da Primeira Liga" (English: Premier League Championship), or simply [[Primeira Liga]], was provisionally established by the national federation to increase the number of matches per season and improve the competitiveness of Portuguese football.{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=92}} As the regional champion, Porto qualified for the first edition of the new round-robin competition, winning it with 10 victories in 14 matches.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Teixeira|first1=Jorge Miguel|title=Portugal 1934–35|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/porthist193435.html|access-date=23 June 2014|website=[[RSSSF]]|date=11 August 1999}}</ref>{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=96}} Due to the success of its format, the Primeira Liga was made an official championship competition for the 1938–39 season&nbsp;– its name changed to "Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Divisão" (English: First Division National Championship) or simply Primeira Divisão&nbsp;– and replaced the Campeonato de Portugal, which in turn was converted into the [[Taça de Portugal]], the main domestic cup competition.<ref name="FPF history" /><ref name="campeonato portugal" /> Porto won the inaugural edition of the new league championship and successfully defended the title in the next season, despite almost failing to take part.{{efn|An administrative battle arose between Porto and [[Académico F.C.|Académico]] after a 1939–40 regional championship match between both clubs, which ended prematurely due to numerical inferiority of Porto's team,{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=121}} was repeated by decision of the Porto FA and won by Porto. To solve this situation, the Portuguese Football Federation decided to annul the result from the repetition match&nbsp;– causing Porto to lose the regional title to [[Leixões S.C.|Leixões]] and finish in third place, behind Académico. However, the Federation also decided to expand the Primeira Divisão from eight to ten teams, accepting an additional team from the Porto and Setúbal FAs, which resulted in the top-three teams from the Porto regional championship qualifying for the 1939–40 Primeira Divisão.<ref>Stadium Newspaper, 10 January 1940</ref>}} The club failed to secure a third consecutive title, and after nearly missing again a place in the Primeira Divisão in [[1941–42 Primeira Divisão|1941–42]],{{efn|Before the 1941–42 season, the federation decided to expand the Primeira Divisão to ten teams, to admit the [[Braga Football Association|Braga FA]] and [[Algarve Football Association|Algarve FA]] champions, for the first time. That season, Porto finished the regional championship in third place, which did not grant entry into the Primeira Divisão. However, after consulting every district football association and receiving no opposition to the idea, the federation approved a new expansion of the top-tier league, to twelve teams, which enabled the club to participate.{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=136}}}} it would only return to a top-three finish in the 1946–47 season. In 1948, Porto defeated English champions [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] 3–2 in a friendly match. To commemorate this victory, the associates offered the club a massive trophy made of {{convert|250|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of silver and wood&nbsp;– the Arsenal Cup.{{sfn|Bandeira|2012|p=22}}

Having endured a 16-year title drought period, Porto returned to winning ways by taking the [[1955–56 Primeira Divisão]] on head-to-head advantage over runners-up [[S.L. Benfica|Benfica]]. Later that season, Porto beat [[S.C.U. Torreense|Torreense]] to win its first Taça de Portugal and achieved its first [[Double (association football)|double]].{{sfn|Tovar|2011|pp=219–222}}<ref name="taça de portugal">{{cite web|last1=Claro|first1=Paulo|title=Portugal&nbsp;– List of Cup Winners|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/portcuphist.html|access-date=5 July 2014|website=[[RSSSF]]|date=22 May 2014}}</ref> As the Portuguese league winner, Porto made its debut in European competitions by qualifying for the [[1956–57 European Cup]]. The club's first participation was short-lived, ending in the preliminary round with two defeats against Spanish champions [[Athletic Bilbao]].{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=224}}<ref>{{cite web|title=1956–57 UEFA Champions League|url=http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=1956/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924071336/http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=1956/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2011|publisher=UEFA|access-date=24 June 2014}}</ref> A year later, Porto lifted its second Taça de Portugal by beating Benfica 1–0 in the final.<ref name="taça de portugal" /> In 1958, [[Béla Guttmann]] took charge as coach of Porto and helped them overhaul a five-point lead enjoyed by Benfica to win the [[Portuguese Liga|Portuguese League]] title in 1959.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=https://sportal.co.in/2019/09/revolutionary-coach-who-survived-nazi-labour-camp-to-become-worlds-first-superstar-manager/|title=Revolutionary coach who survived Nazi labour camp to become world's first superstar manager |work= Sportal – World Sports News|date=16 July 2023 }}</ref> The two clubs met in the season's final, but this time Benfica took the trophy and denied a second double for Porto that had won the [[1958–59 Primeira Divisão]] three months before.{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=236}}

Shortly after, the club entered another lacklustre period of its history, the highest point of which was a victory in the 1968 Taça de Portugal final. During this time, Porto had its worst-ever league classification, a ninth place in 1969–70,{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=304}} while its best league record in that period consisted of six runner-up finishes (four consecutive between 1961–62 and 1964–65).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Claro|first1=Paulo|title=Portugal&nbsp;– List of champions|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/portchamp.html|access-date=25 June 2014|website=[[RSSSF]]|date=15 May 2014}}</ref> In European competitions, the club participated for the first time in the [[Inter-Cities Fairs Cup]] (and its successor, the [[UEFA Europa League|UEFA Cup]]) and in the [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|Cup Winners' Cup]], without getting past the third round.<ref name="uefa history">{{cite web|title=FC Porto&nbsp;– History|url=http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=50064/profile/history/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130223042739/http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=50064/profile/history/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 February 2013|publisher=UEFA|access-date=25 June 2014}}</ref>
One of the club's most tragic moments occurred on 16 December 1973, when during a league match against [[Vitória F.C.|Vitória de Setúbal]], the 26-year-old captain [[Fernando Pascoal Neves|Pavão]] fell unconscious on the pitch and died later at the hospital.{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=330}}<ref>{{cite web|last1=Marques Simões|first1=Rui|title=FC Porto–Setúbal à jornada 13: é dia de lembrar Pavão|trans-title=FC Porto–Setúbal on matchday 13: a day to remember Pavão|url=https://www.dn.pt/desporto/fc-porto/interior/fc-porto-setubal-a-jornada-13-e-dia-de-lembrar-pavao-1446236.html|website=dn.pt|publisher=[[Diário de Notícias]]|access-date=26 June 2014|language=pt|date=13 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427012524/https://www.dn.pt/desporto/fc-porto/interior/fc-porto-setubal-a-jornada-13-e-dia-de-lembrar-pavao-1446236.html|archive-date=27 April 2014}}</ref> The following month, Porto presented Peruvian international [[Teófilo Cubillas]], who became one of the club's most successful players, scoring 65 goals in 108 games.{{sfn|Tovar|2011|p=655}}