Celebrating "O Benfica" of us all!

CONGRATULATIONS, O BENFICA NEWSPAPER

This Thursday, November 28, marks another year since the official Sport Lisboa e Benfica newspaper was published for the first time. Over more than eight decades, the Club's weekly newspaper has grown, changed and adapted to the changing times. Its main focus remains on informing members and fans.

O Benfica is celebrating its 82nd anniversary. The oldest sports weekly in Europe was born on November 28, 1942, although at the time it was called Sport Lisboa e Benfica: it took until 1950 for the title to take on its current name, the one that members and fans of the Glorioso recognize as the main and most faithful source of information about the life of the Club: the newspaper O Benfica.

Over the course of eight decades, the newspaper has been on the newsstands - and, since February 7, 2014, it also has a digital version - always with the aim of presenting the most important facts about the institutional and sporting life of the Eagles, with a total coverage of its sports and its athletes, which defines the Club's strength and eclecticism.

And throughout this 82-year history, there has been a constant evolution in the way O Benfica has grown and played its role. In 1953, the number of pages in the newspaper grew, first from 4 to 6 and, a month later, from 6 to 8.

The March 15, 1962, issue saw the contents expanded to 12 pages, and 10 years later (February 29, 1972, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary), the record for a published issue was set: 96 pages.

Another key moment in the life of this newspaper came on March 2, 1982, with the publication, for the first time, of color pages: on the front and center pages. Between 1985 and 1995, O Benfica increased the number of pages until it reached its current size of 32.

Between May 1, 1999, and August 2000, the newspaper went into magazine format (Benfica), returning as O Benfica after the election of Manuel Vilarinho, with the publication returning to its traditional form from February 28, 2001.

Throughout this millennium, the publication has been modernized and adapted to the new times and new readers, with changes in graphics, as well as the transition to full color in 2005. But always with the same dedication and commitment to presenting the best content and information every week.

Today, as well as being available on the newsstands in paper form, the O Benfica newspaper is also available in digital format. It can be downloaded, in full and free of charge, from the Club's official website on Fridays, when it is also distributed via the SLB WhatsApp channel. This is a new way for the newspaper to reach more people, especially Benfica fans.