Big news from Portugal! There is a new club in the Black Knight Football Club portfolio …
🟢⚪️ Moreirense Futebol Clube 🟢⚪️
On June 18, 2025, Bill Foley’s Black Knight Football Club (BKFC) scooped up a majority stake in Moreirense Futebol Clube, a solid Primeira Liga team from Moreira de Cónegos in Portugal. The club’s members gave a huge thumbs-up, with 94% voting yes on May 31 to hand over 62.5% of Moreirense’s SAD (think of it as the club’s business side), with plans to bump that to 70% down the road.
You might know Foley as the guy behind AFC Bournemouth in the English Premier League, Auckland FC in New Zealand’s A-League, and part-owner of FC Lorient in France and Hibernian FC in Scotland. Now, he’s bringing Moreirense FC into the fold with a cool €15.8 million investment. About €5.8 million will boost the first team, while €10 million is earmarked for some awesome upgrades – like a shiny new academy, a 10,000-seat stadium by 2030, and training facilities for up to 52 young players.
Moreirense FC, who finished mid-table (10th) in the 2024/25 Primeira Liga, is set to become a hot spot for South American talent, especially from Brazil, thanks to Portugal’s rules on non-EU players. Vítor Magalhães, the club’s president, is sticking around to keep things running smoothly, with a focus on building a stronger, sustainable future. Foley’s multi-club setup means players and ideas can move between clubs, giving Moreirense a chance to shine even brighter.
Foley also said that adding Moreirense to the group would give Bournemouth direct access to the Brazilian player market.
Would that also mean that Auckland FC would have access to some of those players?
Who Are Moreirense FC?
Moreirense Futebol Clube, or just Moreirense, is a football club from the small town of Moreira de Cónegos in Guimarães, Portugal. Founded on November 1, 1938, this green-and-white squad, nicknamed “Os Verdes e Brancos” (The Green and Whites), has been a proud part of the Portuguese football scene for decades. They call the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas home, a cozy stadium with a 6,150-seat capacity, opened in 2002.
The club’s roots tie back to the local textile industry, with early players often being factory workers, and it’s grown into a competitive outfit with a knack for punching above its weight. Moreirense hit the big time in 2002 when they first reached Portugal’s Primeira Liga, thanks to back-to-back promotions under manager Manuel Machado. They’ve had their ups and downs, bouncing between divisions, but made history in 2017 by winning the Taça da Liga (League Cup), their first major national title, beating SC Braga in the final. The club’s best-ever league finish came in 2018/19, snagging sixth place under coach Ivo Vieira. More recently, they stormed back to the Primeira Liga for the 2023/24 season after winning the Liga Portugal 2 title in 2022/23 with a record-breaking 79 points. In 2024/25, they finished 10th in the league.
We’re stoked to see where this takes Moreirense! Keep an eye out for more updates on this exciting new chapter.
