Birth by Soccer, a Usual Occurrence

Several Portuguese community associations in Canada were formed out of soccer teams. One such was Poveiros Community Centre, formerly known as Casa dos Poveiros – Varzim Sport Club de Toronto. Justino Moreira, although not an official founder, started the movement in 1984 after he returned from Portugal with a set of Varzim soccer uniforms. He then formed a soccer team representing his hometown’s most famous club, Varzim Sport Club, that began playing friendly games against other local teams. Casa dos Poveiros had been unofficially founded.

Moreira, an avid football fan, used his own money to buy the original set of uniforms. The only thing he asked in return was for those men wearing the black and white stripes to represent the club with integrity. “I had been here for about two years when I decided to go to Portugal to buy Varzim uniforms. When I returned, we formed a soccer team and started playing around the city against other teams. We played on Sunday mornings but also practiced during the week. After each game, we would go to the late Zé Bispo’s home for food and drinks. He was very dedicated to the team. On Sundays, he would be marking the field and putting up the nets at six in the morning. We played a lot of games at the school across from Brockton Stadium and at Dundas, by the bridge, but later we also played many matches at Christie Pits. It got a bit serious, and we elected a president, although informally. We operated in this manner until 1986”, Justino Moreira stated.

In 1986, Casa dos Poveiros – Varzim Sport Club of Toronto was formally founded when it entered the Luso-Canadian Soccer League, which was played at Lamport Stadium. Moreira continued to play at the club until he suffered a major injury at the start of the 1988 season, the last for the club at the renowned competition. “The Luso-Canadian League was harder. We competed for three years and did well, but it was a lot of work. I remember having to pick up players from work, even after I broke my leg at Lamport Stadium playing for Varzim. We had many poveiros on the team, players like Manuel Silva, Quim da Lida who has already passed, Américo, Oliveirinha, Machado the goalkeeper, Pedro who later became President of Varzim in Portugal, Lázaro Faria, Albino Campos and others I cannot recall…we had a few in those days”, Moreira reminisced.

After Varzim left the Luso-Canadian Soccer League, it went into a short hiatus. Meanwhile, the organization focused mostly on growing its social and cultural components by organizing events for its members and by founding the famous Rancho Folclórico da Casa dos Poveiros.

Goan League

In 1991, soccer returned to the association when it entered the Goan League, which was played at Eglinton Flats North on Sunday mornings. Lázaro Faria, who had been with Justino since the informal genesis of the club, was one of the leaders at the time. “After we left the Luso-Canadian League, we didn’t do soccer for a few years. In 1991, Luis Campos and Alexandre Esteves decided to form a team and we entered the Goan League. Tony Silva was the coach. At that time, I still played in the Luso-Canadian Soccer League, for Angola, but could not refuse a return to Varzim. In the Goan League, we won the Honour’s Cup in 1996 and became League Champions in 2002,” Lázaro Faria recalled.

Then captain of the soccer team, Faria was also heavily involved in other aspects of the organization. Over the years, he took on several roles within the executive board such as vice-president and manager of sports. He was also vice-president of both the supervisory board and the general assembly.

For some time, Lázaro Faria managed an Under-16 squad at Varzim of Toronto. Among other honours, the team won the Camões Cup, promoted by the Alliance of Portuguese Clubs and Associations of Ontario, for two consecutive years (1994 and 1995).

“Playing for Varzim was an honour. I had played at Varzim in Portugal, and I was so proud for the opportunity to do it in Toronto as well. I am sad that it all ended but it is not easy to lead a soccer team nowadays. It requires a lot of time and commitment and it’s all volunteer work, nobody gets paid for it”, he lamented.

In 1996, then Mayor of Póvoa de Varzim, José Macedo Vieira, presented Lázaro Faria with the Recognition Award, officially acknowledging his contribution to the municipality and to Varzim SC.

COMPETING IN THE PCSL

After competing at Goan League for over a decade, Varzim entered the Portuguese Canadian Soccer League (PCSL), after the turn of the millennium. Lázaro Faria remained connected to the organization and acted as a liaison between soccer and the board of directors, a role that he proudly enjoyed for more than two decades. In 2005, he endorsed a former Varzim player, Paulo Arantes, to lead the soccer team in the PCSL, where it attained great success.

Arantes had played at the youth level, in Portugal, for Gil Vicente FC. He arrived in Canada in the early 1990s and represented Varzim in the Goan League. Later, he played for Gil Vicente FC of Toronto in the Toronto Soccer Association league before returning to Varzim. He became Vice-President of Sports in 2005 and, at the end of the season, he doubled up his duties with the role of coach.

“We had a good group and all that we won, we did it together. We were PCSL champions three times. We also won the indoor league, at the Hangar, from 2010 to 2012,” Paulo Arantes told us via a telephone conversation in February of 2024.

This winning run proved the last for the club. “At the time, we didn’t have enough financial support and some of us had to contribute with our own money. I think that if we all had made a bigger effort, we could still have soccer at Poveiros. We had good players, a really good team, and we had the potential to accomplish even greater things,” Arantes revealed.

At some point, there was an opportunity to play a game in Portugal against the mother club, but it never materialized. The team folded in 2013 after three decades of competition.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I arrived in Canada with the intention of detaching myself completely from soccer. In Portugal, I played at Gil Vicente FC and, like many others, dreamt of a soccer career until a major injury ended my dreams. I was given two choices: have surgery and run the risk of not playing again, or leave it and be able to play at a recreational level. It’s a story that’s so familiar and so cliché but that, unfortunately, applies to me. More than disappointed, I was angry and, to evade the pain, I had decided not to watch or play soccer for the rest of my life. However, the soccer bug is impossible to destroy; it can only be temporarily incapacitated.

I had arrived in Canada in February of 1991. When the snow melted from the ground, I had forgotten about my knee pain and the curse I had put on soccer. I just wanted to play. That’s when I met someone who told me that a gentleman by the name of Justino Moreira organized soccer games on Wednesday evenings near Dufferin and Lawrence. Eager to play, I showed up and immediately reignited that feeling that only those who have put on a pair of cleats and kicked around a ball over a field of finely cut grass know. Although I was then eager to play, my heart was not yet mended. So, when the invitation to play for Varzim came, I resisted for a while, but eventually gave in.

On a fine August morning in 1991, I put on a Varzim uniform for the first time in my life and I immediately fell in love with the club. For eight straight seasons, I identified myself with Varzim Sport Club and even dreamt of a real comeback when I had the opportunity to try out for the mother club, in Portugal, at the hand of then coach Antonio Campos.

In all honesty, it was easy for me to fall in love with the organization because, although I was born in Barcelos, I used to spend many of my teenage days parading Passeio Alegre, the stretch along Póvoa de Varzim’s famous beach. My time at Varzim not only provided me with a renewed love for soccer but it also helped me make friends for life. So many memories were created in and out of the pitch, including at social and cultural events promoted by the organization. One such memorable recurring event was the New Year’s Eve party, then organized at St. Clare’s Roman Catholic Church located on St. Clair near Dufferin.

I owe Casa dos Poveiros and Varzim Sport Club of Toronto my introduction to community organizations. At the time, while mainly involved in soccer, I had no idea that I would one day become an avid participant and supporter of our clubs and associations. I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to such a distinguished organization but even more grateful for the enduring influence it had on my life.