Football fans in Madeira will have an abundance of top-flight football to watch in the 2015/16 campaign right on their doorstep.  

For the first time since the 1990/91 season, the island will play host to no fewer than three clubs in Portugal’s Primeira Liga after União’s promotion.

The achievement triggered wild celebrations (pictured), and Paul Gellard takes a look at football’s hold in the island the Portuguese call “the Pearl of the Atlantic”.

The curtain comes down on 2014/15 Portuguese season this weekend, with Benfica facing Marítimo in the Taça da Liga (League Cup) final in Coimbra on Friday night, and Sporting playing Braga in the Portuguese Cup final at the Jamor stadium on Sunday. 

There are still trophies to play for, but that has not stopped transfer activity from starting in earnest.

FC Porto have completed the signing of Spanish striker Alberto Bueno, while Benfica have signed the Rio Ave trio of Ederson, Diego Lopes and Hassan. 

The Primeira Liga season ends tomorrow, but interest in the Portuguese game will only intensify over the coming months.

Sales of the three Portuguese sports dailies actually increase in the close-season as clubs up and down the country are linked with an endless roll of potential new signings to boost their respective squads. But what about players going the other way?

Here are five reasons why scouts should be looking to Portugal once the new transfer window opens. 

As the dust settles on Benfica’s title triumph, PortuGOAL’s Benfica correspondent Marco Lopes looks back at a somewhat unspectacular but ultimately hugely satisfying season for the Eagles.

31 years is a lifetime in football.

It’s a period in which careers commence and conclude; players grow from young, restless lambs to men with ageing boots and tired jerseys; managers develop from tactical pioneers to refined conductors.