Tondela predictions

Tondela History

Clube Desportivo de Tondela came to be as a result of the process of merging two clubs from the village of Tondela – Tondela Football Club and the Operario Atletico Clube. For nearly 80 years their existence was barely noticed on the scales of a wider football world.

The 2012/13 season was their first ever as a professional club, and having spent decades floating between various lower divisions in a constantly changing system, they secured a place in the Primeira Liga for the very first time in 2015. It took a last-minute goal directly from a free-kick, scored by Andre Carvalhas, to clinch them the top spot in the second division.

Since then, it’s been nothing but hard work for them to stay up there. The maiden season in the top flight saw them finish just one point above the relegated Uniao da Madeira. They came even closer to the drop the following season, surviving on goal-difference by bettering Arouca by a single goal. As has been said already, 2017/18 was their best league campaign ever as they finished 11th, and they scraped through again by finishing 15th out of 18 teams last season, it being the first which saw three teams relegated.

There is very little doubt that survival will be their only goal for a long while yet, including this season. If they can manage to do that little thing, that little thing that certainly seems huge from their perspective, and establish themselves as a stable top-tier side, they might even consider going for the next step.