Huddersfield Town are preparing for a meeting with SC Portimonense in their first public pre-season friendly in Portugal on Saturday week, July 19.
The Portimao club’s Algarve rivals SC Olhanense have pulled out of the originally planned fixture, which forms the finale of a seven-day trip to the Vale de Lobo sporting complex, which was used by England during their World Cup build-up.
While Portimonense, like Olhanense preparing for the new Portuguese Division II campaign, have their own 10,000 capacity stadium, the clash with Town will be at the Estadio Da Nora in Albufeira.
That’s around 14 miles closer to Faro and its airport than Portimao.
The game is at the home of Portuguese Division III side FC Ferreiras, one of three stadia in Albufeira, and will kick-off at 6.00. Admission is free.
Town set off on Sunday and also face Doncaster behind closed doors in Portugal on Tuesday.
They will return in time to visit Conference North Guiseley on Monday, July 21.
Portimonense were founded in 1914 and enjoyed their best times in the Eighties, when they made the Portuguese top flight and played in the UEFA Cup.
Their head coach is Lazaro Oliveira, who has had a spell in charge of the Angola national team.
Town’s head of football operations Ross Wilson said: “It became clear SC Olhanense are undergoing a lot of changes on the playing side following relegation and they are unable to fulfil the friendly.
“However, having this game in Portugal is important for (manager) Mark Robins and the team’s preparation and we are happy SC Portimonense will now provide the opposition.
“We were keen that any replacement game should be as close to our base in Vale de Lobo as the original and that is the case.
“Hopefully there will be minimal inconvenience for fans who are travelling to Portugal to see the team.”
The Portimonense game is believed to be Town’s first against Portuguese opposition and their first on foreign soil since the 2006 pre-season tournament in Ibiza.
Doncaster, relegated from the Championship last season, are still hoping to complete a deal for former Town skipper Peter Clarke.
Fulham have signed Greece international left-back Konstantinos Stafylidis on a season-long loan from Bayer Leverkusen.
He is their sixth summer signing as the relegated club prepare for life in the Championship.
His arrival was announced 24 hours after the capture of Scotland striker Ross McCormack from Leeds.
They have also signed former Schalke defender Tim Hoogland, Australia striker Adam Taggart, defender Kay Voser from Basel and Motherwell defender Shaun Hutchinson.
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