Alfredo Valadas Mendes (16 February 1912 – 1994) was a Portuguese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Over the course of 10 seasons, he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 136 games and eighty six goals, all at Benfica, winning nine major titles.

Club career

Born in Minas de S. Domingos, Beja; Valadas started his career at Luso Sport Clube, a delegation of

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

at only age 15. With 19 years-old, he moved to Lisbon to play for Sporting, with the promise that they help him find a job, which they never did. After two seasons, he moved back to Beja, spent a year without competing and then joined Sport Lisboa e Beja in the regional league. In 1934, he returned to Lisbon and joined Benfica, again with the promise to help him find a job, which they did, when he became a civil servant in 1937. He made his debut on 14 October 1934, in a home win against his former team, Sporting, and helped the club conquer the Campeonato de Portugal, again defeating previous team on 30 June 1935. He was also the club's first goalscorer in the Primeira Liga, after opening the score in a 3-1 win over

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

on 20 January 1935 and finished the season with 23 goals in all competitions, a club best. In the following three seasons, he played alongside

Vítor Silva Vítor Marcolino da Silva (20 February 1909 – 21 July 1982) was a Portuguese footballer. Listed by Benfica, as one of the club's best forwards in history, Silva represented the club on 131 official games, scoring 108 goals. Club career Bor ...

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

and

Domingos Lopes Domingos António Lopes (born 23 August 1912, date of death unknown) was a Portuguese footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association ...

, as Benfica conquered a three-peat, winning the league in 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, with Valadas being club topscorer in the first of those. On 31 January 1937, he scored the club 100th goal in the Primeira Liga. In the nineteen-forties, he scored 21 league goals in two seasons combined, to help the club win two more leagues, in 1941–42, 1942–43. He retired with a match in his honor on 1 December 1944, after 264 official matches, scoring 158 times; immediately assuming an assistant position under

János Biri János Biri (21 July 1901 – 29 March 1983) was a Hungarian footballer and coach. Biri played as a goalkeeper for a number of clubs, most notably Padova and MTK Budapest FC, also representing Hungary in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He is best kn ...

. In 1947, he made his debut as head coach, guiding

Vitória Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ( ...

to a seventh place in the 1947–48 season, and improving one position in the next season. He also guided Salgueiros to the first division in 1951–52.

International career

Valadas made his

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

debut against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

on 3 May 1932 in Lisbon and scored 1 goal in a 3–2 win. He gained 6

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and scored 2 goals, with his last cap arriving in a one-nil win over

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 30 January 1938.

Honours

Benfica * Primeira Divisão: 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1941–42, 1942–43 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

: 1939–40, 1943–44 * Campeonato de Portugal: 1934–35 *

Campeonato de Lisboa The Campeonato de Lisboa (English: Championship of Lisbon) was a regional football league in Portugal, situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division started in 1906, even before Lisbon Football Association was c ...

: 1939–40

References

General * Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valadas, Alfredo 1912 births People from Beja, Portugal 1994 deaths Sporting CP footballers S.L. Benfica footballers Portugal international footballers Portuguese footballers Primeira Liga players Vitória S.C. managers S.C. Salgueiros managers Association football outside forwards Portuguese football managers Sportspeople from Beja District