André Filipe Monteiro Vilas Boas (born 4 June 1983) is a Portuguese former professional

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 mainly as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. He spent 13 senior seasons with

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Football in Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which ...

, having joined the club at the age of 9. He totalled 132 Primeira Liga matches, including one for

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and four for

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It al ...

Club career

Born in

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km². The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of Vila do Conde, Azurar ...

, Vilas Boas spent his entire youth career with hometown club

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,5 ...

. He made his professional debut on 10 March 2002, playing the first 49 minutes of a 1–0 home loss against C.D. Nacional in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. On 29 July 2003, Vilas Boas joined FC Porto, being assigned to their reserves. He joined on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

-long loan with the option of a three-year permanent move at the end, and his one first-team appearance came on 11 January 2004 in a 2–0 Primeira Liga away victory over

F.C. Paços de Ferreira Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira () is a Portuguese football club based in Paços de Ferreira, Porto district. Founded in 1950, the club competes in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at the 9,077-seater Estádio da Mata Real, a municipal s ...

, as a last-minute substitute for

Maniche Nuno Ricardo de Oliveira Ribeiro (born 11 November 1977), known as Maniche (), is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He played top flight football in Portugal, Russia, England, Spain, Italy and Ge ...

. Vilas Boas returned to Rio Ave in 2005, with the side now in the top division. On 20 May 2010, he left on a free transfer to

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

, signing a two-year deal. He arrived injured, and his input was limited to their second team before he was loaned to Portimonense S.C. of the same league on 14 January 2011, for the rest of the campaign. On 31 August 2011, Vilas Boas secured a deadline-day switch to his hometown club. He was part of the side in 2013–14 that lost the

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 ...

and Taça da Liga finals to

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

, though he only played in the former and for two minutes. In the third round of that competition, away to C.F. Esperança de Lagos, he scored in a 3–0 win. Vilas Boas scored his only top-tier goal on 29 August 2015, a last-minute equaliser in a 2–2 draw at Vitória FC. The following 21 June, he was awarded a one-year contract extension. After retiring in June 2017 at the age of 34, Vilas Boas spent a year scouting for Rio Ave before becoming their

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

. He resigned four years later following their relegation, and took up the same post at

F.C. Famalicão Futebol Clube de Famalicão, commonly known as Famalicão, is a Portuguese association football, football club from Vila Nova de Famalicão. Founded on 21 August 1931, its senior team currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top tier of Portugu ...

in June 2021.

Honours

Porto * Primeira Liga: 2003–04 Rio Ave *

runner-up: 2013–14 * Taça da Liga runner-up: 2013–14

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilas Boas, Andre 1983 births Living people Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Vila do Conde Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Rio Ave F.C. players FC Porto B players FC Porto players C.S. Marítimo players Portimonense S.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers