Ricardo José da Silva Fernandes (born 28 October 1994) is a Portuguese 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 le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

club

Shamakhi Shamakhi ( az, Şamaxı, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population was 31,704. It is famous for its traditional dancers, the Shamakhi Dancers, and also for perhaps giving it ...

Club career

Born in

Oliveira do Bairro Oliveira do Bairro () is a town and a municipality in the district of Aveiro in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 47,729, in an area of 335.27 km2. It had 16,994 eligible voters in 2006. The town itself had a population of 3,077 in 2001. T ...

Aveiro District Aveiro District ( pt, Distrito de Aveiro, or ) is located in the central coastal region of Portugal. The capital of the district is the city of Aveiro, which also serves as the seat of Aveiro Municipality. Aveiro District is bordered by the Po ...

, Fernandes spent his first three years as a senior in the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. In July 2016, he signed with Segunda Liga club AD Fafe on loan from

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Rest ...

, making his debut as a professional on 31 July of that month in a 0–1 home loss against

F.C. Vizela Futebol Clube de Vizela is a Portuguese football club based in Vizela, Braga District. Founded in 1939, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal Bwin, holding home games at the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Vizela, with a capacity for 6,100 spect ...

in the first stage of the

Portuguese League Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. His maiden league appearance took place on 28 November, when he kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

to help the visitors defeat S.L. Benfica B 1–0. Fernandes returned to the Estádio do Restelo for the 2017–18 season, where he acted as third or fourth choice. He made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

debut on 12 May 2018, coming on as a substitute for Muriel in the last nine minutes of the 1–0 away defeat to

Boavista F.C. Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

in the last matchday. On 22 May 2018, Fernandes dropped into the second tier on a two-year contract 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 ...

. He was back-up to

Rafael Defendi Rafael Garcia Tonioli Defendi (born 22 December 1983) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Farense in Liga Portugal 2. Career Born in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Defendi passed through Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas and Santo ...

as the team won promotion as runners-up, moving on to Académico de Viseu FC; on his first of three appearances in his debut campaign for the latter on 22 December 2019, he was sent off for a foul on

Mohamed Bouldini Mohamed Bouldini ( ar, محمد بولديني; born 27 November 1995) is a Moroccan footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Levante UD. Club career Born in Casablanca, Bouldini signed for Botola club Raja CA in 2015. Unwanted, he mov ...

. Fernandes took the starting spot from Ricardo Janota in his second season in Viseu. At its conclusion, he signed a three-year deal at top-flight

C.D. Santa Clara Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel. They are the most successful football team from the Azores Islands as the only team from the archipelag ...

on 23 June 2021.

References

External links

*
Portuguese League profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Ricardo 1994 births Living people People from Oliveira do Bairro Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Aveiro District Men's association football goalkeepers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players C.F. Os Belenenses players S.C.U. Torreense players Eléctrico F.C. players AD Oliveirense players Anadia F.C. players AD Fafe players F.C. Famalicão players Académico de Viseu F.C. players C.D. Santa Clara players Azerbaijan Premier League players Shamakhi FK players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan