Jorge Manuel Rebelo Fernandes (born 1 September 1976), known as Silas, is a Portuguese former

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 a

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 boundarie ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 236 matches and 30 goals over nine seasons, representing in the competition União de Leiria, Marítimo and Belenenses. He also played professionally in four other countries, mainly Spain and Cyprus.

Playing career

Early years and Leiria

Silas was born in Lisbon. He spent two years of his childhood in the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

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 ...

, where he received his nickname for his resemblance to Brazilian first-team player

Paulo Silas Paulo Silas do Prado Pereira (born 27 August 1965), also known as Paulo Silas, Silas Pereira or simply Silas, is a Brazilian football pundit, coach, and former professional player. A former central midfielder, he is now a television pundit ...

. Following his release, he chose Atlético Clube de Portugal due to its proximity to his grandmother's house in

Campolide Campolide () is a ''freguesia'' (civil parish) and district of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Located in central Lisbon, Campolide is west of Avenidas Novas, north of Campo de Ourique, east of Benfica, and south of São Domingos de Benfica. Th ...

. After three years there as a professional from 1995 he emigrated to Spain, representing lowly

AD Ceuta Asociación Deportiva Ceuta was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Ceuta. Founded in 1996, its last season was 2011–12 in Segunda División B, holding home matches at ''Estadio Alfonso Murube'', with a capacity of 6,500. ...

who also loaned him for one season to

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...

in Segunda División. During his time in the North African exclave, he was struck by a concrete block when walking past a construction site, and required 11 stitches in his head. Silas first made his name at

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...

, with whom he achieved a couple of top six Primeira Liga finishes, also making 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 ...

final in 2003. During the 2001–02 campaign he was managed by up-and-coming José Mourinho and, the following year, made his first appearance for the Portugal national team, in a 1–0 friendly win over Macedonia on 3 April 2003; he later played against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and Bolivia.

Wolverhampton and Belenenses

Silas signed for newly promoted

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in July 2003, for an initial fee of £1 million. However, he endured a frustrating time in England, failing to settle in the country and establish himself in the squad; during their doomed season he made a mere nine league appearances, totalling 14 overall. In the summer of 2004, Silas returned to his homeland and joined top division side

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 ...

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. The following campaign, still not featuring in the Wolves manager's plans (now

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

) he was loaned out to another team in the country and tier, this time C.F. Os Belenenses. At the end of the season, having made 28 appearances with four goals, Silas decided to make his move permanent, joining on a free transfer as his contract at Wolverhampton had expired. He continued to be an undisputed starter from 2006 to 2009, after which he was released and returned to Leiria, recently returned to the main division.

Later career

From 2011 to

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Silas competed in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

, representing

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintai ...

AEP Paphos FC AEP Paphos ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Πάφος, ''Athlitiki Enosi Pafos''; "Athletic Union Paphos") was a Cypriot football club based in Paphos. The club was formed in 2000 after the merger of the two clubs of Paphos, APOP and Evagoras. ...

and

Ethnikos Achna FC Ethnikos Achna Football Club ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Εθνικός Άχνας), commonly known as Ethnikos Achna, or simply Ethnikos, is a Cypriot football club based in the village of Achna. Founded in 1968, the club current ...

. In July 2014, after a 16-year absence, he returned to Atlético, now in the Segunda Liga. In April of the following year he, alongside teammate Dady, was involved in a match-fixing allegation whereby it was alleged that both had approached S.C. Farense players with a bribe to facilitate Atlético's win, but nothing was ever proven. The season initially ended in relegation, but the team eventually was spared at the expense of

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

who dropped down a division due to irregularities. On 8 July 2015, shortly before his 39th birthday, Silas signed a six-month deal with

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...

. He made his debut on 6 October, playing the full 90 minutes in 1–3 loss at

Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established ...

. On 11 November, a minute after coming on as a substitute for his compatriot Simão, he scored his first goal for the

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

-based team, the decisive one in a 2–1 victory away to

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural season o ...

. Silas returned to his homeland on 12 February 2016, joining C.D. Cova da Piedade. He helped them to the third division title and a first promotion to the professional leagues, scoring the winning

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

in the final

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

against

F.C. Vizela Futebol Clube de Vizela is a Portuguese Association football, 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 cap ...

on 5 June 2016.

Coaching career

Silas retired at the end of the season, at the age of 40. His first coaching experience was as manager of the Portuguese footballers' union in 2017. On 16 January 2018, Silas replaced

Domingos Paciência Domingos José Paciência Oliveira, known simply as Domingos as a player (; born 2 January 1969), is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He achieved success with both Porto and the Portugal national te ...

at former club Belenenses. His first game in charge occurred four days later, and he led his team to a 0–0 away draw against Marítimo. In December 2018 he was named "Manager of the Month", and he achieved final positions of 12th and ninth in his first two years, being dismissed from his position at the reorganised Belenenses SAD on 4 September 2019 when the team had not scored in their first four games of the campaign. Late in the same month, Silas succeeded

Leonel Pontes Leonel Pontes da Encarnação (born 9 July 1972) is a Portuguese football manager. Coaching career Portugal Born in Porto da Cruz, Madeira, Pontes coached in the youth ranks of Sporting CP from 1996 to 2005, also managing the reserves for tw ...

at the helm of Sporting on a contract running until June 2020. On 4 March 2020, he was relieved of his duties and replaced by

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

's Rúben Amorim, who became Sporting's fourth coach of the season. Silas completed his

UEFA Pro Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

course on 14 November 2020. The following 1 February, he took over from the dismissed João Pedro Sousa at F.C. Famalicão on a one-and-a-half-year deal. He left on 8 March, after his one win in six games left them second from bottom. Silas was appointed head coach of

on 12 May 2022, being fired in September.

Managerial statistics

Honours

AEL Limassol *

: 2011–12 Cova da Piedade * Campeonato de Portugal: 2015–16

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silas 1976 births Living people Portuguese footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Atlético Clube de Portugal players U.D. Leiria players C.S. Marítimo players C.F. Os Belenenses players C.D. Cova da Piedade players Segunda División players Segunda División B players AD Ceuta footballers Elche CF players Premier League players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Cypriot First Division players AEL Limassol players AEP Paphos FC players Ethnikos Achna FC players Indian Super League players NorthEast United FC players Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in India Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in India Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers C.F. Os Belenenses managers B-SAD managers Sporting CP managers F.C. Famalicão managers Cypriot First Division managers AEL Limassol managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus