Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese sports executive, and former professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

, who is currently the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of Portuguese sports club

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. He was among the growing number of top-level managers who never played football professionally, and one of the few managers to have never played beyond youth football. His managerial career highlights include an undefeated 2010–11 season in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

with Porto, winning four trophies and becoming the youngest manager to win a European title in the process; guiding

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

to a then-record tally of 72 points in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

during the 2012–13 season (the most points by a team finishing outside the top four at the time); and three trophies during his spell with Zenit Saint Petersburg, including the club's fifth

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

title. In January 2024, almost three years after his last managerial stint at

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, Villas-Boas announced his candidacy to the presidency of Porto. On 27 April 2024, he won the club elections with 80% of the votes, defeating incumbent president

Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa Jorge Nuno de Lima Pinto da Costa (28 December 1937 – 15 February 2025) () was a Portuguese sports executive, who was president of Portuguese sports club FC Porto, Porto from 1982 until 2024. He was the president with most titles won (69) in t ...

, who had been in office for 42 years.

Early life and career

Born in

, Portugal, Villas-Boas is the second child and first son of Luís Filipe Manuel Henrique do Vale Peixoto de Sousa e Villas-Boas (born 29 February 1952) and Teresa Maria de Pina Cabral e Silva (born 11 February 1951), and is also the great-grandson of Dom José Gerardo Coelho Vieira Pinto do Vale Peixoto de Vilas-Boas, 1st Viscount of Guilhomil. He has spoken fluent English since childhood, for his grandmother who was from

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

, England. At the age of 16, Villas-Boas found himself living in the same apartment block as Bobby Robson, who was then manager of

. Following a conversation between the two, Robson appointed him to Porto's observation department. Robson arranged for Villas-Boas to obtain the FA coaching qualification, the UEFA C coaching licence in Scotland and for him to study the training methods of Ipswich Town. He obtained his C licence at the age of 17, and his B licence at 18. He received his A licence at the age of 19, and later acquired

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

under the tutelage of Jim Fleeting. Villas-Boas had a short stint as technical director of the British Virgin Islands national team at the age of 21, before he moved on to a career as an assistant coach at Porto under

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

. As Mourinho moved clubs to Chelsea and Internazionale, he followed.

Coaching career

Académica

At the start of the 2009–10 season, Villas-Boas left Mourinho's team to pursue a career as a manager, and he soon found a job in the

with Académica de Coimbra, filling a vacancy created by Rogério Gonçalves' resignation in October 2009. At the time of his appointment, Académica was at the bottom of the league and still without any wins, but the team's luck started to change as he introduced a new style, leading them to a safe 11th place, ten points clear of the relegation zone. In addition to that, Académica also reached the 2009–10 Portuguese League Cup semi-finals, losing against Porto at the Estádio do Dragão to a late goal from Mariano González. His impact at Académica was immediate, not only because of solid results, but also because of the attractive football displayed by the team, which led to intense media speculation linking him with the vacant jobs at

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

and Porto in the summer of 2010.

Porto

Villas-Boas signed a deal to become the new manager of Porto on 2 June 2010. Two months later, he won his first trophy as a manager when Porto defeated Benfica 2–0 to win the Portuguese Supercup. Villas-Boas went on to immense success with Porto, leading the team to an undefeated season in the Primeira Liga—only the second time this had ever been achieved—and winning the title by more than 20 points, having conceded only 13 goals all season. Villas-Boas went on to follow up this success by leading Porto to win both the Portuguese Cup and the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, thus completing a treble in his first season in charge. By doing so, Villas-Boas became the third-youngest coach ever to win the Primeira Liga (behind Mihály Siska in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

and Juca in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

) and the youngest manager ever to win a European competition, at the age of 33 years and 213 days. On 21 June 2011, Villas-Boas tendered his resignation as Porto manager.

Chelsea

Chelsea confirmed the appointment of André Villas-Boas as its new manager on a three-year contract with immediate effect on 22 June 2011. It indirectly paid Porto a world record

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

15million ( £13.3million) compensation via Villas-Boas to activate his release clause and free him from his contract with Porto. He won all of his pre-season fixtures with Chelsea, the team conceding only one goal in all six games. On 14 August, his first

match ended in a 0–0 draw at Stoke City, with Villas-Boas commenting on Stoke's strong defence at home. He then won his first competitive match as Chelsea manager, defeating

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

2–1 on 20 August. He continued his season with a home win, beating

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

3–1. On 18 September 2011, Villas-Boas's Chelsea lost to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

3–1 at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. It was Chelsea's first defeat of the season and Villas-Boas's first defeat in 39 league matches, a run stretching back to his spells as manager of Académica and Porto. On 29 October, Chelsea lost the

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

in a 5–3 defeat at home to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

after falling to a 1–0 defeat to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. Then three weeks later, his Chelsea side lost a second successive home game in a 2–1 defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Days later, he once again lost to Liverpool in a 2–0 defeat in the League Cup quarter-final. On 11 February 2012, pressure began to mount on Villas-Boas as Chelsea dropped out of the top four in the Premier League following a 2–0 league defeat against Everton. Villas-Boas responded by cancelling his squad's day off and called them in for an inquest, which provoked several senior players to question his tactics in front of owner

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (born 24 October 1966) is a business oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the primary owner of the private investment com ...

. On 21 February 2012, during a Champions League match against

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, Villas-Boas left

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian Association football, football coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach at Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland. During his prime he was regarded as on ...

and Ashley Cole on the bench. Chelsea lost 3–1 and the club's technical director asked for an explanation of the team selection on behalf of Abramovich. On 4 March 2012, following a 1–0 league defeat against West Brom which left Chelsea three points adrift of

in the battle for fourth place in the

, Villas-Boas was relieved of his managerial duties by Chelsea, with assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo being appointed as caretaker manager on an interim basis until the end of the season. On the Chelsea website, it read, "The board would like to record our gratitude for his work and express our disappointment that the relationship has ended so early."

Tottenham Hotspur

On 3 July 2012, it was announced that Villas-Boas had been named

head coach after successful talks with the club, replacing

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

and signing a three-year deal with the North London football team. Villas-Boas' first competitive game in charge of Tottenham came on 18 August 2012 in the opening day of the

season, losing 2–1 to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

away from home. His first competitive win came on 16 September 2012, a 3–1 victory away to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. On 29 September 2012, Villas-Boas became the first Tottenham manager to win at

in 23 years after his side beat

3–2. Villas-Boas took charge of his first

North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main ...

against

on 17 November 2012 at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

. Despite taking the lead early on, goalscorer Emmanuel Adebayor was sent off just eight minutes later, and Tottenham eventually lost 5–2. Villas-Boas earned his first piece of personal Tottenham silverware when he won the Manager of the Month award for December. The team managed to pick up vital points in order to pursue their top four ambition. Promising big scorelines away from home such as against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

along with home wins against Swansea City and Reading, left Tottenham in third place going into the new year. One set back was a tough trip to

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

, where Spurs were leading up until the 90th minute, before two late Everton goals in as many minutes, snatched victory away from the North London side. In February 2013, he guided Tottenham to the last 16 of the Europa League after a last minute goal from Mousa Dembélé, securing a 1–1 draw against

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

at the Stade Gerland. Spurs won the tie 3–2 on aggregate, after a 2–1 win at home the previous week. Following a 3–2 away win at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, Tottenham's third win from three Premier League matches that month, Villas-Boas picked up his second piece of personal Tottenham silverware of the season as he was awarded the Manager of the Month award for February, along with

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, and the Wales national ...

who picked up the Player of the Month award for February as well. On the final day of the Premier League season, Tottenham sat a point behind North London rivals,

, knowing that in order to qualify for the 2013–14 Champions League, they had to win and hope that Arsenal failed to win. Tottenham won against Sunderland, but did not qualify due to Arsenal's 0–1 win at Newcastle United. Even though Tottenham finished a point behind the Champions League playoff spot, they set a new club record by finishing with 72 points. This was also the highest points tally ever achieved by any club in the Premier League to consequently not finish in the top four, until Arsenal finishing in fifth with 75 points in 2016-17. In the close season, Villas-Boas claimed he was approached by both

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

to fill their managerial vacancies but insisted he rejected these offers to remain with Spurs for a second successive season, something which he had not previously done as a manager. Following the sale of star player Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a world record fee of £85.3 million, Villas-Boas was active in the transfer market before the start of the 2013–14 Premier League season. Key acquisitions included defensive midfielder Étienne Capoue, midfielder Paulinho, striker Roberto Soldado, the versatile

Nacer Chadli Nacer Chadli (; born 2 August 1989) is a Belgian professional association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for Belgian Division 1 club Standard Liège, Standard de Liège 16. Chadli began his career in th ...

, ball-playing defender

Vlad Chiricheș Vlad Iulian Chiricheș (; born 14 November 1989) is a Romanian professional association football, footballer who plays for Liga I club FCSB and the Romania national football team, Romania national team. Primarily a Defender (association football) ...

, winger Erik Lamela and playmaker

Christian Eriksen Christian Dannemann Eriksen (; born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Denmark national football team, ...

. Departures from the club included Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey, Steven Caulker and Scott Parker. On 16 December 2013, Tottenham announced that Villas-Boas had left the club "by mutual consent." The dismissal, with Spurs lying seventh in the Premier League and having won all six Europa League group games, followed a series of disappointing domestic league results that included a 6–0 defeat away to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and culminated in a 0–5 home defeat to Liverpool. Villas-Boas left the club with the highest percentage of league wins of any Tottenham manager in the club's Premier League era.

Zenit Saint Petersburg

On 18 March 2014, Villas-Boas signed a two-year deal with Zenit Saint Petersburg, replacing

Luciano Spalletti Luciano Spalletti (; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian Association football, football Association football manager, manager and former association footballer, player. He was most recently the manager of the Italy national football team, Italian n ...

, and took the reins the day after the club's Champions League round of 16 second leg against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

. A month later, he went on to become the first coach in

history to win his first six matches in charge. He continued to pursue the title but on 3 May, Zenit lost their first points in a 1–1 away draw with

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

being followed by a 2–4 loss at home to Dynamo Moscow which dictated the league advantage to

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. In the final fixture of the Russian Premier League on 16 May, Zenit won 4–1 away against Kuban Krasnodar but it was not enough to win the title, as CSKA defeated Lokomotiv and were crowned champions one point ahead of Zenit. However, the St. Petersburg club clinched a place in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round. In the 2014–15 season, Zenit qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage by beating

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

in the third round qualification and

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

in the playoffs. On 17 May 2015, Villas-Boas led the club to the fifth league title in its history, clinching it after a 1–1 draw against Ufa with two games left to play. On 10 September 2015, Villas-Boas announced he would return to Portugal because of his family and therefore be leaving Zenit at the end of the 2015–16 season after turning down a contract extension. In the 2015–16 Champions League Zenit finished top of the Group H, being eliminated by Benfica in the Round of 16. On 2 May 2016, Zenit won the Russian Cup by beating CSKA Moscow 4–1 in the final in Kazan, this was the Portuguese's last achievement for the Russian side, leaving at the end of the season and with

Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...

appointed the new manager.

Shanghai SIPG

On 4 November 2016, Villas-Boas became the manager of Shanghai SIPG, replacing

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...

for the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club. Despite not being able to win any major silverware during his stint at the club, Villas-Boas has been credited with turning a relatively inexperienced side into a true championship contender. Bolstered by the talents of Brazilians

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

as well as star Chinese attacker Wu Lei, his only season at the helm saw SIPG finish second in the league, losing to rivals Shanghai Shenhua in the final of the Chinese FA cup, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League, the club's best result in the competition to date (as of November 2019). Villas-Boas' stint at SIPG was also marred by a number of controversial remarks he made throughout the campaign, some of which were in response to star midfielder Oscar's controversial 8-match suspension for kicking the ball at an opponent during play. He also repeatedly lambasted match officials for favouring eventual league champions Guangzhou Evergrande, notably following a game between Guangzhou and Yanbian Funde where Guangzhou defender Liu Jian scored following a handball gifting Guangzhou a crucial victory. By the time of his departure from SIPG, he was yet to serve out his suspension for these remarks. In November 2017, Shanghai SIPG announced Villas-Boas left the club by mutual consent after he refused to extend his contract for another year.

Marseille

On 28 May 2019, Villas-Boas signed a two-year contract to be the new manager of

, replacing Rudi Garcia. In the

2019–20 Ligue 1 The 2019–20 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Conforama for sponsorship reasons, was a French association football tournament within Ligue 1. It was the 82nd season since its establishment. The season began on 9 August 2019 and ended abrupt ...

season, Marseille finished second after the season was ended early due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, thus qualifying for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2013–14. On September 13, 2020, he became the first Olympian coach in nine years to lead his squad to an away 1–0 victory in

Le Classique Le Classique (, The Classic) is the rivalry between French professional Association football, football clubs Paris Saint-Germain FC, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Olympique de Marseille (OM). The duo are the two Football records and statistics i ...

against

. On 2 February 2021, Villas-Boas announced in a press conference that he had offered his resignation to the club's board due to his dissatisfaction with the club's recruitment policy, namely them signing

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

player Olivier Ntcham on loan the previous day against his wishes. A few hours later, Marseille announced the suspension of Villas-Boas as manager with immediate effect, with the club branding his public criticism of the club "unacceptable" and confirming that disciplinary hearings against Villas-Boas would take place.

President of FC Porto

After he left Marseille, Villas-Boas decided to end his managerial career and retired from football management altogether. Sometime during 2022, Villas-Boas revealed the reason he gave up his coaching career was to focus on his candidacy as Porto president. In the elections held on 27 April 2024, he defeated the sitting president,

, who left office after holding the position for 42 consecutive years. Villas-Boas' candidacy was the most voted in the club's elections, held at the Estádio do Dragão, with 21,489 of the 26,876 votes cast, compared to 5,224 from Pinto da Costa's list and 53 from Nuno Lobo's. With this, he became the 32nd president of Porto.

Motorsport career

On 29 November 2017 it was announced that Villas-Boas would compete in the 2018 Dakar Rally driving a Toyota Hilux and co-driven by former motorcycle class frontrunner Ruben Faria. He withdrew from the rally after crashing into a sand dune on the fourth stage in Peru and injuring his back. On 16 and 17 March 2018, he participated in another off-road rally, the Baja TT do Pinhal, driving a Can-Am Maverick X3. Following his departure from Marseille in 2021, Villas-Boas made his maiden appearance in the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

between 20 and 23 May, competing in the WRC3 category of the 2021 Rally de Portugal. Driving a Citroën C3 Rally2 alongside co-driver Gonçalo Magalhães, the pair finished 12th. Villas-Boas has said that he is unlikely to make a WRC return, and intends to compete again in the Dakar Rally.

Personal life

In 2004, Villas-Boas married Joana Maria Noronha de Ornelas Teixeira, with whom he now has two daughters, Benedita (born August 2009), Carolina (born October 2010) and a son, Frederico (born May 2015). He speaks English fluently, having been taught by his paternal grandmother Margaret Kendall, whose mother moved to Portugal from Cheadle,

, England, to start a wine business. Her brother Douglas Kendall served as a wing commander for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His paternal great-uncle José Rui Villas-Boas was the Viscount of Guilhomil, a title initially bestowed on his father José Gerado Villas-Boas by King Carlos I in 1890. Villas-Boas' brother João Luís de Pina Cabral Villas-Boas is a Portuguese stage and television actor. He had a bit-part in the costume drama ''Mistérios de Lisboa'' (''Mysteries of Lisbon'').

Managerial statistics

Honours

Porto *

: 2010–11 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 2010–11 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: 2010–11 Zenit Saint Petersburg *

: 2014–15 * Russian Cup: 2015–16 * Russian Super Cup:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual * CNID Breakthrough Coach:

* CNID Best Coach:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* Globos de Ouro Prémio Revelação:

Premier League Manager of the Month The Premier League Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League manager each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to ...

: December 2012, February 2013 Hayden Thurston's Head Trophy 2022 As president of Porto *

: 2023–24 *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...