Fábio Ricardo Gomes Fonseca (born 18 August 1985), commonly known as Espinho, 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 lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career

Espinho was born in Espinho. A product of

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

's youth system, he never appeared officially for its first team, spending two years with the reserves in the third division. In 2006, he signed with local S.C. Espinho in the same level. On 8 June 2011, after two seasons in the Segunda Liga with

Leixões SC The Port of Leixões (, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto. Leixões Sport Club, commonly known simply as ''Leixões'', is Matosinho ...

, Espinho joined

Moreirense FC Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaqui ...

. He scored nine goals in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

to help the club return to 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 ...

after a seven-year absence, and, on 19 August 2012, celebrated his debut in the competition by netting his team's goal in a 1–1 away draw against F.C. Paços de Ferreira. On 11 June 2013, Espinho signed a one-year contract with

PFC Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

of the

Bulgarian A Football Group The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

, moving abroad for the first time at the age of 28. He appeared in 95 competitive games during his spell (seven goals), helping to back-to-back national championships. Espinho left Ludogorets in June 2015, and agreed to a deal at

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He played only three matches for the Spaniards before returning to Moreirense on loan the following January, then joined

Boavista F.C. Boavista Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Boavista, is a Portuguese professional sports club from the of Porto that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese football, at the Estádio do B ...

in the same league on a one-year contract.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Espinho, Fabio 1985 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Espinho, Portugal Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players FC Porto B players S.C. Espinho players Leixões S.C. players Moreirense F.C. players Boavista F.C. players C.D. Feirense players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players La Liga players Málaga CF players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain