Márcio dos Santos Gaia, commonly known as Santos Gaia, (born 8 September 1978) is a Brazilian footballer from São Mateus who plays as a defender.

Career

Gaia, a defender, holds a Spanish passport (gained through marriage), which means he does not require a

work permit A work permit or work visa is the permission to take a job within a foreign country. The foreign country where someone seeks to obtain a work permit for is also known as the "country of work", as opposed to the "country of origin" where someone ho ...

to play in England. He signed for English side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in August 2002. He made 33 League Two appearances during his first season, which saw Exeter relegated from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, however he remained with the club despite the exodus of many other first team members. The 2004–05 season saw him among the club's top scorers, unusually for a defender, with nine goals, all of which were scored in the first half of the season. In January 2005 he played in Exeter's memorable 0–0 draw 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 ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. On 26 June 2006, Gaia signed a two-year contract with

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

side

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third level of the Engli ...

where he was a first-team regular. During his time at

Broadhall Way Broadhall Way, known as the Lamex Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is an association football stadium in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. It has been the home ground of Stevenage (formerly Stevenage Borough and Stevenage Town) since the early 1960s, a ...

, he was part of the side that defeated

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

in the 2007

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

final. He had previously scored an important goal in the semi-final against future club Grays Athletic to put his club through to the final. He scored one other goal for Stevenage in a 4–2 defeat to Forest Green Rovers on 25 September 2007. Santos Gaia signed for

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

on loan on 22 November 2007 until 1 January 2008, when the deal was made permanent for £10,000. He signed for Halifax Town on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season, where he made a total of nine

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

appearances. The defender was released from

at the end of the season along with Nicky Eyre, Danny Knowles, Cameron Mawer and Charley Hearn. On 20 May 2008, Gaia signed for Weymouth alongside Pierre Joseph-Dubois. On 26 February 2009, Gaia joined

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

, signing until the end of the season. He scored his first goal for Crawley on 8 March 2009, ironically against former club Weymouth. In June 2009, Gaia turned down a sizeable offer from

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

and joined Cornish side

Truro City Truro City Football Club is an Association football in England, English football club based in Truro, Cornwall. They currently compete in the National League (English football), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

instead.Brazilian ace joins City as Macca signs three players
thisiscornwall.co.uk

Honours

: 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaia, Santos 1978 births Living people Naturalised citizens of Spain Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders Pontevedra CF footballers Exeter City F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players