Rúben Miguel Marques dos Santos Fernandes (born 6 May 1986) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Liga Portugal 2 The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Pr ...

club Farense.

Club career

Born in

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

Faro District Faro District ( ) is the southernmost district of Portugal. The area is the same as that of the Algarve region. The administrative centre, or district capital, is the city of Faro. It borders Spain. Municipalities The district is composed of 1 ...

, Fernandes started his career with local

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football ...

. In the summer of 2007, he joined

Varzim S.C. Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football club based in Póvoa de Varzim. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since its foundation. The club plays in Liga 3, following relegation in ...

on loan as a replacement for Bruno Miguel, returning at the end of the season and renewing his contract for another year. Fernandes made his debut 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 ...

in the 2010–11 campaign, playing 20 games and scoring once as his team was relegated one year after being promoted. He only returned to the top division for 2013–14 after signing with

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese professional sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its Association football, football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home g ...

, taking part in two

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 ...

campaigns with the team and scoring a late equaliser as a substitute in a 1–1 group stage draw against eventual champions

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

, on 28 November 2013. In late April 2015, as his contract with the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

outskirts club was about to expire, Fernandes hinted in his

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page he was open to negotiations for its renewal. However, in June, he signed a two-year deal with the option for a third one with promoted

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

side

Sint-Truidense V.V. Koninklijke Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereniging (), commonly known as Sint-Truiden or STVV () or by their nickname De Kanaries (), is a Belgian professional association football, football club located in the city of Sint-Truiden in Limburg (Belgium) ...

In September, he stated in an interview that the main reason for moving abroad was to experience another championship. Fernandes scored his first goal for his new team on 24 July 2015, to help the hosts to defeat

Club Brugge KV (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional Association football, football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capac ...

2–1. His second came on 19 September, in a 3–0 away victory over K.V.C. Westerlo. Fernandes then returned to his country's top tier, where he represented Portimonense and

Gil Vicente FC Gil Vicente Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Gil Vicente, founded in 1924, is a Portuguese professional football club that plays in Barcelos. It plays their home matches at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos. It competes in the Primeira Liga, the ...

. On 5 October 2024, he made his 300th appearance in the competition, a 3–0 defeat of C.F. Estrela da Amadora. On 25 June 2025, the 39-year-old Fernandes went back to the

on a one-year contract at

S.C. Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional association football, football club based in Faro, Portugal, Faro in the Faro District, district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club ha ...

International career

Fernandes won three

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the Portugal under-20 team, all in 2006. His first arrived on 5 October, in a 6–0 defeat of

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

in the

Lusophony Games The Lusofonia Games () was a multinational multi-sport event organized by the ACOLOP, which involves athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries. Most countries competing are members of the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Lang ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Ruben 1986 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Portimão Men's association football central defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Portimonense S.C. players Varzim S.C. players G.D. Estoril Praia players Gil Vicente F.C. players S.C. Farense players Belgian Pro League players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's B international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium