Vítor Manuel

Vítor Manuel
Personal information
Full name Vítor Manuel Sousa Ferreira
Date of birth (1970-09-09) 9 September 1970
Place of birth Aves, Portugal
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position Midfielder
Youth career
1983–1988 Aves
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1993 Aves 107 (19)
1993–1995 Belenenses 31 (3)
1995–1999 Campomaiorense 108 (12)
1999–2001 Farense 55 (0)
2001–2002 Varzim 15 (0)
2002–2007 Aves 124 (19)
Total 440 (53)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vítor Manuel Sousa Ferreira (born 9 September 1970), known as Vítor Manuel, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a midfielder. He played 188 Primeira Liga games for Belenenses, Campomaiorense, Farense, Varzim and Aves, scoring 11 goals. With Campomaiorense, he won the second-tier title in 1997 and played in the Taça de Portugal final in 1999.

Career

Born in Aves in Santo Tirso, Vítor Manuel was a youth player at local C.D. Aves, where he made his senior debut in 1988 in the Segunda Divisão.[1] In 1993, he transferred to his first Primeira Liga club, C.F. Os Belenenses.[1]

In 1995, Vítor Manuel was loaned to S.C. Campomaiorense. He played 25 games in his first season and scored once in a 3–1 loss away to Belenenses on 8 February as his team ended the campaign with relegation.[1][2] The team achieved instant promotion back as champions in 1996–97 and over the next two top-flight seasons he scored six times in 49 games; he ranked fifth for first-division appearances for the club from the Alentejo.[1][2] He helped them to the Taça de Portugal final in 1999, and came on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Basílio Marques in the 1–0 loss to S.C. Beira-Mar.[3]

Campomaiorense's cup run led to interest in Vítor Manuel from UD Salamanca of Spain,[4] but he instead joined S.C. Farense in 1999, where he stayed for two seasons.[5] In July 2001, the 30-year-old joined Varzim S.C. due to his desire to return to his native northern Portugal for the first time in eight years, and first time with a top-flight club.[6] After a year there, he returned to Aves for the remainder of his career, playing his last year of 2006–07 in a season that ended with relegation from the top league.[1]

Personal life

Vítor Manuel's son of the same first name, known as Vitinha, also became a professional footballer. He represented clubs including Paris Saint-Germain FC, and the Portugal national team.[1]

Honours

Campomaiorense

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Pai de Vitinha também foi craque" [Vitinha's dad was also an ace]. Jornal Desportivo (in Portuguese). 6 June 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Pai de Vitinha recordado no Campomaiorense após a morte de Rui Nabeiro" [Vitinha's father remembered at Campomaiorense after death of Rui Nabeiro]. Diario de Santo Tirso (in Portuguese). 23 March 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  3. ^ "Beira Mar - Campomaiorense 1-0". Record (in Portuguese). 19 June 1999. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  4. ^ Folgado, Joaquim (2 May 1999). "Vítor Manuel observado por olheiro do Salamanca". Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  5. ^ "Consolidar o Farense na I Divisão" [Consolidating Farense in the First Division]. Record (in Portuguese). 15 July 1999. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Vítor Manuel: «Estava há muitos anos longe da minha terra»" [Vítor Manuel: "For many years I was far away from my homeland"]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 July 2001. Retrieved 1 December 2025.