André Villas-Boas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
André Villas-Boas
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Villas-Boas in 2023
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| 32nd President of FC Porto | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 7 May 2024 |
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| Preceded by | Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born |
Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas
17 October 1977 Porto, Portugal |
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| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Football executive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Association football career
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Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese sports leader. He used to be a professional football manager. Today, he is the president of the Portuguese sports club Porto.
André Villas-Boas is special because he became a top football manager without ever playing football professionally. He only played youth football. His career highlights include leading Porto to an amazing season in 2010–11. They won four trophies and didn't lose a single game in the league. He also became the youngest manager to win a European title.
He also helped Tottenham Hotspur get a record number of points in the Premier League in 2012–13. Later, he won three trophies with Zenit Saint Petersburg, including their fifth Russian Premier League title. In January 2024, he decided to run for president of Porto. He won the election on 27 April 2024 with 80% of the votes. He beat Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, who had been president for 42 years!
Contents
Early Life and How He Started in Football
André Villas-Boas was born in Porto, Portugal. He learned to speak English very well when he was a child. This was because his grandmother was from England.
When he was 16, Villas-Boas lived in the same building as Bobby Robson. Robson was the manager of Porto at the time. After they talked, Robson gave him a job in Porto's scouting department. This meant Villas-Boas would watch other teams and players.
Robson also helped Villas-Boas get his coaching qualifications. He got his first coaching license at 17, and his highest license (UEFA Pro Licence) when he was 19. For a short time, when he was 21, he was the technical director for the British Virgin Islands national team. After that, he became an assistant coach at Porto, working with José Mourinho. He followed Mourinho when he moved to Chelsea and Internazionale.
His Journey as a Coach
Starting with Académica
In 2009, Villas-Boas left Mourinho's team to become a main manager. He soon got a job with Académica de Coimbra in the Primeira Liga. When he joined, Académica was at the very bottom of the league and hadn't won any games.
But things quickly changed! He brought in a new style of play. Académica finished in a safe 11th place, far away from the relegation zone. They also reached the semi-finals of the Portuguese League Cup. People noticed his success and how exciting his team played. This led to talks about him possibly managing bigger clubs like Sporting CP or Porto.
Leading Porto to Glory
On 2 June 2010, Villas-Boas became the new manager of Porto. Just two months later, he won his first trophy. Porto beat Benfica 2–0 to win the Portuguese Supercup.
He had incredible success with Porto. The team had an undefeated season in the Primeira Liga. This was only the second time a team had done this! They won the league by more than 20 points and only let in 13 goals all season. Villas-Boas then led Porto to win the Portuguese Cup and the UEFA Europa League. This meant they won three major trophies in his first season.
By doing this, Villas-Boas became the third-youngest coach to win the Primeira Liga. He also became the youngest manager ever to win a European competition. He was just 33 years and 213 days old. On 21 June 2011, he resigned as Porto manager.
Time at Chelsea
Chelsea announced André Villas-Boas as their new manager on 22 June 2011. He signed a three-year contract. Chelsea paid Porto about £13.3 million to release him from his contract. This was a world record fee for a football manager at the time.
Chelsea won all their pre-season games under him, letting in only one goal. His first Premier League match was a 0–0 draw against Stoke City. He then won his first competitive game, beating West Bromwich Albion 2–1.
However, things got tougher. On 18 September 2011, Chelsea lost 3–1 to Manchester United. This was Villas-Boas's first league defeat in 39 matches, going back to his time at Académica and Porto. Later, Chelsea lost 5–3 at home to Arsenal and then 2–1 to Liverpool. They also lost to Liverpool again in the League Cup quarter-final.
By February 2012, Chelsea was out of the top four in the Premier League. After a 2–0 loss to Everton, Villas-Boas cancelled a day off for his team. This led to some senior players questioning his tactics. On 4 March 2012, after another league defeat, Chelsea decided to let him go. His assistant, Roberto Di Matteo, took over as caretaker manager.
Managing Tottenham Hotspur
On 3 July 2012, Villas-Boas became the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur. He signed a three-year deal. His first game was a 2–1 loss to Newcastle United. His first win came on 16 September 2012, a 3–1 victory against Reading.
On 29 September 2012, Tottenham beat Manchester United 3–2 at Old Trafford. This was the first time a Tottenham manager had won there in 23 years! In November, Tottenham lost 5–2 to Arsenal in the North London derby.
Villas-Boas won the Manager of the Month award for December 2012. Tottenham was playing well and climbing the league table. They had big wins against teams like Fulham and Aston Villa.
In February 2013, he guided Tottenham to the last 16 of the Europa League. He won his second Manager of the Month award for February. Gareth Bale also won Player of the Month that same month.
On the last day of the Premier League season, Tottenham finished just one point behind Arsenal. They won their game, but Arsenal also won, so Tottenham missed out on qualifying for the Champions League. However, Tottenham set a new club record with 72 points. This was the highest points total ever for a team finishing outside the top four at that time.
Before the next season, Tottenham sold their star player Gareth Bale for a world record fee. Villas-Boas used this money to buy several new players. On 16 December 2013, Tottenham announced that Villas-Boas had left the club. This followed some tough results, including a 6–0 loss to Manchester City and a 5–0 loss at home to Liverpool.
Time at Zenit Saint Petersburg
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On 18 March 2014, Villas-Boas signed a two-year deal with Zenit Saint Petersburg. He became the first coach in Russian Premier League history to win his first six matches. Zenit finished second in the league that season, just one point behind the champions.
In the 2014–15 season, Zenit qualified for the Champions League group stage. On 17 May 2015, Villas-Boas led Zenit to their fifth league title. They won it with two games left to play.
In September 2015, Villas-Boas announced he would leave Zenit at the end of the 2015–16 season to return to Portugal for his family. In the 2015–16 Champions League, Zenit finished first in their group but were knocked out in the Round of 16. On 2 May 2016, Zenit won the Russian Cup. This was his last trophy with the Russian team.
Managing Shanghai SIPG
On 4 November 2016, Villas-Boas became the manager of Shanghai SIPG in China. Even though he didn't win any major trophies there, he helped turn the team into a strong contender. With talented players like Hulk and Oscar, his team finished second in the league. They also reached the final of the Chinese FA Cup and the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League.
His time at Shanghai SIPG also had some controversial moments. He made comments about referees favoring other teams. In November 2017, he left the club by agreement, as he didn't want to extend his contract.
Coaching Marseille
On 28 May 2019, Villas-Boas signed a two-year contract to be the new manager of Marseille in France. In the 2019–20 Ligue 1 season, Marseille finished second. The season ended early because of the coronavirus pandemic. This meant they qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League for the first time in several years. On 13 September 2020, he led his team to a 1–0 away victory against Paris Saint-Germain. This was the first time Marseille had won against PSG away from home in nine years.
On 2 February 2021, Villas-Boas announced he had offered to resign. He was unhappy with the club's decisions about new players. A few hours later, Marseille announced they had suspended him. They said his public criticism was "unacceptable."
President of FC Porto
After leaving Marseille, André Villas-Boas decided to stop being a football manager. He later shared that he wanted to focus on becoming the president of Porto.
In the elections held on 27 April 2024, he won against the long-serving president, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa. Pinto da Costa had been in charge for 42 years! Villas-Boas received 21,489 votes out of 26,876. This made him the 32nd president of Porto.
Motorsport Adventures
André Villas-Boas also enjoys motorsport. On 29 November 2017, it was announced that he would compete in the 2018 Dakar Rally. He drove a Toyota Hilux with a co-driver. However, he had to leave the rally after crashing into a sand dune and hurting his back.
In March 2018, he took part in another off-road rally. After leaving Marseille in 2021, Villas-Boas competed in the World Rally Championship for the first time. He drove a Citroën C3 Rally2 in the 2021 Rally de Portugal and finished 12th in his category. Villas-Boas has said he probably won't return to the World Rally Championship, but he hopes to compete in the Dakar Rally again.
Personal Life
André Villas-Boas married Joana Maria Noronha de Ornelas Teixeira in 2004. They have two daughters, Benedita (born 2009) and Carolina (born 2010), and a son, Frederico (born 2015). He speaks English very well, which he learned from his grandmother. His grandmother's mother moved to Portugal from England to start a wine business.
His great-uncle, José Rui Villas-Boas, held the title of Viscount of Guilhomil. André's brother, João Luís de Pina Cabral Villas-Boas, is a Portuguese actor.
Managerial Statistics
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Académica | 14 October 2009 | 2 June 2010 | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 36.67 | |
| Porto | 2 June 2010 | 21 June 2011 | 58 | 49 | 5 | 4 | 84.48 | |
| Chelsea | 22 June 2011 | 4 March 2012 | 40 | 19 | 11 | 10 | 47.50 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 3 July 2012 | 16 December 2013 | 80 | 44 | 20 | 16 | 55.00 | |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 20 March 2014 | 23 May 2016 | 102 | 63 | 20 | 19 | 61.76 | |
| Shanghai SIPG | 4 November 2016 | 30 November 2017 | 51 | 30 | 9 | 12 | 58.82 | |
| Marseille | 28 May 2019 | 2 February 2021 | 60 | 28 | 14 | 18 | 46.67 | |
| Total | 421 | 244 | 88 | 89 | 57.96 | |||
Honours and Awards
André Villas-Boas has won many awards and trophies throughout his career.
With Porto (as Manager)
- Primeira Liga: 2010–11 (undefeated season!)
- Taça de Portugal: 2010–11
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2010
- UEFA Europa League: 2010–11 (youngest manager to win a European title)
With Zenit Saint Petersburg (as Manager)
- Russian Premier League: 2014–15
- Russian Cup: 2015–16
- Russian Super Cup: 2015
Individual Awards
- CNID Breakthrough Coach: 2010
- CNID Best Coach: 2011
- Globos de Ouro Prémio Revelação: 2011
- Premier League Manager of the Month: December 2012, February 2013
With Porto (as President)
- Taça de Portugal: 2023–24
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2024
Images for kids
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Villas-Boas in 2023
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Villas-Boas as manager of Porto in 2011
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Villas-Boas managing Chelsea in 2012
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Villas-Boas managing Tottenham Hotspur in 2013
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Villas-Boas managing Zenit in 2015
See also
In Spanish: André Villas-Boas para niños
