António Folha

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Dos Santos and the second or paternal family name is Folha.

António José dos Santos Folha CvIH (born 21 May 1971) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played mostly as a winger, currently a manager.

António Folha

Personal information
Full name	António José dos Santos Folha[1]
Date of birth	(1971-05-21) 21 May 1971 (age 54)[1]
Place of birth	Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal[1]
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Youth career
1981–1982	Canidelo
1982–1989	Porto
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–2003	Porto	135	(16)
1989–1991	→ Gil Vicente (loan)	72	(7)
1992–1993	→ Braga (loan)	31	(1)
1998–1999	→ Standard Liège (loan)	25	(3)
2001	→ Standard Liège (loan)	15	(2)
2002	→ AEK Athens (loan)	9	(0)
2003–2005	Penafiel	50	(7)
Total		337	(36)
International career
1989	Portugal U20	4	(0)
1990–1992	Portugal U21	9	(1)
1993–1996	Portugal	26	(5)
Managerial career
2005–2007	Penafiel (assistant)
2008–2013	Porto (youth)
2013–2014	Porto B (assistant)
2014	Porto (assistant)
2014–2016	Porto (youth)
2016–2018	Porto B
2018–2020	Portimonense
2021–2024	Porto B
Medal record Men's football Representing  Portugal FIFA U-20 World Cup Winner 1989 Saudi Arabia
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 227 matches and 22 goals over 12 seasons, mainly in representation of Porto. He also appeared in the competition with Gil Vicente and Braga, and was part of the Portugal squad at Euro 1996.

Folha worked as a manager after retiring, starting out at Porto B before joining Portimonense in 2018.

Club career

Folha was born in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto District. In his career he played mostly for FC Porto, with loan stints in Portugal, Belgium^[2] and Greece,^[3] being often used as a substitute by his main club where he won a total of 18 major titles (including seven Primeira Liga trophies and five Taça de Portugal). From 1994 to 1996, he had his best years with the team, contributing ten goals in 58 games as they won back-to-back national championships.

At the end of the 2002–03 season, aged 32, Folha was finally released by Porto^[4] and joined F.C. Penafiel of the Segunda Liga, helping to a return to the top flight in his first year. He retired from football in 2005, and joined his last team's coaching staff immediately afterwards, also serving a two-season stint as assistant manager, one in each of the major levels.^[5]

Folha returned to Porto once again in 2008, being named assistant with the junior side and remaining in the position for several seasons.^[6] Later, he coached the reserves.^[7]

In June 2018, Folha replaced the departed Vítor Oliveira at the helm of top-division club Portimonense SC.^[8] He finished 12th in his first season on the Algarve, and resigned on 18 January 2020 when second from bottom having lost to last-placed C.D. Aves.^[9]

Folha returned to Porto B on 2 February 2021, taking over from Rui Barros – who had succeeded him – at the last-placed side in the second tier.^[10] He secured their survival in the last matchday.^[11]

International career

Folha earned 26 caps for Portugal over a three-year period,^[12] and was selected for the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament,^[13] appearing in three matches in an eventual quarter-final exit and assisting Ricardo Sá Pinto in the 1–1 group stage draw against Denmark.^[14]

Previously, he helped the under-20 team to win the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship in Saudi Arabia.^[15]

Personal life

Folha's son, Bernardo, is also a footballer. A midfielder, he was also developed at Porto, being coached at the reserve team by his father.^[16][17]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[18]

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other[a]		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Porto	1989–90	0	0	—		—		—		—		0	0
	1991–92	9	0	0	0	—		2	0	1	0	12	0
	1993–94	20	2	2	0	—		6	0	2	0	30	2
	1994–95	27	6	3	0	—		5	0	2	0	37	6
	1995–96	31	4	7	1	—		6	0	3	0	47	5
	1996–97	15	3	2	0	—		3	0	0	0	20	3
	1997–98	14	0	3	1	—		3	0	2	0	22	1
	1998–99	1	0	—		—		—		1	0	2	0
	1999–00	4	0	1	1	—		0	0	0	0	5	1
	2000–01	14	1	5	0	—		0	0	1	0	20	1
	2001–02	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0	0	0
	2002–03	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0
	Total	135	16	23	3	—		25	0	12	0	195	19
Gil Vicente (loan)	1989–90	35	3	4	0	—		—		—		39	3
	1990–91	37	4	2	0	—		—		—		39	4
	Total	72	7	6	0	—		—		—		78	7
Braga (loan)	1992–93	31	1	3	1	—		—		—		34	2
Standard Liège (loan)	1998–99	25	3					—		—		25	3
Standard Liège (loan)	2000–01	15	2			—		2	0	—		17	2
AEK Athens (loan)	2001–02	9	0	1	1	—		1	0	—		11	1
Penafiel	2003–04	26	6	2	0	—		—		—		28	6
	2004–05	24	1	2	2	—		—		—		26	3
	Total	50	7	4	2	—		—		—		54	9
Career total		337	36	37	7	0	0	28	0	12	0	414	43

1. Includes Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

International goals

Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Folha goal.^[19]

List of international goals scored by António Folha

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 September 1993	Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	2–0	2–0	1994 World Cup qualification
2	18 December 1994	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Liechtenstein	6–0	8–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
3	26 January 1995	Rogers Arena, Toronto, Canada	Canada	1–0	1–1	SkyDome Cup
4	21 February 1996	Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal	Germany	1–1	1–2	Friendly
5	29 May 1996	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	1–0	1–0	Friendly

Managerial statistics

As of 19 May 2024^[20][21]

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Porto B		29 December 2016	5 June 2018	59	28	9	22	81	77	+4	047.46
Portimonense		5 June 2018	18 January 2020	58	15	15	28	65	95	−30	025.86
Porto B		3 February 2021	30 June 2024	117	39	36	42	165	159	+6	033.33
Career totals				234	82	60	92	311	331	−20	035.04

Honours

Porto

• Primeira Divisão: 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99^[22]
• Taça de Portugal: 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01^[22]
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998^[22]

AEK Athens

• Greek Football Cup: 2001–02^[23]

Portugal U20

• FIFA World Youth Championship: 1989^[15]