Bruno Ribeiro

Bruno Miguel Fernandes Ribeiro (born 22 October 1975) is a Portuguese former football manager and player.

A midfielder with a powerful left-foot strike, he began his playing career with hometown club Vitória Setúbal from 1994 to 1997, before he had a four-year spell in England with Leeds United and Sheffield United.

Bruno Miguel Fernandes Ribeiro was born in Setúbal, and progressed through the youth team ranks at local Primeira Divisão club Vitória Setúbal to make the first team bench for the first time on 29 May 1994.

A left-sided midfielder with a powerful shot, he also possessed a quick temper and was liable to pick up yellow and red cards.

His first team debut came on 29 September 1994, when he came on as a 66th-minute substitute for Paulo Gomes in a 3–0 defeat to Gil Vicente at the Estádio Adelino Ribeiro Novo.

He won all of his honours with Vitória Setúbal, winning promotion out of the second tier in 1995–96 and 2003–04, winning the Taça de Portugal in 2005, and Taça da Liga in 2008, whilst picking up runners-up medals in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in 2005 and Taça de Portugal in 2006.

He scored his first goal for the club on 28 May 1995, in a 4–1 victory over União da Madeira, and ended the 1994–95 season with one goal in eleven appearances as the club suffered relegation.

He then scored two goals in nine games as they won promotion at the first attempt in 1995–96.

He played a further 21 top-flight matches in the 1996–97 campaign, where he was spotted by Leeds United manager George Graham, who had been scouting Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Ribeiro also won five caps for the Portugal under-21 team.

He also won five caps for the Portugal under-21 team in 1997.

Ribeiro was sold to English Premier League club Leeds United for a fee of £500,000 in July 1997, making him a teammate of Hasselbaink, who also joined the club in the summer.

He scored his first goal for Leeds in his second appearance, a 3–1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough, and went on to score a total of four goals in 35 games in the 1997–98 season.

However, he picked up an injury at the start of the 1998–99 season, and failed to win back his first team place under new manager David O'Leary.

He left Elland Road in October 1999, as he was sold on to First Division side Sheffield United for £500,000 in October 1999.

He made 22 appearances in the 1999–2000 season and eight appearances in the 2000–01 season, mostly as a substitute as he failed to secure a first team spot at Bramall Lane.

He returned to Portugal on loan at União de Leiria in January 2001.

He spent the 2001–02 season with Beira-Mar, scoring one goal in 26 games.

He joined Azores based club Santa Clara for the 2002–03 campaign, scoring twice in 25 games as the club suffered relegation.

He returned to Portugal to play for União de Leiria, Beira-Mar and Santa Clara, before spending 2003 to 2010 back with Vitória Setúbal.

He spent the majority of his career in the Primeira Liga, though also spent time in the second tier, and in the English Football League and Premier League.

He made a total of 351 career appearances, scoring 21 goals.

He subsequently rejoined Vitória, with the club now playing in the second division, and played 27 games (scoring one goal) as Vitória were promoted back into the top-flight after finishing in second-place in 2003–04.

He remained a key first team player throughout the 2004–05, 2005–06 and 2006–07 campaigns, making 90 first team appearances across the three seasons.

He helped the club to win the Taça de Portugal in 2005, as they beat Benfica 2–1 at the Estádio Nacional.

He also captained the club in the 2005 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, as Vitória lost 1–0 to Benfica; he was replaced by Antonio Franja on 75 minutes.

He then played in the 2006 Taça de Portugal final, where they were beaten 1–0 by Porto.

He was unable to play in the 2006 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira due to injury.

Ribeiro gradually lost his importance in the squad in the 2007–08 season, though he scored the 1–0 winner with a long-range effort against Sporting CP on 24 February.

He helped his side win the 2007–08 Taça da Liga but was an unused substitute in the final.

He was loaned out to Chaves at the start of the 2009–10 season, However, after Manuel Fernandes was reinstated as Vitória's first team coach, Ribeiro returned to the squad in January 2010.

He played seven games in the remainder of the 2009–10 campaign and helped the club to avoid relegation, before he announced his retirement in the summer.

He was promoted from youth team coach to first team coach at Vitória Setúbal in 2011, and went on to have brief spells in charge at Farense, Moura, Pinhalnovense, Vitória Setúbal (again), Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria), and Académico de Viseu.

In March 2011, Ribeiro succeeded Manuel Fernandes as head coach at Vitória Setúbal, having previously coached the club's under-17 team.

He was appointed manager of English club Port Vale in June 2016, where he worked for six months before tendering his resignation.

He returned to Portugal and took charge at Salgueiros for a two-month spell in April 2017.

He was appointed Cova da Piedade head coach in November 2017, leaving this post the following summer.

He briefly took charge at Salgueiros in October 2018, before returning to another former club, Vitória Setúbal, to coach the juniors the following month.

In January 2019 he emigrated to Angola to coach Interclube, before returning to Portugal 11 months later as head coach at Olhanense.

He was reappointed as Moura's head coach in September 2020.