Paulo Tavares

Paulo Tavares

Personal information
Full name	Paulo Daniel Fernandes Tavares [1]
Date of birth	(1985-12-09) 9 December 1985 (age 38) [2]
Place of birth	Massarelos, Portugal [2]
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in) [2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1995–2001	Senhora da Hora
2001–2004	Leixões
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2012	Leixões	46	(6)
2004–2006	→ Padroense (loan)
2006–2008	→ Ribeirão (loan)	35	(1)
2008	→ Estoril (loan)	13	(2)
2012–2016	Vitória Setúbal	87	(6)
2016–2017	Port Vale	22	(0)
2017–2018	Cova da Piedade	16	(0)
2018	Hồ Chí Minh City	14	(0)
2019–2022	Lusitânia	64	(2)
2022–202?	Coimbrões
Total		295	(17)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paulo Daniel Fernandes Tavares (born 9 December 1985) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

He made his first-team debut with Leixões in May 2004 and then spent the next four years on loan with lower league clubs Padroense, Ribeirão, and Estoril. He played in the Primeira Liga with Leixões in 2008–09, though the club were relegated the following season. He returned to the Primeira Liga when he signed with Vitória Setúbal in July 2012 and remained with the club for four years. He joined English club Port Vale in July 2016. He returned to Portugal and joined Cova da Piedade in August 2017. In February 2018, he travelled to Vietnam to sign for Hồ Chí Minh City. He returned to Portugal to play for Lusitânia in June 2019 and then moved on to Coimbrões in 2022.

Career

Leixões

Paulo Daniel Fernandes Tavares was born in Massarelos, and began his career in Senhora da Hora. He came through the junior ranks at Leixões to make his first-team debut in the Segunda Liga (second tier) on 9 May 2004, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for Bruno China in a 1–1 draw with Varzim at the Estádio do Mar. ^[3] He went on to spend two years at Terceira Divisão (fourth tier) club Padroense, helping them to finish 13th in Série B in 2004–05 and 15th in 2005–06; with the latter campaign seeing the club relegated into the regional leagues (fifth tier). Tavares then joined Ribeirão on loan, making 20 appearances in the 2006–07 campaign as the club finished fourth in Segunda Divisão – Série A (third tier). He then featured in 17 league games in the 2007–08 season before moving back up to the Liga de Honra (second tier) with Estoril. He scored two goals in 13 league games for Estoril, who ended the 2007–08 season in seventh place.

He returned to the first team at Leixões in 2008, with the club now in the Primeira Liga (first tier). Initially a squad player under José Mota, he featured in just four league games in both the 2008–09 and 2009–10 campaigns. The club were relegated in 2009–10, and Tavares played 12 games in the 2010–11 campaign, before he secured a first-team place in the 2011–12, scoring seven goals in 34 appearances.

Vitória Setúbal

Tavares then returned to the Primeira Liga to sign with Vitória Setúbal in July 2012, now coached by José Mota. ^[4] He scored twice in 32 games in the 2012–13 season, helping the club to finish two points above the relegation zone. He then scored five goals (including four penalties) in 18 games in 2013–14 as Vitória posted a seventh-place finish, though he missed four months of the season with a fractured toe. ^[5] He signed a new two-year contract in April 2014. ^[6] He scored twice in 32 matches in the 2014–15 campaign as Vitória finished in 14th place, and he featured 22 times in the 2015–16 season as the club finished just one point above the relegation zone. He was offered a new two-year contract by new manager José Couceiro in May 2016. ^[7] However, he decided to reject the offer and look for a new club. ^[8]

Port Vale

Tavares signed a two-year contract with EFL League One club Port Vale in July 2016, in a move that reunited him with former Vitória manager Bruno Ribeiro. ^[9] He started the first five league games of the 2016–17 season, before picking up a hamstring injury at the end of August. ^[10] He quickly returned to the first-team, and along with Kjell Knops was only one of two of the club's 11 overseas signings to secure a regular place in the starting eleven. ^[11] However, Ribeiro resigned on Boxing day, and Tavares found his first-team chances very limited under caretaker manager Michael Brown so instead used his time to help coach the under-9 and under-10 teams. ^[12] Tavares left Vale Park after agreeing to a settlement on the remainder of his contract in May 2017. ^[13]

Later career

On 12 August 2017, Tavares returned to Portugal and signed with newly-promoted LigaPro club Cova da Piedade. ^[14] He played 16 games for the "Rapazes de Azul-Grená" over the 2017–18 season, and was sent off on his final appearance for the club on 11 February, in a 1–0 defeat to Vitória S.C. B at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques. ^[15]

In February 2018, Tavares signed with Vietnamese V.League 1 club Hồ Chí Minh City. ^[16] He returned to Portugal and in June 2019 signed with Campeonato de Portugal side Lusitânia. ^[17] He had an eventful home debut on 12 October, getting sent off for a second yellow card moments after scoring the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Leça. ^[18] Lusitânia were second in Serie B when the 2019–20 season was curtailed early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. ^[19] He played 23 games in the 2020–21 season, helping Lusitânia to win promotion into Liga 3. ^[20] He played 24 games in the 2021–22 season as Lusitânia were relegated back to the fourth tier. ^[20] He then moved on to Coimbrões.

Career statistics

Club	Season	Division	League		National Cup [lower-alpha 1]		Other [lower-alpha 2]		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Leixões	2003–04 [21]	Segunda Liga	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2008–09 [21]	Primeira Liga	4	0	1	1	1	0	6	1
	2009–10 [21]	Primeira Liga	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0
	2010–11 [21]	Liga de Honra	10	0	1	0	1	0	12	0
	2011–12 [21]	Liga de Honra	27	6	4	1	3	0	34	7
	Total		46	6	6	2	7	0	59	8
Ribeirão (loan)	2006–07 [21]	Segunda Divisão – Série A	18	1	2	0	0	0	20	1
	2007–08 [21]	Segunda Divisão – Série A	17	0	1	0	0	0	18	0
	Total		35	1	3	0	0	0	38	1
Estoril (loan)	2007–08 [21]	Liga de Honra	13	2	0	0	0	0	13	2
Vitória Setúbal	2012–13 [21]	Primeira Liga	26	2	1	0	5	0	32	2
	2013–14 [21]	Primeira Liga	14	3	2	0	2	2	18	5
	2014–15 [21]	Primeira Liga	26	1	2	0	4	1	32	2
	2015–16 [21]	Primeira Liga	21	0	0	0	1	0	22	0
	Total		87	6	5	0	12	3	104	9
Port Vale	2016–17 [22]	EFL League One	22	0	2	0	2	0	26	0
Cova da Piedade	2017–18 [21]	LigaPro	16	0	2	0	1	0	19	0
Hồ Chí Minh City	2018 [20]	V.League 1	14	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
Lusitânia	2019–20 [20]	Campeonato de Portugal	15	1	0	0	0	0	15	1
	2020–21 [20]	Campeonato de Portugal	23	0	0	0	0	0	23	0
	2021–22 [20]	Liga 3	24	1	0	0	0	0	24	1
	2022–23 [20]	Campeonato de Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		62	2	0	0	0	0	62	2
Career total [lower-alpha 3]			295	17	18	2	22	3	335	22

1. Appearances and goals in the Taça de Portugal and FA Cup.
2. Appearances and goals in the Taça da Liga, EFL Cup, and EFL Trophy.
3. Statistics for Padroense not known.

References

1. "List of players under written contract registered between 01/07/2016 and 31/07/2016" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 33. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2016/2017". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. "Liga de Honra – Day 34". foradejogo.net. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
4. "V. Setúbal contrata Paulo Tavares (ex-Leixões)". Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). 5 July 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
5. "V. Setúbal: Paulo Tavares volta a ser opção quatro meses depois". Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). 23 March 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
6. "V. Setúbal: Paulo Tavares renova até 2016". Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). 29 April 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
7. "Paulo Tavares com proposta para renovar por dois anos". A Bola (in Portuguese). 28 May 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
8. "Paulo Tavares no Port Vale". A Bola (in Portuguese). 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
9. Baggaley, Mike (5 July 2016). "Port Vale sign Portuguese midfielder Paulo Tavares". The Sentinel. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
10. Baggaley, Mike (27 August 2016). "Port Vale 3, Scunthorpe 1: Ribeiro's tribute to players and fans". The Staffordshire Sentinel . Retrieved 28 August 2016.
11. Baggaley, Mike (14 October 2016). "Five talking points for high-flying Port Vale". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
12. Baggaley, Mike (16 April 2017). "Port Vale players go back to their roots for club academy". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
13. "Port Vale: Christopher Mbamba & Paulo Tavares leave by mutual consent". BBC Sport. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
14. "Paulo Tavares reforça Cova da Piedade". Record (in European Portuguese). 12 August 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
15. "Vitória Guimarães II vs. Cova Piedade - 11 February 2018 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
16. "CLB TP.HCM thử việc tiền vệ người Bồ Đào Nha Paulo Tavares - FOX Sports Asia". FOX Sports Asia (in Vietnamese). 23 February 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
17. "Paulo Tavares é reforço do Lusitânia de Lourosa - O Jogo". www.ojogo.pt (in Portuguese). 22 June 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
18. "Lusitânia Lourosa vs. Leça - 12 October 2019 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
19. "FPF indica Vizela e Arouca para ascender à II Liga". TVI24 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
20. Paulo Tavares at Soccerway
21. "Statistics". foradejogo.net. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
22. "Games played by Paulo Tavares in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.