Vítor Lima

Vítor Manuel Lima Santos (born 10 August 1981) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Vítor Lima
Personal information
Full name Vítor Manuel Lima Santos[1]
Date of birth (1981-08-10) 10 August 1981[1]
Place of birth Guimarães, Portugal
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1991–2000 Vitória Guimarães
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Salamanca 0 (0)
2000–2001 → Zamora (loan) 3 (0)
2001–2004 Caçadores Taipas 101 (17)
2004–2005 Académico Viseu 35 (1)
2005–2007 Falkirk 36 (0)
2007–2009 Ethnikos Piraeus 57 (3)
2009–2010 Falkirk 26 (0)
2010–2012 Doxa Drama 55 (2)
2012–2013 Ethnikos Achna 9 (0)
2013–2014 Iraklis 28 (0)
2014–2018 Famalicão 129 (8)
Total 479 (31)
International career
1996–1997 Portugal U15 11 (4)
1997–1998 Portugal U16 15 (0)
1998–1999 Portugal U17 8 (0)
1999 Portugal U18 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Early years

Aged 19, Guimarães-born Lima left his country and joined UD Salamanca in Spain. He would never appear officially for the first team, also being loaned to modest Zamora CF, and left the Castile and León club in 2001.[2]

In the following four seasons, Lima played in the Portuguese third division with Clube Caçadores das Taipas – three years – and Académico de Viseu FC.[2]

Falkirk

On 15 June 2005, free agent Lima signed for Falkirk alongside compatriot Tiago Jonas, being discovered by the team's player-coach Russell Latapy who had spent several seasons in Portugal as a player.[3] He made his Scottish Premier League debut on 6 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 away win against Livingston.[4]

On 28 April 2006, Lima extended his contract with the Bairns for a further season.[5] He left the club in summer 2007 after making 42 competitive appearances (30 starts), hoping to "return to Portugal".[6]

Greece, return to Scotland

Lima joined Greek second tier club Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. in June 2007. He often started during his tenure.

On 30 July 2009, Lima returned to Falkirk on a one-year deal.[7] He missed several games during the campaign due to a knee injury,[8] with the side eventually being relegated from the top flight after ranking 12th and last, following which he was released.[9]

Later career

Lima return to Greece and its division two for 2010–11, helping Doxa Drama F.C. to promote to the Super League. In the 2012 off-season he moved to neighbouring Cyprus, signing with Ethnikos Achna FC.[10]

On 12 July 2013, Lima moved to Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. of the Greek second division.[11] On 7 June of the following year he was supposed to sign for another team in the country, Agrotikos Asteras FC,[12] but the deal eventually fell through.

Lima retired in July 2018 at the age of 37 after four seasons with F.C. Famalicão (where he often acted as captain), the last three spent in the Portuguese second tier. He immediately joined their coaching staff.[13][14]

References
  1. "Vitor Lima" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  2. "Vítor Lima: uma carreira longe de Portugal desde 2005" [Vítor Lima: Career away from Portugal since 2005] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  3. Falkirk move for Portuguese pair; BBC Sport, 15 June 2005
  4. Livingston 0–2 Falkirk; BBC Sport, 6 August 2005
  5. Midfield duo extend Bairns stay; BBC Sport, 28 April 2006
  6. Lima latest to depart from Bairns; BBC Sport, 6 June 2007
  7. Lima completes return to Falkirk; BBC Sport, 30 July 2009
  8. Vitor Lima injury fears allayed at Falkirk; BBC Sport, 25 March 2010
  9. Falkirk release eight players after relegation; BBC Sport, 13 May 2010
  10. Maia, João (28 July 2018). ""Cheguei a ver um polícia a andar de mota, sem capacete e a mandar mensagens"" ["I went as far as seeing a policeman riding his motorbike, with no helmet and texting"]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  11. "Υπέγραψε ο Vítor Lima" [Vítor Lima signed] (in Greek). Iraklis F.C. 12 July 2013. Archived from the original on 15 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  12. "Πρώτη μεταγραφή ο Vitor Lima" [Vítor Lima the first transfer] (in Greek). Agrotikos Asteras F.C. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  13. "Vítor Lima agradece apoio a adeptos do Famalicão" [Vítor Lima thanks Famalicão fans for their support] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  14. Baptista Seixas, João (30 July 2018). "O adeus de Vítor Lima" [Vítor Lima's farewell]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
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