João Moreira (footballer, born 1970)

João Manuel da Silva Moreira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈɐ̃w mɐnuˈɛl dɐ ˈsilvɐ muˈɾɐjɾɐ, ˈʒwɐ̃w -]; born 30 June 1970) is a Portuguese former professional footballer, who played as a defender for Swansea City in the Football League.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Silva and the second or paternal family name is Moreira.
João Moreira
Personal information
Full name João Manuel da Silva Moreira
Date of birth (1970-06-30) 30 June 1970
Place of birth Porto, Portugal[1][note 1]
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left-back
Youth career
1983–1987 Anadia FC
1986–1987 GD Mealhada
1987–1988 Anadia FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1993 Anadia FC
1993–1994 AD Fafe
1994–1995 União de Coimbra
1995–1996 Nacional 4 (0)
1996–1998 Swansea City 15 (0)
1998–1999 SC São João de Ver 22 (2)
1999–2003 GD Mealhada
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

In summer 1996 Swansea City manager Jan Mølby spent £50,000 to bring Moreira to the Welsh club, then languishing in the Third Division.[2] It was reported that Moreira was a former Benfica player who had recently had a trial with Birmingham City.[3] At Swansea Moreira lived with teammate Jason Price, near a group of students who had a Jacuzzi. The duo's off-field antics and excessive partying resulted in a rebuke from coach Alan Curtis.[4] Quickly nicknamed "Joe" Moreira, a knee injury sustained in pre-season kept him out of the Swansea team until November 1996, when he played in a 1–0 win over Brighton.[5] Huw Richards wrote in When Saturday Comes that "elegant but over-left-footed" Moreira became rated highly by supporters at the Vetch Field.[6] Moreira played in the 1997 Football League Third Division play-off final, which Swansea lost 1–0 to an injury time goal from Northampton Town's John Frain. When Mølby was sacked as manager, Moreira fell out of favour. He was made available for transfer in November 1997[7] and released in summer 1998.[8]

Honours

Swansea City

Notes
  1. An alternative source suggests that Moreira was born in Angola.

References
  1. Jack Rollin (1997). Playfair Football Who's Who 1998. p. 269. ISBN 0-7472-5810-4.
  2. "Forget the Ballon d'Or? Here's our Swansea City 'Ballon d'oh!'". South Wales Evening Post. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  3. Duxbury, Nick (21 May 1996). "Arsenal wait for Dugarry". The Independent. Retrieved 9 July 2016. While the big clubs wait, Third Division Swansea have signed the 6ft 2in former Benfica defender Joao Moreira, who recently had a trial with Birmingham, for an undisclosed five-figure fee.
  4. Williams, David (17 July 2011). "HAVE BOOTS, WILL TRAVEL; The curious life of a soccer journeyman". Wales on Sunday. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  5. "Past Players M - P". Swansea City A.F.C. 5 June 2012. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  6. Richards, Huw (December 1997). "Continental types - Jan Molby". No. 130. When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  7. "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent. 14 November 1997. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  8. Royce, Steve (16 August 1998). "Football: John's Swansong at the Field". The Sunday People. Retrieved 9 July 2016. Jason Smith, a pounds 10,000 buy from Tiverton, and Martin Thomas, who arrived on a free from Fulham, and the departures of Pat Ampadu and Joao Moreira represented the sum of the summer activity at The Vetch.
  9. Fox, Norman (25 May 1997). "Football: Swansea run over by Frain". The Independent. Independent Digital News & Media. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.


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