André Villas-Boas

Who is André Villas-Boas?

Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas, known as André Villas-Boas and commonly referred to as AVB, is a Portuguese football manager who was most recently the manager of Tottenham Hotspur. He spent eight months as manager of Académica, one year as manager of Porto, and nine months as manager of Chelsea. He led Porto to an undefeated 2010–11 season in the Primeira Liga, winning four trophies and becoming the youngest manager ever to win a European title in the process. Unusually for a manager at the top level, he has no experience as a professional player.

Born in Porto, Portugal, Villas-Boas was the second child and first son of Luís Filipe Manuel Henrique do Vale Peixoto de Sousa e Villas-Boas and Teresa Maria de Pina Cabral e Silva. Villas-Boas has spoken fluent English since childhood, as his grandmother was from Stockport. At the age of 16, Villas-Boas found himself living in the same apartment block as Sir Bobby Robson, who was then manager of Porto. Following a debate between the two, Robson appointed Villas-Boas to Porto's observation department.

Robson arranged for Villas-Boas to obtain the FA coaching qualification, the UEFA C coaching licence in Scotland and for him to study the training methods of Ipswich Town. He later obtained his B licence, A licence and UEFA Pro Licence under the tutelage of Jim Fleeting. Villas-Boas had a short stint as head coach of the British Virgin Islands national team at the age of 21, before he moved on to a career as an assistant coach at Porto under José Mourinho. As Mourinho moved clubs to Chelsea and Internazionale, Villas-Boas followed. Villas-Boas had his first job as British Virgin Islands head coach when only 21 years of age in 1998. In 1999, he resigned as manager.