André Villas-Boas

Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Chelsea. He is regarded as exceptional in the sense that he has no football playing experience, became a coach of a major club with very little head coaching experience and achieved this role at a very young age. He is the youngest manager in history to win a European title after winning four prizes including the Europa League in FC Porto's 2010–11 season.

Villas-Boas: Coaching career

At the age of 16, Villas-Boas (who was always a Porto supporter) lived in the same apartment block as the English Bobby Robson, who was managing FC Porto at the time. Following a debate between the two, Robson appointed Villas-Boas to Porto's observation department. Curiously, Villas-Boas had argued that Robson should play Domingos Paciência more regularly, the future coach of S.C. Braga who Villas Boas would defeat in the 2011 Europa League final to make history. Under the guidance of Robson, who was impressed with his fluent knowledge of the English language, he achieved his UEFA C coaching licence as a minor at the age of 17 in Scotland. He then had a short stint as head coach of the British Virgin Islands national team at the age of 21, before he moved onto a career as an assistant under the management of José Mourinho at Porto, another protégé of Robson's. As Mourinho moved clubs to Chelsea and Internazionale, Villas-Boas followed suit.

Academic

At the start of the 2009–10 season, Villas-Boas abandoned Mourinho's staff to pursue a career as manager, and he soon found a job in the Primeira Liga with Académica de Coimbra, filling a vacancy created by Rogério Gonçalves' resignation in October 2009. At the time of Villas-Boas' appointment, Académica were at the bottom of the league and still without wins, but their luck started to change as he introduced a new style, leading them to a safe 11th place, ten points clear of the relegation zone. In addition to that, Académica also reached the 2009–10 Portuguese League Cup semi-finals, losing against Porto at the Estádio do Dragão with a late goal from Mariano González. His impact at Académica was immediate, not only because of solid results, but also because of the attractive football displayed by the team, which led to intense media speculation linking him with the vacant job at Sporting Clube de Portugal after the departure of Carlos Carvalhal in the summer of 2010.

Porto

When Jesualdo Ferreira left Porto, his name was also linked with the job at Estádio do Dragão, and Villas-Boas was finally announced as their new manager on 2 June 2010, having been presented on 4 June. On 7 August 2010, he won his first trophy when Porto beat Benfica 2–0 in the Portuguese Supercup. He followed this with the Portuguese Primeira Liga, UEFA Europa League and Portuguese Cup titles.

In his first season as coach, Villas-Boas set the following records:

By winning the UEFA Europa League on 18 May 2011, he is the youngest manager ever to win a European competition, at 33 years and 213 days of age.

The club record for the most matches across all competitions unbeaten (36). This record was previously held by José Mourinho at 33 matches. Part of this streak was completed by the previous coach of FC Porto, Jesualdo Ferreira.

The most wins in Europe in one season by a Portuguese club (14)

The most points in a 30-game Portuguese league season (84)

The highest number of consecutive wins in the Portuguese league (16)

The biggest margin over the second placed team in the league (21)

The only team to win the Portuguese league without being beaten aside from Benfica in 1972/73.

On 3 April 2011, Villas-Boas won his first Primeira Liga, five rounds before the end, by defeating second-place Benfica 2–1 away at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, becoming the third youngest coach to win it, only behind Mihály Sistka (1938–39) and Juca (1961–62). It is the second time that Porto won the Portuguese league by beating its rival at its home soil, the first time being 71 years ago, in the 1939–40 season when Porto clinched the title by defeating Benfica at the Estádio das Amoreiras.

On 22 May 2011, Villas-Boas won the Portuguese Cup, equalizing Tomislav Ivić (when he won 4 titles for Porto in 1987/88).

On 21 June 2011 Villas-Boas tendered his resignation as manager of Porto. After the same day, he is appointed as Chelsea manager.

Chelsea

On 20 June 2011, Porto informed the Portuguese Securities Market Commission that it had been "notified of the intention of André Villas-Boas to resign from his contract with the club by triggering the [€15m] release clause immediately. The contract will be terminated once the required amount is paid." The existence of the €15m release clause was confirmed in a separate statement by the club the previous day. This followed reports from the BBC and Portuguese News agency Lusa that Chelsea had appointed Villas-Boas as their new coach. Chelsea refused to comment on the reports, saying only that they hoped to be able to make an announcement in "a few days". On 21 June, Chelsea paid Porto just under €15m (£13.3m) compensation to release Villas-Boas from his contract with Porto. With the compensation paid, Chelsea confirmed they were interested in Villas-Boas as they officially released this statement: 'We note that the release clause of Andre Villas-Boas has been activated. We can at this time confirm our interest in him and hope to reach an agreement with him on personal terms and make a further announcement in the near future.'  On 22 June, Chelsea confirmed the appointment of André Villas-Boas as their manager on a three-year contract.

Managerial honours

Porto

Primeira Liga (1): 2011

Taça de Portugal (1): 2011

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (1): 2010

UEFA Europa League (1): 2011