Luís Castro (footballer, born 1961)


Luís Manuel Ribeiro de Castro is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a right back, and the current manager of Ukrainian club FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

Early life / Personal

Castro was born in the village of Mondrões, in Vila Real. For much of his childhood and youth he suffered from a debilitating disease, going on to major in physics at the University of Coimbra.

Playing career

Castro spent most of his 17-year professional career in the lower leagues, representing U.D. Leiria, O Elvas CAD, AD Fafe and R.D. Águeda in the Segunda Liga and Vitória S.C. and Elvas in the Primeira Liga.
With the latter, he appeared in 28 matches in the 1987–88 season, but his team ranked in 15th place and suffered relegation.

Coaching career

One year after retiring from professional football, Castro began working as a manager with his final club Águeda, where he would remain for two seasons. He went on to be in charge of lowly G.D. Mealhada, C.D. Estarreja and A.D. Sanjoanense, before being appointed at F.C. Penafiel in the top level in summer 2004 and guiding it to the 11th position in his debut campaign, the highlight being a 1–0 home win against S.L. Benfica.
Following Penafiel's relegation in 2006, Castro left the club, joining FC Porto's youth academy and eventually coaching the B-team. On 5 March 2014, following the resignation of Paulo Fonseca at the helm of the main squad, he was named an interim until the end of the season.
Castro continued working in the Portuguese top flight after leaving Porto's reserves in November 2016, with Rio Ave FC, G.D. Chaves and Vitória de Guimarães. On 12 June 2019, he signed a two-year contract at FC Shakhtar Donetsk as a replacement for compatriot Paulo Fonseca who left for A.S. Roma after winning three Ukrainian Premier League championships in a row.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Porto B
Shakhtar Donetsk