João Henriques (football manager)

João Alexandre Oliveira Nunes Henriques (born 31 October 1972) is a Portuguese professional football manager.

Without having played football competitively, he started coaching in the Portuguese lower leagues before joining second-tier Leixões in 2017. He has managed five clubs in the Primeira Liga, most successfully at Santa Clara.

Managerial career

Early career
Born in Tomar, Santarém District, Henriques spent his earlier career in the amateur leagues of Portugal. He then worked as assistant manager and in youth academies in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He returned home in July 2015 to take the job at Fátima, and won the Santarém Football Association's district league in his first season for promotion to the national third tier. He was dismissed on 1 November 2016 with the club fourth after four wins and a draw from seven games.

Henriques was assistant manager to Daniel Kenedy at Leixões of LigaPro, and succeeded him on 22 August 2017 after only three games of the season. The next day on his professional debut, the club from Matosinhos won by a single goal at home to neighbours Porto B; he dedicated the win to Kenedy.

Five Primeira Liga teams in five years
On 12 January 2018, Henriques moved to Primeira Liga club Paços de Ferreira on an 18-month deal to replace Petit. His first top-flight game was a 2–0 win at Aves on 21 January. He left on 21 May by mutual accord, after relegation.

On 31 May 2018, Henriques was named the head coach of newly promoted Santa Clara. He led the Azorean club to two consecutive best-ever 10th-place finishes, as well as a record points tally of 43; he left in July 2020 having ensured a third consecutive Primeira Liga season for the first time in their history.

Henriques returned to the Primeira Liga on 13 October 2020 at Vitória de Guimarães, as Tiago Mendes had left after three matches. On 5 April 2021, after a run of four consecutive defeats for the sixth-placed club, he was dismissed.

On 5 June 2021, Henriques signed with Moreirense for the upcoming campaign. He left by mutual accord on 1 December, with the team in 16th place.

Henriques became Marítimo's head coach on 8 September 2022 after Vasco Seabra was dismissed with the team sitting bottom after losing all five opening games. With only one win from ten games, he was sacked on 14 December, with the team in penultimate place and out of both domestic cups.

Olimpija Ljubljana
On 22 May 2023, Slovenian PrvaLiga champions Olimpija Ljubljana announced that Henriques would become their new head coach, replacing Albert Riera, in his first job outisde of Portugal. He was officially announced on 1 June, signing a two-year contract. He won 2–1 at home in his first game on 11 July, against Valmiera in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, and by the same score in the second leg in Latvia eight days later.

Managerial statistics

References

External links
 
 

1972 births
Living people
People from Tomar
Sportspeople from Santarém District
Portuguese football managers
Liga Portugal 2 managers
Primeira Liga managers
Slovenian PrvaLiga managers
C.D. Fátima managers
Leixões S.C. managers
F.C. Paços de Ferreira managers
C.D. Santa Clara managers
Vitória S.C. managers
Moreirense F.C. managers
C.S. Marítimo managers
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) managers
Portuguese expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Slovenia
Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia