António José dos Santos Folha (born 21 May 1971) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played mostly as a winger. He is currently a manager.
He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 227 matches and 22 goals over 12 seasons, mainly in representation of Porto. He also appeared in the competition with Gil Vicente and Braga, and was part of the Portugal squad at Euro 1996.
Folha worked as a manager after retiring, starting out at Porto B before joining Portimonense in 2018.
Club career Folha was born in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto District. In his career, he played mostly for Porto, with loan stints in Portugal, Belgium and Greece; at AEK Athens, to where he arrived on 3 January 2002, he won the Greek Football Cup.
Folha was often used as a substitute by his main club, where he won a total of 18 major titles (including seven Primeira Liga trophies and five Taça de Portugal). He had his best years with the team from 1994 to 1996, contributing ten goals in 58 games as they won back-to-back national championships.
At the end of the 2002–03 season, aged 32, Folha was finally released by Porto and joined Penafiel of the Segunda Liga, helping to a return to the top flight in his first year. He retired from football in 2005, and joined his last team's coaching staff immediately afterwards, also serving a two-season stint as assistant manager, one in each of the major levels.
International career Folha earned 26 caps for Portugal over a three-year period, and was selected for the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament, appearing in three matches in an eventual quarter-final exit and assisting Ricardo Sá Pinto in the 1–1 group stage draw against Denmark.
Previously, he helped the under-20 team to win the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship in Saudi Arabia.
Coaching career Folha returned to Porto once again in 2008, being named assistant with the junior side and remaining in the position for several seasons. Later, he coached the reserves.
In June 2018, Folha replaced the departed Vítor Oliveira at the helm of top-division team Portimonense. He finished 12th in his first season on the Algarve, and resigned on 18 January 2020 when second from bottom having lost to last-placed Aves.
Folha returned to Porto B on 2 February 2021, taking over from Rui Barros – who had succeeded him – at the last-placed side in the second tier. He secured their survival in the last matchday.
On 9 June 2026, Folha was appointed at CFR Cluj on a one-year contract; he was brought in by his compatriot Cadú, the Romanian club's director of football. On 7 August, however, following a 0–5 home loss to Tromsø in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, he was dismissed.
Personal life Folha's son, Bernardo, is also a footballer. A midfielder, he was also developed at Porto, being coached at the reserve team by his father.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGil Vicente (loan)1989–90Segunda Divisão35340——3931990–91Primeira Divisão37420——394Total72760——787Porto1991–92Primeira Divisão900020101201993–942022060203021994–952763050203761995–963147160304751996–971532030002031997–981403130202211998–9910——10201999–00Primeira Liga40110000512000–011415000102012001–0200000000002002–03000000—00Total1351623325012019519Braga (loan)1992–93Primeira Divisão31131——342Standard Liège (loan)1998–99Belgian First Division25363—00316Standard Liège (loan)2000–01Belgian First Division1522020—192AEK Athens (loan)2001–02Alpha Ethniki905110—151Penafiel2003–04Segunda Liga26620——2862004–05Primeira Liga24122——263Total50742——549Career total33736491028012042646
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsPortugal19932119943119951011996112199700Total265
Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Folha goal. + List of international goals scored by António FolhaNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 5 September 1993 Kadrioru staadion, Tallinn, Estonia 2–0 2–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification2 18 December 1994 Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal 6–0 8–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying3 26 January 1995 SkyDome, Toronto, Canada 1–0 1–1 Friendly4 21 February 1996 Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal 1–1 1–2 Friendly5 29 May 1996 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland 1–0 1–0 Friendly
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Porto B29 December 20165 June 2018 Portimonense5 June 201818 January 2020 Porto B3 February 202130 June 2024 CFR Cluj15 June 20267 August 2026 Career totals
Honours Player Primeira Divisão: 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99 Taça de Portugal: 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998
AEK Athens Greek Cup: 2001–02
Portugal U20 FIFA World Youth Championship: 1989
References
External links