Fabio Ferreira

Club

Sydney Olympic FC

Position

Midfielder

Nationality

Portugal

Date of birth

1989-05-03

Birthplace

Barreiro, Portugal

Height

1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)

Signing / transfer fee

Free

Fábio Miguel Lourenço Ferreira (Portuguese pronunciation: ; born 3 May 1989) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Australian club Sydney Olympic mainly as a right winger but also as an attacking midfielder.

Registered at Sporting and Chelsea as a teenager, he only played lower-league football in both England and Portugal. In 2012 he moved to Australia, where he represented Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners, Sydney FC and Perth Glory.

Football career
Early years / Chelsea
Born in Barreiro, Setúbal, Ferreira joined Sporting Club de Portugal's youth system in 2002, aged 13. On 6 January 2005, it was reported that the Lisbon club had made a complaint to FIFA regarding him and two other players who had trained with Chelsea without any authorisation. However, in the summer, he still made a move to the English club.

In the following season, Ferreira became a professional and signed a contract with the Blues. During 2007–08 he made 12 appearances for the reserves, scoring eight goals.

On 20 January 2009, Ferreira was loaned out to League One side Oldham Athletic on a one-month loan deal, before it was extended for another month on 23 March. The day after the loan extension, he made his professional debut in a 1–1 draw against Cheltenham Town at Whaddon Road, coming on as a substitute for Deane Smalley in the 66th minute: a few minutes after coming onto the pitch he nearly scored, putting a header wide of the goal.

Released by Chelsea in summer 2009, Ferreira went on trial with League Two team Gillingham, but nothing came of it. He resumed his career in the Portuguese third division.

Adelaide United
In February 2012, Ferreira signed for Dulwich Hill FC in Australia. He scored twice on his National Premier Leagues NSW 2 debut, on 24 March.

After becoming one of his team's key players, Ferreira went on trial with A-League club Adelaide United FC, being subsequently offered a contract. On 6 August 2012 it was announced that he would sign, and he penned a one-year contract late into that month.

Ferreira scored his debut league goal on 23 November 2012, a 2–1 away victory over Sydney FC – he opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a sharp drive into the left corner of the net, shooting from the right-hand corner of the box. Two weeks later, he assisted the first goal and netted his team's second in a 4–2 rivalry derby win against Melbourne Victory FC at Hindmarsh Stadium.

On 14 December 2012, Ferreira signed a two-