Fábio Sturgeon

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Dos Santos and the second or paternal family name is Sturgeon.
Fábio Sturgeon
Sturgeon with Vitória Guimarães in 2017
Personal information
Full name Fábio Miguel dos Santos Sturgeon[1]
Date of birth (1994-02-04) 4 February 1994 (age 30)[1]
Place of birth Almada, Portugal[1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
2003–2007 Charneca da Caparica
2007–2010 Pescadores
2010–2013 Belenenses
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2017 Belenenses 98 (8)
2017–2018 Vitória Guimarães 31 (0)
2018–2020 Feirense 28 (2)
2019–2020 → Xanthi (loan) 32 (1)
2020–2021 OFI 31 (6)
2021–2022 Raków Częstochowa 24 (1)
2023–2024 Mafra 14 (0)
International career
2014 Portugal U20 5 (0)
2014 Portugal U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:40, 24 May 2024 (UTC)

Fábio Miguel dos Santos Sturgeon (born 4 February 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

Born in Almada, Setúbal District to an English father and a Portuguese mother,[2] Sturgeon joined C.F. Os Belenenses' youth system at the age of 16. He made his professional debut with the first team while still a junior, playing one minute in a 0–0 away draw against F.C. Penafiel in the first round of the Taça da Liga.[3]

Sturgeon first appeared in the Segunda Liga on 24 April 2013, coming on as a half-time substitute for Yacine Si Salem in a 0–2 home loss to U.D. Oliveirense.[4] He made four appearances as his team won the league title, getting a first start on 12 May in a 2–1 win at C.D. Trofense.[5]

After being used mostly off the bench in Belenenses' first season back in the Primeira Liga, Sturgeon made his breakthrough in 2014–15, playing 31 games and starting all but four. In the opener, on 17 August 2014, he scored his first professional goal in the sixth minute of a 3–1 away win against Penafiel,[6] and his second came on 4 April in a 2–0 victory over Moreirense F.C. at the Estádio do Restelo.[7]

Sturgeon started all ten fixtures in the 2015–16 edition of the UEFA Europa League, in an eventual group stage exit. On 26 January 2017, after having been tracked by Celtic of Scotland, he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract at Vitória SC.[8] He totalled 38 scoreless matches during his spell, including their 3–1 loss to S.L. Benfica in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira on 5 August 2017.[9]

In July 2018, Sturgeon moved to another top-flight team, C.D. Feirense, on a three-year deal.[10] In just his second game, he opened his account on 20 August with the only goal of a win over his former team at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques.[11]

On 20 July 2019, Sturgeon was loaned to Xanthi F.C. of the Super League Greece with a buying option.[12] In the summer of 2020, he signed a permanent contract with OFI Crete F.C. in the same country.[13] His first goal came on 18 October, in a 2–2 home draw against Panathinaikos FC.[14]

Sturgeon joined Polish Ekstraklasa club Raków Częstochowa on 10 August 2021, agreeing to an initial three-year deal.[15] On 1 September 2022, however, he left by mutual consent.[16]

Sturgeon returned to Portugal in September 2023 after four years away, on a contract at second-tier C.D. Mafra.[17]

International career

Sturgeon was eligible to represent England and Portugal internationally.[2] He appeared for the under-20 team of the latter at the 2014 Toulon Tournament,[18] and won his only cap for the under-21s on 13 November 2014, playing 21 minutes in a 3–1 away friendly defeat against England.[19]

Honours

Belenenses

Raków Częstochowa

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Fábio Sturgeon" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b Nursey, James (12 October 2014). "Liverpool plot transfer of starlet Fabio Sturgeon from Portuguese side Belenenses". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Penafiel e Belenenses empatam sem golos" [Goalless draw for Penafiel and Belenenses] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 31 July 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Belenenses-Oliveirense, 0–2: Azuis perdem invencibilidade caseira" [Belenenses-Oliveirense, 0–2: Blues lose at home for the first time]. Record (in Portuguese). 24 April 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Trofense perde e depois faz a festa" [Trofense lose and party afterwards]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 12 May 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  6. ^ Alvarenga, Vítor Hugo (17 August 2014). "Penafiel-Belenenses, 1–3 (crónica)" [Penafiel-Belenenses, 1–3 (match report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Moreirense perdeu com o Belenenses (2–0) no Restelo" [Moreirense lost to Belenenses (2–0) in Restelo] (in Portuguese). Guimarães TV. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  8. ^ Rosa, Melo (26 January 2017). "Sturgeon quatro épocas e meia no Vitória" [Sturgeon to Vitória for four and a half seasons]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Benfica vence Vitória e levanta Supertaça em Aveiro" [Benfica defeat Vitória and lift Supercup in Aveiro]. Correio Luso (in Portuguese). 5 August 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  10. ^ Tavares, Ruben (17 July 2018). "Fábio Sturgeon: "Este estádio tem uma mística muito especial"" [Fábio Sturgeon: "This stadium has a very special mystique"]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  11. ^ "Feirense agrava início de época do V. Guimarães" [Feirense aggravate start of the season for V. Guimarães]. Público (in Portuguese). 20 August 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Feirense confirma empréstimo de Sturgeon com opção de compra" [Feirense confirm loan of Sturgeon with a buying option]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 20 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  13. ^ "O Φάμπιο Στάρτζεον στον ΟΦΗ" [Fábio Sturgeon to OFI]. Crete Post (in Greek). 18 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  14. ^ Papamakarios, Petros (18 October 2020). "ΟΦΗ – Παναθηναϊκός 2–2: Μακέντα ο λυτρωτής" [ΟFI – Panathinaikos 2–2: Macheda to the rescue] (in Greek). Sport 24. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Nowy piłkarz zagra w Ekstraklasie! Raków potwierdza" [New player for Ekstraklasa! Raków confirm] (in Polish). Interia. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  16. ^ "FÁBIO STURGEON ODCHODZI Z RAKOWA" [Fábio Sturgeon leaves Raków] (in Polish). Raków Częstochowa. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Futebol | CD Mafra apresentou mais dois reforços para a presente época" [Football | CD Mafra presented two more additions for the current season]. Jornal de Mafra (in Portuguese). 3 September 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Sub-20 relegados para a disputa do terceiro lugar no Torneio de Toulon" [Under-20s relegated to third-place playoff in Toulon Tournament] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  19. ^ Percy, John (13 November 2014). "England Under-21 3 Portugal Under 21 1: Danny Ings seizes chance to impress Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2015". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  20. ^ Ferreira, João Pedro (2 September 2018). "Fábio Sturgeon e Tiago Silva voltam a vivenciar o azul nas suas carreiras" [Fábio Sturgeon and Tiago Silva experience blue again in their careers] (in Portuguese). Bola Na Rede. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  21. ^ Adamiec, Andrzej (7 May 2023). "Raków Częstochowa mistrzem Polski!" [Raków Częstochowa are Polish champions!] (in Polish). Polsat Sport. Retrieved 8 May 2023.