Nilton dos Santos Terroso (born 13 September 1979) is a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, and is a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Early life

Terroso was born in France and grew up in

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is a city in British Columbia, Canada, situated at the confluence of the Fraser River, Fraser and Nechako River, Nechako rivers. The city itself has a population of 76,708; the metro census agglomeration has a population of 89,490 ...

, Canada. He represented the latter nation at three age-group levels.

Playing career

Having moved to Portugal still in his formative years, Terroso never competed in higher than the

Portuguese Second Division Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

as a senior. He had two spells at S.C. Lourinhanense (

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

, where he played alongside Simão Sabrosa), and also represented Clube Atlético Riachense.

Coaching career

In 2007, Terroso joined

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

as youth team fitness coach. Two years later, he was appointed assistant manager of their under-18 side, and worked with them for two years. Starting in 2010, Terroso acted as fitness coach to the Welsh under-17s during one year. Subsequently, he joined

Malky Mackay Malcolm George Mackay (born 19 February 1972) is a Scottish professional association football, football coach and former player, who is the sporting director at Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian. Mackay, who played as a Defe ...

's staff at Cardiff City's first team in the English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

, still being his assistant when the club promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

at the end of the 2012–13 season. In June 2014, Terroso was named head coach of Cardiff's under-21 team. At the end of the campaign, he left. On 1 March 2016, 11 years after he last set foot in the country, Terroso returned to Portugal and was appointed at

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier ...

club

Atlético Clube de Portugal Atlético Clube de Portugal is a Portuguese sports club based in the parish of Alcântara, in the west side of Lisbon. The club was established on 18 September 1942 through the merger of two local clubs from Alcântara: Carcavelinhos Football ...

. After not being able to prevent relegation, he left. Terroso signed as manager of

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

from the Campeonato de Portugal on 17 November 2017, succeeding Bruno Saraiva.

Personal life

Terroso is a qualified

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

B licence coach, having completed a degree in football coaching and performance plus

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Terroso, Nilton 1979 births Living people Atlético Clube de Portugal managers Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian men's soccer players Canadian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff Expatriate football managers in Wales French sportspeople of Portuguese descent Portuguese men's footballers Portuguese expatriate football managers Portuguese football managers Liga Portugal 2 managers Men's association football midfielders S.C. Olhanense managers Segunda Divisão players