Val Teixeira

By Phil Tooley

This article originally appeared in the Aldershot Matchday Programme

One man who had Chesterfield supporters desperately googling when he initially scored a hat-trick in a trial match before being snapped up by Lee Richardson on a deal running, initially, through to January was Val Teixeira.

The Portuguese born player, whose been in America for most of his adult life, also caused a few tongues to get tied when Derbyshire folk tried to pronounce his name, or at least the name he's known by; "The right pronunciation is Tesh-aira. A lot of people try to say Tex-aira but in truth I don't really mind," said the 31 year old.

We'll steer clear of attempting his full name of Valdemar Lereno Goncalves Gomes Teixeira.

He speaks with a pronounced American accent, with hints of the Iberian Peninsula, but reveals; "I'm 100% Portuguese even though I've lived in America for the last 15 years and a lot of people think I'm American but I'm 100% full-blooded Portuguese. I was born in Lisbon, a big City, I miss it a lot. I've not been back there for a few years and it's always good to go back there and visit."

Val began playing the game early; "Amora was my local team and was the first team that I played for, from being five through to thirteen and then I was called to the U13 and U15 Portugal sides and I then joined Benfica."

One of his mentors in the Portuguese side was a familiar name; "Carlos Queiroz was one of the coaches, he took a look at all of the youth players and gave us all a little bit of advice and he was looking at trying to develop the young players so he was around for quite some time and gave just about all of the players some feedback on how to improve as a professional footballer."

Coming in contact with good young players saw him make some friends of players still earning a living in the Beautiful Game; "I was and still am a good friend of Maniche (ex Benfica, Porto, Chelsea & Athletico Madrid) and some of the other lads are still playing. Bruno Aguiar plays in Scotland (for Hearts). Maniche is still pretty close."

How did he end up on the other side of the Atlantic? "I moved to America when I was 17, it was my parents that wanted to move there. After ten years of waiting for a visa they finally got one. At the age that I was, I wasn't too happy about moving but I moved along with them and started a new life but at the time I wish I could have stayed back but unfortunately I didn't.

"When I first got to America I wanted to play football but I couldn't even find a handful of people to play with so I had to learn how to play baseball and American football, it took me some time to learn the sports and I was reasonably good at them but football's my sport. I've never played professionally in any other sport but they were good to keep me fit in the off season and I had a lot of fun as well."

He added; "Football's very different over there, it's very hard to become a professional as a young athlete as they always recommend that you go to school first to complete your education, so that's what I did, going to High School and after that I went to college and then I decided to continue my professional career."

After spells at Sommerville High and Newbury College he joined Rhode Island Stingrays; "Stingrays was a small team from Division Three. The team was based around foreign players. Around 80% were from Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde Islands and there were a few American players. It was a good team. We had a lot of talent in the team, a lot of players who'd played at the top level in America so it was a good team to start my career at.

It was semi-pro, but a lot of the players were doing it full time because in the off season we did a lot of coaching clinics and appearances on behalf of the team but playing wise, it wasn't full time."

Teixeira had a short spell back in his native land in 2002; "I went back to Portugal for a loan spell with Sanjoanense, that's about 20 minutes from Oporto. It was a good experience. I was trying to play abroad because I wanted to play full-time. At the time I had a chance to stay all year round but the Stingrays still held my rights and I had to return."

In 2004 he moved on; "To New Hampshire Phantoms, still in level three, and I played there for around three or four years. That was a good club as well, the owner was Portuguese and we had players from England and Scotland so there was a bit of a mix of nationalities, plenty of European players.

"James Proctor played for a couple of clubs in England (Bradford City & Rochdale) and Craig Stewart was from Newcastle (he graduated at Loughborough University) before moving to America and going to college there. We had a good couple of years, we reached the quarter-finals of the play-offs, we lost 1-0 though but all of that helped me become a better player."

Coaching has always been a part of his game plan; "I was able to be a coach for a High School team and I opened my own academy as well for players from 4 to18, that was the New England Sports Academy. That enabled me to progress my career as a coach as well and I enjoy that very much as well.

"Soccer in America is the biggest sport played up to the age of 18 and they're always looking for people who know about the sport to teach the kids because there are a lot of players wanting to learn the sport. It's just a matter of finding the right people to teach them."

At the start of this year he joined Crystal Palace Baltimore and he's nothing but praise for them; "I have a lot of good things to say about Crystal Palace Baltimore because it's thanks to them that I'm playing in England. Because they're affiliated with Crystal Palace in London and my manager, Jim Cherneski called Mick Jones in London and told him I'd had a good season and it would be worth him taking a look at me, so I came over to London for a trial for about a week. Unfortunately due to my age things didn't work out so they recommended me to Chesterfield and I'm very glad that I've become part of things here at Chesterfield Football Club.

"I'd never heard of Chesterfield. There are so many teams in England and I do know a lot of teams because when I play video games I always like to start with the lower teams but there are so many teams, it's hard to remember all of them!"

He's clearly delighted to be here; "I was very happy when Lee Richardson gave me the opportunity to play in England and I'll try my best to make the fans and the club to remember me regardless if I stay only until January or hopefully even longer. Every time I get on the pitch I'm going to give 110% and hopefully people will remember me as a good player and someone who helps the team every time I come in."

On his favoured position Val says; "When I first started playing for the Stingrays I started as a striker and then one day the left back got hurt so I played one game there and the manager liked how I played because I can run up and down the wing so since then I've played left back, left midfield, for the Phantoms I played 6 or 8 games as a sweeper so I've played pretty much everywhere on the pitch. I just want to play regardless of where it is, even if it's in goal."

He's also revealed that this is his first ever trip to England; "I'm just taking things one day at a time. It's very hard being on my own with all of my family and friends being in America and Portugal so hopefully things will work out for me and I can continue to play for Chesterfield after January. I wish I could play a bit more so the fans and coaching staff can see that I'm good and that I can help the team as well."

Finally, who are his footballing heroes? "I've always liked Rivaldo because he's a left footer and Adriano from Inter Milan, those are the players I really look up to and the number one team is Sporting Lisbon, they're my club team."

Welcome to Saltergate (and the UK) Val.

PHIL TOOLEY