Rio Ave backroom staff
We hold the names of 41 people on Rio Ave's staff for 2025/26, beyond the players. Sotiris Sylaidopoulos manages the first team, with Vangelis Samios as assistant manager. Rio Ave's is the 6th longest staff list of the 19 Primeira Liga clubs we hold.
Coaching staff
The manager, the assistants and the coaches at every level of the club, 14 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sotiris Sylaidopoulos | Manager | First team | 46 | Greece |  |
| José Pedro Pinto | Manager | Under-23s | 51 | Portugal |  |
| Tiago Ribeiro | Manager | Under-19s | 39 | Portugal | - |
| Vangelis Samios | Assistant manager | First team | 64 | Greece |  |
| Hugo Balão | Assistant manager | Under-23s | 24 | Portugal | - |
| André Dias | Assistant manager | Under-19s | 28 | Portugal | - |
| Augusto Gama | Coach | First team | 55 | Portugal | - |
| João Pedro | Coach | Under-23s | 25 | Brazil | - |
| Spyros Christopoulos | Goalkeeping coach | First team | 49 | Greece | |
| Pinho | Goalkeeping coach | Under-23s | 53 | Portugal | - |
| Pedro Abreu | Goalkeeping coach | Under-19s | 32 | Portugal | - |
| Ilias Abatzidis | Fitness coach | First team | 44 | Greece | |
| Rafael Silva | Fitness coach | Under-23s | 24 | Portugal | |
| Olavo Maciel | Fitness coach | Under-19s | 28 | Portugal | - |
Medical and sports science
Doctors, physios and sports scientists, 14 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiago Rodrigues Lopes | Chief doctor | Club-wide | 40 | Portugal |  |
| Álvaro Nogueira | Club doctor | First team | 33 | Portugal | - |
| André Dias | Club doctor | First team | 40 | Portugal | - |
| Francisco Valente | Club doctor | Under-23s | 47 | Portugal | - |
| Pedro Gonçalves | Club doctor | Under-23s | 32 | Portugal | - |
| Flávio Monteiro | Physio | First team | 39 | Portugal | |
| José Teixeira | Physio | First team | 41 | Portugal | - |
| Pedro Matos | Physio | First team | 27 | Portugal | - |
| Rúben Lira | Physio | Under-23s | 23 | Portugal | - |
| Nuno André Rodrigues | Head of sports science | Club-wide | 43 | Portugal | - |
| Francisco Lisboa | Sports scientist | First team | 31 | Portugal | - |
| Rodolfo Monteiro | Sports scientist | First team | 28 | Portugal | - |
| António Freitas | Sports scientist | Under-23s | 29 | Portugal |  |
| Filipe Matos | Sports scientist | Under-23s | 32 | Portugal | - |
Scouting and analysis
Scouts, recruitment analysts and performance analysts, 8 people
| NAME | ROLE | TEAM | AGE | NATIONALITY | PREVIOUSLY AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gonçalo Bexiga | Chief scout | Club-wide | 43 | Portugal | Al-Khaleej FC before that Sport Lisboa e Benfica |
| Bruno Alves | Scout | Club-wide | 43 | Portugal |  |
| Pedro Gomes | Head performance analyst | Club-wide | 32 | Portugal | - |
| Dimitris Goumas | Performance analyst | First team | 39 | Greece |  |
| Nuno Cardoso | Performance analyst | First team | 41 | Portugal |  |
| Roberto Tiago | Performance analyst | First team | 35 | Portugal | - |
| Francisco Pinheiro | Performance analyst | Under-23s | 26 | Portugal | - |
| Rodrigo Postiga | Performance analyst | Under-23s | 21 | Portugal | - |
Football management
The people who run the football side, from the sporting director to the academy, 2 people
| NAME | ROLE | AGE | NATIONALITY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gualter Pires | Technical director | 54 | Portugal |
| Jorge Freitas | Head of youth development | 51 | Portugal |
Owners and directors
Who owns Rio Ave and sits on its board
Backroom staff at every Primeira Liga club
The names we hold at each club in the division, 2025/26
Rio Ave's list is the 6th longest of the 19, against a median of 30 across the division. Sport Lisboa e Benfica names the most, 63. Futebol Clube de Arouca names the fewest, 19.
Rio Ave against the Primeira Liga, department by department
Names held in each department, beside the average and the most at any one club
| DEPARTMENT | RIO AVE | AVERAGE | MOST | AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coaching | 14 | 12 | 21 |  |
| Medical and sports science | 14 | 9 | 17 |  |
| Scouting and analysis | 8 | 8 | 21 |  |
| Football management | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| Owners and directors | 3 | 4 | 8 | |
Backrooms the size of Rio Ave's, in every league
Rio Ave's 41 names make the joint 162nd longest staff list of the 815 clubs we hold one for
| # | CLUB | LEAGUE | STAFF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 153 | NK Osijek | Croatian First League | 42 |
| 153 |  | Eredivisie | 42 |
| 153 |  | Ligue 2 | 42 |
| 153 | U.S. Avellino 1912 | Serie B | 42 |
| 162 |  | Bundesliga | 41 |
| 162 |  | J1 League | 41 |
| 162 |  | Liga MX | 41 |
| 162 |  | La Liga | 41 |
| 162 |  | - | 41 |
| 162 | | Superleague Greece | 41 |
| 162 | | Primeira Liga | 41 |
| 162 | S.S. Arezzo | Serie B | 41 |
| 162 |  | - | 41 |
| 162 |  | 2. Bundesliga | 41 |
| 162 | Viborg Fodsports Forening | Danish Superliga | 41 |
| 162 | Widzew Łódź | Ekstraklasa | 41 |
| 174 |  | - | 40 |
| 174 |  | - | 40 |
| 174 |  | Serie B | 40 |
| 174 |  | Super Liga | 40 |
| 174 | Club Atlético Belgrano | Super Liga | 40 |
Where Rio Ave's staff come from
4 nationalities across the 40 staff whose nationality we hold
Portugal supplies 33 of the 40, 83%. The median age is 39. The oldest is Vangelis Samios, assistant manager, at 64, and the youngest Rodrigo Postiga, performance analyst, at 21. 14 members of staff came from another club, most often Famalicão (2).
Where Rio Ave's former staff work now
On Rio Ave's staff in an earlier season and at another club in 2025/26, 24 people
Frequently asked questions
Who is Rio Ave's manager?
Sotiris Sylaidopoulos is the Rio Ave first-team manager, aged 46. Vangelis Samios is the assistant manager.
Who is the goalkeeping coach at Rio Ave?
Spyros Christopoulos coaches the Rio Ave first-team goalkeepers.
Who is Rio Ave's chief scout?
Gonçalo Bexiga is chief scout at Rio Ave.
Who is Rio Ave's technical director?
Gualter Pires is technical director at Rio Ave.
How many backroom staff do Rio Ave have?
We hold the names of 41 people on Rio Ave's staff for 2025/26: 14 in coaching, 14 in medical and sports science, 8 in scouting and analysis, 2 in football management and 3 owners and directors. That is the 6th longest list of the 19 Primeira Liga clubs we hold, against a median of 30. Across every league we hold, that list is the joint 162nd longest of 815.
Where to next
For what Rio Ave pays its squad, see Rio Ave player wages. What each of these jobs pays across football is on backroom staff wages. Every club in the division is on Primeira Liga wages.