Francisco Filho (footballer)

Born in São Paulo, Filho began his professional football career in 1957, at the age of 16. During a 17-year career, he played for clubs in Brazil, Venezuela, Portugal and France, where he retired. After retiring as a player, Filho became a coach and embarked on a 29-year career with the French Football Federation's academy, Clairefontaine. During that time, he oversaw the development of players such as Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin. In August 2002, Filho was hired by Premier League side, Manchester United, to help with the development of their youth players. He was appointed manager of the Manchester United Under-17s team, and later the Under-18s, following the club's reorganisation of their youth teams. He retired from football in 2005 but was tempted back to the game four years later, when he linked up with American side A.C. St. Louis as their Director of Player Development. He was sacked in October 2018. ==References==