Santos Gaia

Márcio dos Santos Gaia, commonly known as Santos Gaia, (born 8 September 1978) is a Brazilian footballer from São Mateus who plays as a defender.

Santos Gaia
Personal information
Full name Márcio dos Santos Gaia
Date of birth (1978-09-08) 8 September 1978
Place of birth São Mateus, Brazil
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2006 Exeter City 122 (12)
2006–2007 Stevenage Borough 47 (1)
2007–2008 → Grays Athletic (loan) 2 (0)
2008 Grays Athletic 6 (0)
2008 → Halifax Town (loan) 9 (0)
2008–2009 Weymouth 25 (0)
2009 Crawley Town 3 (1)
2009–2010 Truro City
National team
Brazil U17[1]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 03:09, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Career

Gaia, a defender, holds a Spanish passport (gained through marriage), which means he does not require a work permit to play in England. He signed for English side Exeter City in August 2002. He made 33 League Two appearances during his first season, which saw Exeter relegated from the Football League, however he remained with the club despite the exodus of many other first team members. The 2004–05 season saw him among the club's top scorers, unusually for a defender, with nine goals, all of which were scored in the first half of the season. In January 2005 he played in Exeter's memorable 0–0 draw at Old Trafford in the FA Cup.[2]

On 26 June 2006, Gaia signed a two-year contract with Conference side Stevenage Borough where he was a first-team regular. During his time at Broadhall Way, he was part of the side that defeated Kidderminster Harriers in the 2007 FA Trophy final. He had previously scored an important goal in the semi final against future club Grays Athletic to put his club through to the final.[3] He scored one other goal for Stevenage in a 4–2 defeat to Forest Green Rovers on 25 September 2007.[4]

Santos Gaia signed for Grays Athletic on loan on 22 November 2007 until 1 January 2008, when the deal was made permanent for £10,000.[5][6]

He signed for Halifax Town on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season, where he made a total of nine Conference National appearances.[7] The defender was released from Grays Athletic at the end of the season along with Nicky Eyre, Danny Knowles, Cameron Mawer and Charley Hearn.[8]

On 20 May 2008, Gaia signed for Weymouth alongside Pierre Joseph-Dubois.[9]

On 26 February 2009, Gaia joined Crawley Town, signing until the end of the season.[10] He scored his first goal for Crawley on 8 March 2009, ironically against former club Weymouth.[11] In June 2009, Gaia turned down a sizeable offer from Rushden & Diamonds and joined Cornish side Truro City instead.[12][13]

Honours

References
  1. Graceful Gaia finds a little Brazil in Exeter, Independent.co.uk
  2. "Man Utd 0-0 Exeter". BBC. 8 January 2005. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  3. "FA Trophy semi-final first legs". BBC. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  4. "Forest Green 4–2 Stevenage". BBC. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  5. Player Signings Archived 25 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine, graysathletic.co.uk
  6. 3 NEW PLAYERS IN, 3 OUT, stevenageborofc.com
  7. Santos to The Shay Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, graysathletic.co.uk
  8. Grays squad set for a fresh look, BBC Sport
  9. Terras sign defender and striker, BBC Sport
  10. Crawley Town sign Santos and Hurren, Crawley Observer
  11. "Crawley 4–2 Weymouth". BBC. 8 March 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  12. City Go Brazilian! Archived 25 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, trurocityfc.co.uk
  13. Brazilian ace joins City as Macca signs three players, thisiscornwall.co.uk
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