José Gonçalves

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Personal information
José Gonçalves
Full name	José Gonçalves
Date of birth	September 17, 1985 (age 21)
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Position	Left-back
Club information
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Number	21
Youth clubs
2001 2001-2002	La Sallaz Yverdon Sport
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
2002-2004 2004-2005 2005 2005-2006 2006 2006-	FC Basel Winterthur Venezia Thun FBK Kaunas →Hearts (loan)	0 (0) 13 (1) 3 (0) 0 (0) 4 (0)
National team**
2006	Portugal U-21s	1 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 July 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 10 October 2006.

José Gonçalves (born 17 September 1985, in Lisbon) is a professional footballer of Cape Verdean descent currently playing for Scottish Premier League club Hearts. He is Portuguese by birth but has Swiss citizenship, having lived there since he was two years old.

Gonçalves initially began his career with La Sallaz before moving to the the youth section of Yverdon-Sport FC in 2001, then FC Basel the following season. He was signed by FC Winterthur in 2004 and made his first competative appearances in Swiss football for them aged 18.

In 2005, Gonçalves had a brief spell in Italy with Venezia before being signed by surprise Champions League qualifiers FC Thun 1898, where he established himself in the left back position. His impressive form in the Champions League group stages resulted in a queue of admirers and it appeared he would be on the move again. Everton decided not to pursue their interest after a trial spell, while Newcastle, Rangers and Crystal Palace were all linked to the player in the press.

In January 2006, however, it was SPL club Hearts that eventually signed Gonçalves, in a deal that saw him signed by owner Vladimir Romanov's other club, FBK Kaunas, and then immediately loaned out to the Edinburgh side. Gonçalves made his debut in a 3-0 Scottish Cup victory over Aberdeen, although a series of injuries curtailed his appearances during his first season at Tynecastle. After a 6-month lay-off to deal with hamstring, hip and toe complaints, he returned to action against Dunfermline in Ocotober 2006.^[1]