Armando Colaco

Armando Colaço

Colaco with Zico in East Bengal club tent
Personal information
Full name	Armando Colaco
Date of birth	(1953-06-22) 22 June 1953 (age 63)
Place of birth	Panjim, Portuguese India
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1971–1985	Dempo
Teams managed
1994–2000	Churchill Brothers
2000–2013	Dempo
2011	India
2013–2015	East Bengal
2016–	FC Bardez
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Armando Colaço is an Indian football coach, who last coached East Bengal F.C. of the I-League. He is the most successful manager in the history of another I-League club, Dempo in terms of trophies in the last 20 years and is also the club's longest-serving manager. Colaco is the first I-League manager to guide an Indian team into the semi-finals of the AFC Cup, which he did in 2008. Colaco is widely regarded as one of India's best managers after the success he has enjoyed at Churchill Brothers S.C. and Dempo.

Colaco was born on 22 June 1953 in Panjim to parents – Vincent Salvador Colaço and Clarina Dias Colaço. Having lost his father at a very young age, but never gave up on his ambitions of playing football, which he did right from a young age during his schooling at Don Boscos where Fr Joseph Casti and Fr Thomas, in particular, encouraged the footballer in the youthful Armando. According to Armando, it was Sir Edwin, Domnic, Wilson Paes, along with Fr Simon, Fr Edward and Fr Benedict who played an important role in his life as far as his early upbringing was concerned. Later in his life, his wife Juliana and daughter Genevieve have been his motivation and support.

After gaining the necessary exposure with Don Bosco and Panjim Gymkhana, Armando, who was at the end of his teens, took a career-shaping step in the 1970–71 season when he was chosen to play for Dempo for the first time, under coach Joseph Ratnam, who taught his wards how to play football with discipline. “That was a very important phase of my career as far as shaping the destiny of my football talent was concerned as I got picked for a big club – Dempo,” Armando reminisced. Though he made Dempo his abode for the next 14 years to come, as a player, the hardworking Armando plied his trade with dedication and commitment before he hung his boots in 1985.

A recipient of the State Kerkar award, Armando, had to look beyond his retirement as a player and it were two men – Alberto Colaço, the present AIFF secretary, and Agnelo Mascarenhas, who encouraged the just-retired Dempo player to move into football coaching. And thus began a new journey for Armando the coach. From 1985-88, the Curtorim-based trainer, essayed himself into coaching Salcete Football Club and soon guided the club to a win in Stafford Cup. Soon, Armando had a one-year offer from Sesa Goa, which he accepted with delight and during the 1988–89 season, the team won the Vitthal Trophy under his guidance. That actually set the tone for his coaching stints elsewhere as Armando, who was fast gathering moss, rolled on like a stone, and successfully coached the state U-21 Santosh team partnering Peter Vales and also Goa U-23 team at the BC Roy Trophy in the early 90s. That was after a year-long stint with Dempo S.C. (1989–90) where he won the Pomes Cup and Scissors Cup.