Forgotten Rangers winger: I played for 18 different clubs - why I loved Ibrox spell the most

The Portuguese winger, now 38, brought the curtain down on his playing days during the summer - although he dusted off the boots for last weekend’s Tennent’s Sixes at Braehead Arena.

Candeias helped Rangers reach the final before they were defeated 5-4 by Celtic. The former Portugal Under-23 internationalist joined the Ibrox side in 2017 for £700,000 from Benfica and spent two years in Glasgow before moving to Turkish side Gençlerbirliği.

A varied career took Candeias to Porto, Varzim, Rio Ave, Recreativo, Pacos Ferreira, Nacional, Portimonense, Benfica, Nurnberg, Granada, Metz, Alanyaspor twice, Rangers, Gençlerbirliği, Kocaelispor, Oliveirense, Adanaspor and Academica, who were his final club. However, his time in Govan is the spell he recalls the fondest.

“It’s the club I love the most,” said Candeias. “I miss the club, I miss the people. When I can, I will always watch the games because the love that people here gave me was unbelievable. I will never forget it. The fans, the club, my team-mates, they all gave me so much respect, so I when I got the call to come here [for the Tennent’s Sixes] I said yes directly because it’s the club I love the most.

“I think it was the best time of my career. When you play for a club like Rangers, it’s amazing for your career. I left too soon, but that’s football. I’m very happy to support this jersey again.

“This is the first time in seven years that I have been back to Scotland. I was very emotional when I arrived on Friday, and today when I saw some faces that I know very well. I’m very, very happy to be here.

“It’s been a long time because I went to play in Turkey for a lot of years and it was hard to be able to come back. But even before this tournament I had a plan to bring my family because it was so lovely for us to live here. I want to come watch some games at Ibrox and show my kids the city.

“I’ve wanted to come back before but it’s hard when you’re playing. But now I have more time, so in a few months I’ll bring my family to Glasgow for sure.”

Candeias enjoyed the final season of his career with Academica, who helped win promotion from the Portuguese third tier. “I retired three months ago,” he said. “The moment came to end my career and I’m proud of what I was able to do. Was it the right time to retire? Yes, I think so. Maybe I wanted to play one year more, but it’s hard. In Portugal, they want young players.

“I had a good moment last year with Academica, a historic club in Portugal. We were able to get up to the second division, so I think it was the right time to retire.

“As I said, it’s a historic club that won the cup in Portugal a few years ago (2011-12), but they have had to pass a bad moment. Step by step, the club is starting to come back up and we did a very good job last season.

“I went there in October 2025, they wanted me a lot for my experience to help the young players. I felt very good there, it was perfect for me.”

Candeias is now pondering a move into coaching. “I’m staying with my agent and I’ll stay working in football for sure, get some coaching license and see what happens,” he added. “I don’t want to be the head coach, but maybe the second coach or something like that because football is my life. I don’t want to go out from football.”