| Jorge Cadete |
 Jorge Paulo Cadete Dos Santos Reis was born on Tuesday, 27th August, 1968, in Porto Amélia. The 5' 11 (12st 0lbs) forward signed for Derek Whyte & Gerry Britton's Thistle on Friday, 20th February, 2004, having most recently been with Benfica. Aged 35, he made his debut appearance on Sunday, 22nd February, 2004, in a 4-1 defeat at home to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League. There were no goals for Jorge during his spell with Thistle. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 20th March, 2004, in a 1-0 defeat away to Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Premier League, having appeared as a Jag on 6 occasions. Jorge's club-list included Sporting Clube de Portugal, Vitória Setúbal, Brescia, Celtic, Celta de Vigo, Benfica, Bradford City, Estrela da Amadora, Partick Thistle, Pinhalnovense and São Marcos. |
| Jorge Cadete's Summary Totals |
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 |
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 |
 |
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| League | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Competitive | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| All Games | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
 Born to Portuguese parents in Mozambique, Jorge came up through Sporting CP's prolific youth system, and later was highly prominent at Celtic, leading the Scottish goalscoring charts in 1996–97. Jorge amassed Primeira Liga totals of 233 matches and 73 goals over 12 seasons, mainly with Sporting. Jorge won 33 caps for the Portugal national team throughout the 90s scoring five goals, 22 while at Sporting, nine while at Celtic and two as a Celta player. He made his international debut on August 29 1990, coming on in a 1–1 friendly draw against world champions Germany. His first goal followed several months later in a 5-0 routing of Malta during a European Championship qualifier. His next two goals for the country (28 April 1993) were memorable for the Scots for all the wrong reasons, our nation humbled by 5 goals to nil in a World Cup Qualifier in Lisbon. “A team died out there tonight” said Scotland boss Andy Roxburgh. For anyone paying attention, it was a sure sign of things to come for Cadete in Scotland. Jorge played a decisive role in securing Portugal's ticket to the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament. Coming on as a substitute in the critical final group stage qualifier against the Republic of Ireland, he scored the final goal to cap off a 3–0 victory. He was subsequently selected by manager António Oliveira for the Euros 96 squad in England and featured in two of the games. This was a highly-rated Portuguese team (referred to as the 'Golden Generation') that featured Luis Figo and Rui Costa, although they fell to the Czech Republic at the quarter-final stage. Jorge's final cap came on April 22, 1998, in a 3–0 friendly defeat against England. On 24 February 1996, Jorge was introduced at Celtic Park, Glasgow to supporters before Celtic's league match against Partick Thistle. However, due to lengthy negotiations between Celtic and Sporting and issues with registering the player, his transfer was not finalised until April, and turned out to be controversial: despite being signed prior to the transfer deadline, the Scottish Football Association delayed processing his registration in time for the Scottish Cup semi-finals against Rangers at Hampden Park, and following a complaint from Celtic chairman Fergus McCann, SFA chief Jim Farry was eventually relieved of his duties after being found guilty of deliberately holding back the player's registration. His eventual debut came at home against Aberdeen as he came off the bench to score his team's fifth goal in a 5–0 win, thus becoming an instant hit; the loud roar generated by the fans celebrating his goal blew out BBC Radio 5's microphones, who had been covering the game UK wide on radio, and they went off air for a short time until it was repaired. Jorge's only full season in Scotland (1996-97) was arguably the greatest of his career, with the player finishing as the country's top scorer with 38 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions, without the aid of penalty kicks. Despite this, his team lost the league championship to arch-rivals Rangers, and he played his last match against Dundee United, bowing to the fans before kissing the turf. Along with Pierre van Hooijdonk and Paolo Di Canio, Jorge became embroiled in contractual disputes with the club, and was labelled as one of the “Three Amigos” by McCann. He remained a Celtic player over the summer, but fled back to Portugal citing mental health issues and a failure to adjust to life in Scotland without his family; his requests for a transfer were eventually granted. Following his release from Benfica in 2003 (although he hadn't played all year), Jorge found himself unemployed. After failing to find a new team he announced his retirement, going on to make an appearance on the celebrity Spanish version of the Big Brother reality TV show. At the start of 2003–04 season, aged 35, Jorge decided to return to football. He returned to Scotland to make a guest appearance on Tam Cowan's Scottish football show Offside, where he spoke of his love for Celtic and how he regretted leaving; he also invited manager Martin O'Neill to give him a trial at his former club. Jorge's return to the public eye in Scotland prompted rookie co-managers Gerry Britton and Derek Whyte to take a gamble on the striker. He signed a short-term contract for relegation threatened Thistle in late January 2004, ending his 18-month exile from the game. The move was controversial however, as he had already agreed to join Raith Rovers, even being photographed in the team shirt by the media. Jorge made his debut for the Jags on 22 February against Celtic, and received a mixed reception, with jeers from some opposing fans as he came off the bench due to the manner of his departure six years earlier. Shortly after, he returned to old ways when he reported back for training 24 hours late, and was subsequently disciplined by the club. Whilst at a training camp in Faro (in preparation for the Scottish Cup Quarter Final vs. Dunfermline) he had been granted a day to attend to family affairs in Lisbon, but took an extra day, calling to say he'd been delayed by private business. With Thistle trailing 0-1 in the big game at East End Park, Jorge was given the last 20 minutes to try and earn a longer-term deal at Firhill when he replaced Andy Thomson but made little impact and Thistle exited the cup. He did not manage to score for Thistle during his three month stay, and was not offered an extension. Jorge returned to Portugal for the 2004–05 campaign, agreeing to a deal at third division's Pinhalnovense. He cited the major factor in signing for the club was working with coach Paco Fortes. The following two years, Jorge played amateur football in the Beja region, with FC São Marcos in São Marcos da Ataboeira, Castro Verde, being rejoined by some former professionals in the country, including Benfica and Farense's Hassan Nader. After retiring, he faced severe economic problems. On 23 July 2015, Jorge was appointed director of football of União de Almeirim in Santarém. Jorge is included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists → |
| (WIK/WS) |
33 caps, 5 goals
retired
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