He had joined the Blades in a £500,000 raid from Yorkshire rivals Leeds United in October 1999 and made his debut in a 2-2 draw at Swindon. A month later he scored his only goal in a Blades shirt in an identical score at West Brom. United survived relegation under the stewardship of Neil Warnock but the following season he fell out of favour and returned to Portugal on loan. At the end of the season he was released. Following his retirement in 2010 he spent a number of years managing in Portugal before, in June 2016 replaced Robert Page (another former Blade) as amanger of the Vale Park club. As part of his backroom staff he lists former Sheffield United players Michael Brown and Andy Smith amongst his staff.
Ribeiro was part of the Sheffield United's side which lost against Vale, in their only league victory at Bramall Lane in November 1999 during the short tenure of Adrian Heath. Port Vale were victorious by three goals to one that day and within 24 hours the Blades were without a manager following Heath's resignation. The Portuguese midfielder was a 56th minute substitute, replacing Petr Katchouro.
An article in the Daily Mirror the following day read; 'Blades fans celebrated the departure of under-fire plc chairman Mike McDonald, who resigned just before kick-off after announcing a pounds 4.2m annual loss. But their joy was short-lived as Port Vale, without an away win all season, floored them - and then manager Adrian Heath resigned after the game. Blades took a first-half lead when Lee Sandford headed home Bobby Ford's corner.
But Vale equalised in first-half injury time when Richard Eyre picked up Martin Foyle's neat flick and lashed home. It got worse for Blades, without a win in eight games, in the 71st minute when Vale's Allen Tankard headed home a second and Anthony Gardner rubbed it in with the third in the 80th minute. Vale's Dave Brammer was sent off in the last minute. McDonald is set to be replaced by Kevin McCabe.'
Following their victory at Stadium:MK last Sunday, Vale manager Ribeiro told port-vale.co.uk; “Coming here everyone was fresh and everyone understands what I wanted for this game and we win. It’s a great win because it’s a good club we played against, with good players and they are a strong team. I want to stay in the top six now till the end of the season, we know it will be difficult.”
Looking ahead to this weekend's clash at Bramall Lane, the Vallients boss said; “We just need to work on the pitch and that’s more important thing. We will keep working day by day and in the end we will see what happens. “The next match we have another big game, coming against my former club who are also a good team.”
@blades_mad1889