Fabian Defreitas-Striker (Bolton):
Fabian Defreitas starred in the 1995 play-off final between Bolton and Reading. Bolton amazingly came back from 2-0 down to Reading, losing two early goals and but for a penalty save, would have been 3-0 down in the first half. Owen Coyle struck back on 75 minutes and Defreitas levelled things up with 5 minutes left. In extra time Mixu Paatelainen scored to nudge Bolton in front, before Defreitas scored what would prove to be the winner on a 118 minutes with Reading scoring a minute later through Quinn.
Defreitas failed to reach those heroic heights again for Bolton though, scoring just 7 goals in his 40 appearances.
After a spell with Osasuna, Defreitas was brought back to England with West Brom. He was a laid-back character who was best remembered for failing to turn up for a 3 o’clock kick off on time. West Brom managed to contact him on the phone at 2.20 pm, he stated that he thought it was a night match. He arrived at The Hawthorns just before 3pm, the team sheet was already up. West Brom subsequently got beat 5-1.
He retired from football in 2004 after leaving NEC. He studied a course in psychology before changing his mind to study engineering and graduated in 2012. He now lives in Den Bosch and is an engineer.
