Benny Couto
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bernardo Peixoto Couto[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 27 September 2003[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Porto, Portugal[1] | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Waterford | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Oldham Athletic | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2024 | Oldham Athletic | 28 | (1) |
| 2023 | → The New Saints (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | → Ashton United (loan) | 31 | (3) |
| 2024 | Ashton United | 17 | (1) |
| 2025 | Cork City | 20 | (0) |
| 2026– | Waterford | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15:18, 5 December 2025 (UTC) | |||
Bernardo Peixoto Couto (born 27 September 2003) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a left-back for League of Ireland Premier Division club Waterford.
Club career
Born in Portugal,[2] Couto began his career with English club Oldham Athletic in their academy. In August 2021, he was called up by coach Keith Curle to participate in first team training after impressing coaches with the youth squad.[2] On 31 August, Couto was named as a starter for Oldham Athletic in the EFL Trophy match against Salford City, playing the whole 90 minutes in the 1–0 victory.[3] Shortly following his debut, he would go onto play the second half in the 7-0 away defeat to Brentford in the EFL Cup. Despite the Scoreline, he played well leading to his first League Two start days later. A 1-0 victory against Rochdale in the Greater Manchester derby again performing well and winning favour with the Oldham Athletic fans. Throughout the festive period Couto continued to perform well. During this period he scored his first professional goal in a 3-1 defeat at home to Scunthorpe United.
In August 2023 he joined Cymru Premier club The New Saints on loan until January 2024.[4]
Having spent the majority of the 2023–24 season at Ashton United on loan, he spent the first half of the following season with the club after signing permanently with them in the summer of 2024.
On 29 November 2024, Couto signed for newly promoted League of Ireland Premier Division side Cork City ahead of their 2025 season.[5] On 26 April 2025, he picked up an ankle injury in a 1–1 draw away to Sligo Rovers that would keep him out of action for several months.[6] He made a total of 23 appearances in all competitions by the end of the season, as the club were relegated to the League of Ireland First Division by finishing bottom of the league.[7]
On 5 December 2025, it was announced that Couto had signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Waterford.[8]
Career statistics
- As of match played 13 October 2025[1]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | League Cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Oldham Athletic | 2021–22[9] | League Two | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[c] | 0 | 26 | 1 |
| 2022–23[9] | National League | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 2[d] | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24[9] | National League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 40 | 1 | ||
| The New Saints (loan) | 2023–24[9] | Cymru Premier | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ashton United (loan) | 2023–24[10] | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 31 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | 5[e] | 1 | 38 | 4 | |
| Ashton United | 2024–25[11] | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 2[d] | 0 | 19 | 1 | |
| Cork City | 2025[9] | LOI Premier Division | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 1[f] | 0 | 23 | 0 | |
| Waterford | 2026[9] | LOI Premier Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0[f] | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 97 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 121 | 6 | ||
- ^ Includes FA Cup, Welsh Cup & FAI Cup
- ^ Includes EFL Cup & Welsh League Cup
- ^ Appearances in the EFL Trophy
- ^ a b Appearances in the FA Trophy
- ^ 2 appearances in the FA Trophy & 3 appearances, 1 goal in the Manchester Premier Cup
- ^ a b Appearance(s) in the Munster Senior Cup
References
- ^ a b c d "Benny Couto: Summary". soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- ^ a b Geldard, Suzanne (2 September 2021). "Couto made good first impression on Oldham boss Keith Curle". The Oldham Times. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Oldham Athletic 1–0 Salford City". Soccerway.
- ^ "The New Saints sign Benny Cuoto on loan from National League side, Oldham Athletic". The New Saints. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- ^ "Welcome to City, Benny Couto!". Cork City FC Shop.
- ^ "Benny Couto ruled out for 'a couple of months' in latest Cork City injury blow". echo live. 1 May 2025.
- ^ Barry, Stephen (13 October 2025). "Lacklustre Cork City relegated after defeat to Shelbourne". Irish Examiner.
- ^ https://waterfordfc.ie/2025/12/05/benny-couto-is-a-blue/
- ^ a b c d e f "Summary - Bernardo Peixoto Couto - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
- ^ "Ashton United | Appearances | Bernardo Couto | 2023-2024 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk.
- ^ "Ashton United | Appearances | Bernardo Couto | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk.