 Heleno spent most of his club career with Botafogo, scoring 209 goals in 235 matches for the club, most with his head.In 1948 he transferred to Boca Juniors in Argentina, but returned to Brazil the following year, winning the 1949 Campeonato Carioca with Vasco.He also had a spell in Colombia with Atlético Junior, before ending his career with América in Rio, after a very short stint at Santos; he played only one match for America, on 4 November 1951, during which he was sent off after only 25 minutes of play for insulting his teammates, and it was his first and last game in the Maracanã.