Víctor Fernández
Template:Short description {{#invoke:Other people|otherPeople}} Template:Family name hatnote Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Víctor Fernández Braulio (born 28 November 1960) is a Spanish football manager.
He had four spells with his hometown team Zaragoza, winning the Copa del Rey in 1994 and the Cup Winners' Cup a year later. He also led Tenerife, Celta, Real Betis and Deportivo de La Coruña in La Liga, and won the Intercontinental Cup in a brief spell at Porto in 2004.
Football career
Zaragoza
Fernández was born in Zaragoza, Aragon. Late into the 1990–91 season, aged only 30, he was promoted to hometown Real Zaragoza's first team,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> eventually leading it to the 17th league position and avoiding La Liga relegation in the playoffs against Real Murcia CF; at the time of his beginnings, he was the second youngest manager to ever coach in the league after Xabier Azkargorta.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In the following years, Fernández helped Zaragoza consolidate in the top division, notably reconverting Gus Poyet from forward to attacking midfielder and winning the Copa del Rey in 1994<ref name=COPA>Template:Cite news</ref> and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup the next season.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was relieved of his duties on 8 November 1996,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> meeting the same fate the following year with his next club, CD Tenerife.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Celta
In May 1998, Fernández was appointed to replace Javier Irureta at RC Celta de Vigo,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Profiting from the recent Bosman ruling, his team fielded many European Union players such as Claude Makélélé, as well as those from further afield such as the Israeli Haim Revivo and Russian midfield duo Valeri Karpin and Aleksandr Mostovoi;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Galician team played highly attractive football and were known as EuroCelta for their performances in continental competitions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Fernández led Celta in the UEFA Cup in each of his four seasons, reaching the quarter-finals on all but one occasion; highlights included a 3–1 win over Liverpool in November 1998,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a 7–0 rout of S.L. Benfica a year later<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a 4–0 victory at Juventus FC in March 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His team won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in the summer of 2000, with a 4–3 aggregate defeat of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.<ref name=IT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Domestically, he surprisingly lost the 2001 Copa del Rey final 3–1 to Zaragoza, who had barely avoided relegation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Betis
Fernández was appointed at fellow top flight team Real Betis in May 2002, after the exit of Juande Ramos.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He finished eighth and ninth respectively in his two years, and his team were eliminated from the third round of the UEFA Cup by AJ Auxerre in his first campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Porto
In August 2004, Fernández moved abroad and joined Portuguese club FC Porto; the UEFA Champions League holders had dismissed Luigi Delneri before a single competitive game.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He won on his debut on 20 August in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, with new signing Ricardo Quaresma scoring the only goal of a win against rivals Benfica;<ref name=SC>Template:Cite news</ref> on 12 December he added the conquest of the last ever Intercontinental Cup with a penalty shootout victory over Colombia's Once Caldas.<ref name=IC>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Domestically, Fernández's team gave up their Primeira Liga lead to Benfica on 20 November 2004 when they lost 1–0 at home to neighbours Boavista FC.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Home form was a struggle with three wins from the first seven fixtures, including another single-goal defeat to S.C. Beira-Mar two weeks later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was abruptly dismissed the following January following a 1–3 defeat to S.C. Braga, again at the Estádio do Dragão.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Returns to Zaragoza and Betis
Fernández returned to his beloved Zaragoza for the 2006–07 campaign,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> qualifying the side for the UEFA Cup in his first year but being sacked midway through his second,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as the season eventually ended in relegation.
In another return, Fernández joined Betis in late January 2010, replacing fired Antonio Tapia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During his spell the Verdiblancos were the team in the league with the most points, but they missed out on promotion from Segunda División after being beaten to promotion places through head-to-head against Hércules CF and Levante UD, despite beating the latter 4–0 on the final day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Later years
On 9 January 2013, Fernández moved for his second experience abroad, signing a contract with Belgium's K.A.A. Gent.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was sacked on 30 September 2013, due to poor results.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Fernández was appointed as the new manager of Deportivo de La Coruña on 10 July 2014, succeeding Fernando Vázquez.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was relieved of his duties on 9 April of the following year, with the team eventually narrowly escaping relegation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In the summer of 2015, Fernández signed for Real Madrid as youth system coordinator.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He left the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in 2017,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and on 17 December 2018 he returned to Zaragoza for a third stint as manager replacing the dismissed Lucas Alcaraz.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Fernández resigned on 18 August 2020, after losing the play-off semi-finals to Elche CF.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 11 March 2024, after nearly four years without a club, he returned to Zaragoza for his fourth spell.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 18 December 2024, Fernández resigned again.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He announced his decision while holding a press conference, and in the aftermath of a seven-game winless run.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Managerial statistics
Honours
Zaragoza
- Copa del Rey: 1993–94<ref name=COPA/>
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1994–95<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Celta
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2000<ref name=IT/>
Porto
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2004<ref name=SC/>
- Intercontinental Cup: 2004<ref name=IC/>
References
External links
- 1960 births
- Living people
- 20th-century Spanish sportsmen
- Spanish men's footballers
- Footballers from Zaragoza
- Men's association football midfielders
- Tercera División players
- Spanish football managers
- La Liga managers
- Segunda División managers
- Segunda División B managers
- Deportivo Aragón managers
- Real Zaragoza managers
- CD Tenerife managers
- RC Celta de Vigo managers
- Real Betis managers
- Deportivo de La Coruña managers
- Primeira Liga managers
- FC Porto managers
- Belgian Pro League managers
- KAA Gent managers
- Spanish expatriate football managers
- Expatriate football managers in Portugal
- Expatriate football managers in Belgium
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
- Real Madrid CF non-playing staff