Alberto López Fernández (born 20 May 1969) is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He spent the bulk of his career at

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

, for whom he appeared in 377 competitive matches.

Playing career

Real Sociedad

A product of

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

giants

's youth system, López was born in

Irun Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as ...

, and made his first appearances with the first team in the closing stages of the 1992–93 season, having played understudy to the inconsistent Javier Yubero for most of the year. He would be the undisputed starter from the following campaign onwards, missing only a total of seven

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

games in the next seven years (in 1997–98, as Real ranked third, he played all 38 matches and conceded 37 goals). López had to compete for the starting job with newly signed

Sander Westerveld Sander Westerveld (born 23 October 1974) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He was the goalkeeping coach of South African Premier Soccer League club Ajax Cape Town. The highlight of his playing ...

from 2001–02 onwards. He finished the season with 18 appearances, but had just one the following campaign as the Dutchman was first choice for the runners-up.

Valladolid

Following the emergence of another youth product at Real Sociedad,

Asier Riesgo Asier Riesgo Unamuno (born 6 October 1983) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for CD Leganés as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Deba, Gipuzkoa, and a product of Real Sociedad's youth academy, Riesgo made his professional debut wi ...

, López was deemed surplus to requirements and joined

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

on a one-year deal. In 2006–07, he helped the side to return to the top flight after a three-year absence while also collecting a

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ricardo Zamora, link=no) is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' MARCA'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ic ...

– 36 matches, 29 goals. In the following season, López acted as backup and helped develop wonderkid

Sergio Asenjo Sergio Asenjo Andrés (; born 28 June 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Real Valladolid as a goalkeeper. He started his professional career with Valladolid in 2007, making 47 senior appearances in his first spell. He then ...

(20 years his junior), and had his contract extended until June 2009 after which he retired at the age of 40.

Coaching career

López started working as a manager in 2011, with

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...

's reserves. He joined

Juan Carlos Mandiá Juan Carlos Mandiá Lorenzo (born 17 January 1967) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defender, currently a manager. Playing career Mandiá was born in Alfoz, Province of Lugo. Over a 16-year playing career he represented Real M ...

's staff at

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

two years later, being named his successor late into the second-tier campaign and eventually leading the team to safety. On 12 June 2015, after again managing to stay afloat, López left the

Mendizorrotza Stadium Mendizorrotza or Mendizorroza is a football stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Deportivo Alavés. History Opened on 27 April 1924, it is currently the third oldest football stadium in the Spanish Professional ...

. In 53 league games in charge, he collected 19 wins and 20 losses. López returned to Valladolid on 26 April 2016, taking the place of the dismissed

Miguel Ángel Portugal Miguel Angel Portugal Vicario (born 28 November 1955) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and is the current manager of Bolivian club Guabirá. He totalled 66 games and four goals in La Liga for four clubs including R ...

Style of play

A player with good one-on-one skills, López had a weakness in crossing situations.

Honours

Valladolid *

: 2006–07

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Alberto 1969 births Living people Footballers from Irun Spanish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Sociedad B footballers Real Sociedad footballers Real Valladolid players Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Deportivo Alavés managers Real Valladolid managers