Alejandro Menéndez García (born 12 July 1966) is a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 ...

Career

Born in

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...

, Menéndez started his managerial career at

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

's youth setup. After winning the 2004

Copa de Campeones Juvenil de Fútbol The Copa de Campeones de Juvenil is the tournament created by the RFEF to determine the overall youth champion of Spain. Since the 2014–15 season, the winner of this competition will qualify for the UEFA Youth League. Competition format The w ...

and being a runner-up in

2005 Copa del Rey Juvenil The 2005 Copa del Rey Juvenil was the 55th staging of the tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlappin ...

, he moved to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

as a manager of the ''Juvenil'' squad. In July 2007, Menéndez was named

Celta de Vigo B Real Club Celta de Vigo, S.A.D. "B" is a Spanish football team based in Vigo, Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1927, it is the reserve team of Celta Vigo and competes in the Primera Federación – Group 1. They pl ...

manager, with the side in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. On 13 May 2008 he was appointed at the helm of the main squad, replacing fired Antonio Lopez, and subsequently avoided relegation with the club. Menéndez subsequently returned to Celta's B-team and, in 2009, was appointed at another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in Primera Federación – Group 1 for the 2022–23 season. It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a cap ...

also in the third tier. On 4 January 2011, he was relieved from his duties. On 5 March 2013, Menéndez was appointed manager of

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

as a replacement to dismissed

José Aurelio Gay José Aurelio Gay López (born 10 December 1965) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and the manager of Bolivian club CD Vaca Díez. He was associated with Zaragoza throughout his career, serving the club as both a play ...

. However, he could not avoid the club's relegation to the third level, and subsequently left the club. In September 2013 Menéndez moved abroad for the first time in his career, being named

Buriram United F.C. Buriram United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลบุรีรัมย์ ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional football club based in Buriram, Thailand. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the ...

manager in Thailand. With the side he achieved immediate success, winning a domestic treble (

Thai Premier League The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from August ...

Thai FA Cup The Thai FA Cup ( th, ไทยเอฟเอคัพ), known officially as The Football Association of Thailand Cup, is a football cup competition in Thailand. Thai FA Cup is an annual knockout association football competition in men's domestic ...

and

Thai League Cup The League Cup ( th, ไทยลีกคัพ) is a football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Toyota League Cup for sponsorship reasons. It was re-formed during the 2010 domestic football league season in Thailand and runs alon ...

) during his first season in charge. Menéndez resigned on 11 April 2014, after winning the

Toyota Premier Cup The Toyota Premier Cup was a single-game cup competition organized by the Toyota and Football Association of Thailand and was first played in 2011. It features the winners of the Thai League Cup and an invited team from the J1 League. The competit ...

and the

Kor Royal Cup Kor Royal Cup ( th, ถ้วยพระราชทาน ก. ; ถ้วย ก.), known as the Yai Cup ( th, ถ้วยใหญ่) until 1963, was the highest level of club football competition which competed in the tournament in Thailand ...

. On 28 December of that year, he was named as the new manager of

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

side

Shaanxi Wuzhou Shaanxi Wuzhou Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club based in Xi'an, Shaanxi which last played in the China League One division. The club was originally formed on February 5, 2007 as Guangdong Sunray Cave F.C. and was once o ...

, but left the side one month later due to its bureaucratic problems. One year since his last job, Menéndez returned to Celta B in February 2016 where he signed a one and a-half-year contract as a replacement for the sacked Javier Torres Gomez. In August 2018, Menendez joined

East Bengal F.C. East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

of India's

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

for the upcoming season, as part of a spending spree by new owners Quess Corp. He led the club to second place, one point behind

Chennai City FC Chennai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, that last competed in the I-League, then one of the top flights of Indian football league system, and Chennai Football League. Established in ...

, and won both

Kolkata Derby The Kolkata Derby (locally known as "Boro Match"; bn, বড় ম্যাচ) is the football match in Kolkata, between East Bengal and ATK Mohun Bagan (Mohun Bagan till 2019–20). In January 2020, the owners of a Kolkata based Indian Su ...

matches against

Mohun Bagan A.C. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

; at the end of the campaign in March 2019 he extended his link by two years. He resigned on 21 January 2020, after taking just eight points from the first seven games of the season. Menéndez returned to his home country on 8 December 2020, after being appointed

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

's third manager of the season.

Managerial statistics

Honours

;Buriram United *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: 2014

Individual awards

* I-League Coach of the Month (December 2019)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menendez, Alejandro 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Gijón Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers RC Celta de Vigo managers Real Madrid Castilla managers Racing de Santander managers Burgos CF managers Albacete Balompié managers

Alejandro Menendez Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...

I-League managers East Bengal Club managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in China Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate football managers in Thailand Expatriate football managers in China Expatriate football managers in India Celta de Vigo B managers