Antonio Ruiz Cervilla (born 31 July 1937) is a Spanish retired football

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and

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 ...

Playing career

Born in Guadalupe de Maciascoque,

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; es, Región de Murcia ), is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in ...

, Ruiz played five years for Real Madrid, making his

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' ...

debut on 21 April 1957 in a 4–1 home win against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

. He appeared in only 15 games in his first three seasons combined, adding five complete matches in the club's 1958–59 campaign in the European Cup, including the 2–0 final win against Stade de Reims. In 1962, Ruiz signed for

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

on loan, being an undisputed starter during his only season but suffering relegation. Released by the ''Merengues'', he spent five of the following seven seasons in Segunda División, one of the two exceptions being 1964–65 with

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

– top level relegation. He retired in 1970 at the age of 33, with Spanish first division totals of 103 games and five goals.

Manager career

Immediately after retiring, Ruiz started coaching, his first stop being Murcia's B-team. In the following three decades he managed another eight clubs, interspersed with several periods of inactivity. From 1979 to 1981, Ruiz was in charge of

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at t ...

in the top flight, being sacked early into his second season, which ended in a narrow escape from relegation. In 1984–85 and 1994–95, in the same division, he amassed 30 games for

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...

and

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in '' Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club has ...

combined as both teams eventually dropped down a level; the

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, an ...

side had no fewer than five coaches throughout the campaign, finishing with an all-time low 13 points.

Honours

Real Madrid

: 1956–57, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1961–62 *

Copa del Generalísimo The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 1961–62; Runner-up

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, 1959–60, 1960–61 * European Cup: 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60; Runner-up 1961–62 * Intercontinental Cup:

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

Latin Cup The Latin Cup was an international football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949 the football federations came together and requested FIFA to launch the competition. Europ ...

: 1956

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Antonio 1937 births Living people Footballers from Murcia Spanish footballers Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Real Madrid CF players Deportivo de La Coruña players CD Málaga footballers Real Murcia players CD Castellón footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Real Madrid Castilla managers UD Las Palmas managers Granada CF managers category:Rayo Vallecano managers Elche CF managers Real Oviedo managers CD Eldense managers CD Logroñés managers CD Guadalajara (Spain) managers UEFA Champions League winning players