Delfín Álvarez Yáñez (14 September 1936 – 29 August 2015) was 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 and

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 ...

. Álvarez amassed 74 matches and only one goal in

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 ...

, including 91/3 in

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 ...

. As a manager, he only reached the top tier while in charge of

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 ...

, but spent seven seasons with clubs in the second level.

Playing career

Born in

A Veiga A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

, Galicia, Álvarez made his senior debut at Venezuelan club Banco Obrero, after moving to the country at the age of 15. In 1956 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 ...

, being assigned to

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

AD Plus Ultra 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 capaci ...

; he made his professional debut on 15 September 1957, in a

1–3 away loss against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. In 1960 Álvarez moved to

side

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

, making his debut in the competition on 11 September in a 0–1 loss 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 ...

. He scored his first goal as a professional on 23 April 1961, netting his team's second in a 5–1 home routing 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 ...

. After suffering relegation, Álvarez moved to

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 ...

in the second level in 1962, and achieved promotion back to the top tier at first attempt. He left the Murcians in 1965, after suffering another drop. Shortly after leaving Murcia Álvarez joined

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

also in the main category, but left the club in 1966. He subsequently represented

Pontevedra CF Pontevedra Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 16 October 1941 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF, Primera ...

before retiring at the age of 31, in 1968.

Managerial career

Álvarez started his managerial career with lower clubs in his native region, had a spell at

CD Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divisi ...

, taking the side back to

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

at first attempt. He was subsequently appointed at

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 ...

in 1983, winning promotion to the second level in his first season and nearly repeating the feat in his second. Álvarez was subsequently appointed in charge of second tier clubs

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 ''Estadi ...

and

UD Alzira Unión Deportiva Alzira is a Spanish football team based in Alzira, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1946 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at '' Estadio Luis Suñer Picó'', with a capacity of ...

in the following campaigns, suffering relegation with the latter. In December 1989 he was named manager of top level club

, only winning one match out of 12 before being sacked. After subsequent spells at

CD Ourense Club Deportivo Ourense, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1952 after the dissolution of old UD Orensana, it played in Segunda División B – Group 1, holding home games at ...

and

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

, Álvarez was appointed at the helm of

CA Marbella Club Atlético Marbella were a Spanish football team based in Marbella, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1947 and dissolved in 1997, it was also the reserve team of CD Málaga for a time. History Atlético Marbella had its he ...

in April 1995, only lasting three matches (all defeats). After another short period at Elche (two matches) and a second spell at Guadalajara, he was appointed manager of Pontevedra in October 1999. After resigning in July 2000, Álvarez returned to the ''Granotes'' on 16 October of that year. He resigned in January 2001, and subsequently retired from football due to a recurrent

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

injury.

Death

On 29 August 2015, Álvarez died due to a long illness, aged 79.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Delfin 1936 births 2015 deaths Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Galicia (Spain) Sportspeople from the Province of Ourense Men's association football midfielders Real Madrid Castilla footballers Granada CF footballers Real Murcia players RCD Espanyol footballers Pontevedra CF footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Venezuela Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Venezuela Spanish football managers CD Ourense managers CD Badajoz managers Racing de Ferrol managers Pontevedra CF managers CD Guadalajara (Spain) managers CD Logroñés managers Elche CF managers Racing de Santander managers RC Celta de Vigo managers Xerez CD managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers