David Vidal Tomé (born 2 August 1950) 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 ...

and former player who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Football career

Vidal was born in Porto do Son,

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

, Galicia. After an unassuming career (the

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

never played 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 ...

and appeared in only 15

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 ...

games) he took up coaching in 1982, first with Cádiz CF in his adopted city. Vidal began with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

ns' youth sides, then moved to assistant manager, being finally appointed head coach for the 1988–89 season after a brief interim spell in 1987. It was during that time he managed arguably the club's best ever player,

Mágico González Jorge Alberto González Barillas (born 13 March 1958), popularly known as ''El Mágico'' (The Magical One), is a Salvadoran former footballer who played mainly as a forward. At the club level, he played mainly for FAS and Spain's Cádiz in a ...

, of whom he once said: "Technically he was better than Maradona". After two and a half additional years in the top flight with modest

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 ...

, who always retained their status, Vidal resumed his career mainly in the second tier. On 12 January 2007, he was appointed manager of

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 ...

following the sacking of Luis García. On 12 October of the following year, as a draw at RC Celta de Vigo meant Elche only managed two points from seven matches, the manager was dismissed after a meeting with the board of directors; his assistant, former

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

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

player

Claudio Barragán Claudio Barragán Escobar (born 10 April 1964) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. His professional career was closely associated to Elche, as both a player and manager, but he was also an important ...

was temporarily placed in charge of the team. On 17 March 2010,

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 ...

announced that Vidal would replace

Julián Rubio Julián Rubio Sánchez (born 28 January 1952) is a Spanish former football midfielder and manager. He appeared in 134 La Liga matches over six seasons (14 goals), mainly in representation of Sevilla. His professional career was closely associat ...

as manager until the end of the campaign. After helping the Castile-La Mancha side avoid relegation from division two, as 15th, he was released. Vidal returned to Albacete midway through the 2010–11 season, replacing the fired

Antonio Calderón Antonio Calderón Burgos (born 2 June 1967) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a caretaker manager Challenger Pro League club of Deinze. Over eight seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 215 games ...

. He was also relieved of his duties after only one and a half months in charge, as the team was eventually relegated to the

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 ...

after 21 years. After two years out of football, Vidal was appointed at

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 ...

club

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 ...

on 13 July 2013. As it was in the midst of severe economic problems, he left after less than one month, and continued to work in the lower leagues. In May 2017, Vidal achieved promotion to the second division with

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lorca, Spain, Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Region of ...

after arriving the previous month. On 5 June, however, his contract was not extended. On 20 June 2019, after nearly two years of inactivity, Vidal was appointed manager of

Racing Murcia FC Racing Murcia City 1913 Fútbol Club is a football club based in Murcia a district in center of Murcia Center, Murcia, Spain. Founded on 1 September 2013, it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 13, holding home games at the Estadio Univers ...

in the regional leagues. In October 2020, he left due to personal reasons and was replaced by Antonio Pedreño.

Honours

Manager

Murcia *

: 2002–03

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, David 1950 births Living people People from Noia (comarca) Sportspeople from the Province of A Coruña Spanish footballers Footballers from Galicia (Spain) Association football defenders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Deportivo Fabril players UE Lleida players Deportivo de La Coruña players Cádiz CF players Villarreal CF players Xerez CD footballers UD Melilla footballers CD Logroñés footballers Jerez Industrial CF players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Cádiz CF managers CD Logroñés managers Rayo Vallecano managers Villarreal CF managers Hércules CF managers SD Compostela managers Real Murcia managers UD Las Palmas managers UE Lleida managers Elche CF managers Albacete Balompié managers Xerez CD managers CD Guadalajara (Spain) managers Lorca FC managers