Fernando Castro Santos (born 20 February 1952) is a Spanish retired

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 defender, and a retired

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 ...

. During his career, he worked in several clubs in his country as well as in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Football career

Born in

Poio Poio is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra. Poio is located in the North shore of the Ría de Pontevedra, between Sanxenxo and the provincial capital, Pontevedra. The municipality is adjacent with Meaño, Meis, Ponteve ...

Province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, th ...

, Santos began working as a manager at only 30 with local

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 moving to Galician neighbours

SD Compostela Sociedad Deportiva Compostela is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Santiago de Compostela, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. They play home matches at ''Estadio Multiusos de San Lázaro'', and ...

in 1989. During his six-year spell at the latter club, he led it from the

fourth division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

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 ...

. After helping ''Compos'' retain their top flight status in the 1994–95 season, Santos stayed in the region, signing with

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 ...

and remaining there for two years. He started 1997–98 in Portugal with

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese f ...

, being sacked after a few months (the side eventually reached the

domestic cup A domestic cup (also known as association cup or national cup) is a type of sports tournament, particularly common in association football. This tournament type is notable for its participation by professional and amateur teams from many levels of ...

final) and returning to his country with

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

, in the second level. Leaving Sevilla in summer 1999 after the team's top flight promotion, Santos spent the following years at

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

Polideportivo Ejido Poli Ejido 2012 Sociedad Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in El Ejido, Province of Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1969 and dissolved in 2012, it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Santo Domingo'', ...

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

and

UD Vecindario Unión Deportiva Vecindario is a Spanish football team based in Vecindario, Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1962, it helds home games at ''Estadio Municipal de Vecindario'', with a ...

– all in the country's second tier, safe for 2000–01; he also spent some of the 2002–03 campaign again at Braga, meeting the same fate. On 9 February 2010, Santos returned to Portugal as a replacement for sacked José Mota at

Leixões SC The Port of Leixões ( pt, Porto de Leixões, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto. Leixões Sport Club The Port of Leixões ( pt, P ...

. On 21 October, he returned to his first club Pontevedra after taking over from

Ángel Viadero Ángel Eduardo Viadero Odriozola (born 3 January 1969) is a Spanish football coach, who is currently in charge of Lleida Esportiu. He spent the great majority of his career managing in Segunda División B, leading both Racing Santander and thei ...

Personal life

Castro Santos' son,

Diego Castro Diego Castro Giménez (; born 2 July 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left winger. He amassed La Liga totals of 226 games and 43 goals over eight seasons, mainly representing Getafe (four years) and Sporting de Gijón ...

, is a professional footballer. A winger, he represented with success

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 ...

and

Perth Glory FC Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 199 ...

.Diego Castro y Fernando Castro Santos, duelo entre padre e hijo en Segunda (Diego Castro and Fernando Castro Santos, father-son duel in ''Segunda'')
; Hoy Sport, 23 January 2008 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castro Santos, Fernando 1952 births Living people Footballers from Galicia (Spain) Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Pontevedra CF footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Pontevedra CF managers SD Compostela managers RC Celta de Vigo managers Sevilla FC managers CD Tenerife managers Polideportivo Ejido managers Córdoba CF managers UD Almería managers UD Vecindario managers Primeira Liga managers S.C. Braga managers Leixões S.C. managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal CD Arenteiro managers