José Manuel Figueira (born 9 February 1982) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach, who is the current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Northern League club Auckland United. Figueira previously held notable roles as the head coach of

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was an association football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most successful football c ...

, assistant coach of the New Zealand national team, and head coach of the New Zealand under-17 national team. In his short managerial career, Figueira has won multiple domestic and international competitions, including the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship () was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a myriad of short-lived football leagues in ...

OFC Champions League The OFC Men's Champions League is the premier men's club football competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been organised since 2007 ...

OFC U-17 Championship The OFC Men's U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World ...

and the National Youth League.

Career

Born in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

, England to Spanish parents. Figueira initially began his career as a player, playing for the youth side of local club

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

, but quit at the age of 19 to pursue a career in coaching, arriving in New Zealand in 2003 following a short stint coaching at the academy of

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

. Figueira was announced as head coach of the New Zealand under-17 national team in preparation for the

2015 OFC U-17 Championship The 2015 OFC U-17 Championship was the 16th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 17 and below. The tournament was held in American Samoa and Samoa ...

; however, after winning the tournament, he was controversially sacked despite winning all seven games and lifting the title. He was reappointed in 2018, as well as being named assistant manager to Fritz Schmid for the New Zealand senior team. Despite a shock 5–0 loss to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, Figueira and New Zealand lifted the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship title. In 2016, Figueira was announced as the new manager of defending ISPS Handa Premiership champions

; he immediately led them to another title in the 2016–17 season at his first attempt. This led to him being named New Zealand Football Coach of the Year in 2017. Under Figueira, Team Wellington won the

2018 OFC Champions League The 2018 OFC Champions League was the 17th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club association football, football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and the 12th season under the current OFC ...

, qualifying the club for their first ever

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

; the club was knocked out on penalties to

Al-Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al Ain is the largest inland city in ...

in the playoff round after a 3–3 draw.

Honours

Team Wellington *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Auckland City FC * National Youth League: 2009 Central United F.C. * Lotto NRFL Men's Premier Division: 2016 New Zealand U17 *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* OFC U-16 Championship:

References

External links

*http://www.twfc.co.nz/201718-coaching-team/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueira, José 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Crawley English football managers English people of Spanish descent Expatriate association football managers in New Zealand