José Manuel Figueira (born 9 February 1982 in

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and 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 population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is an English

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 ...

coach of Spanish descent, who is the current

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 ...

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

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was a New Zealand semi-professional 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 succe ...

, assistant coach of the

New Zealand national team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, 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 ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) 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 m ...

OFC Champions League The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer 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 ...

OFC U-17 Championship The OFC 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 Cup, w ...

and the National Youth League.

Career

Born in

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 club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

, 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 simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. 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 f ...

; 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 is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

, Figueira and New Zealand lifted the

2018 OFC U-16 Championship The 2018 OFC U-16 Championship was the 18th edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of ...

title. In 2016, Figueira was announced as the new manager of defending

ISPS Handa Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) 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 m ...

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 Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, ...

, qualifying the club for their first ever

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

; the club was knocked out on penalties to

Al-Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tawam (region), Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al-Ain Region, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ...

in the playoff round after a 3–3 draw.

Honours

;

Champions (1):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Champions (1):

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

;

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is a New Zealand professional football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League (New Zealand), Northern League. Auckland City have established the ...

* National Youth League (1): 2009 ;

Central United F.C. Central United Football Club is an amateur association football (soccer) club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRF Championship. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it changed ...

* Lotto NRFL Men's Premier Division (1): 2016 ; New Zealand U17 *

(1):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

OFC U-16 Championship The OFC 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 Cup, w ...

(1):

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