José Luis Martí Soler (born 28 April 1975) is a Spanish professional

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 former player who played as a central midfielder. Known for his tactical awareness, he amassed La Liga totals of 336 matches and eight goals over 13 seasons, representing

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

(two spells), Tenerife and Sevilla. He won five major titles with the latter club, including two UEFA Cups. Martí started working as a manager in 2015, going on to spend three seasons 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 ...

with Tenerife and one apiece in the same tier with Deportivo, Girona, Leganés and Sporting de Gijón.

Playing career

Early years and Tenerife

Martí was born in

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

. Having starting playing professionally with hometown's

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

, making his first-team debut at the age of already 25 in the 1999–2000 season (one game, one minute against Deportivo Alavés), he switched the following campaign to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, joining CD Tenerife in the

and being instrumental in the team's promotion to La Liga.

Sevilla

After Tenerife's top-division relegation, Martí played one more season with the club, then returned to the top flight as he joined Sevilla FC in July 2003, going on to become a regular in the Andalusia side's exploits in the subsequent years – for instance, as they won back-to-back UEFA Cups, he totalled 24 appearances scoring two goals, both through

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. In May 2007, Martí extended his contract with Sevilla until 2010. However, having lost his importance in 2007–08, he was loaned to

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 ...

in January 2008, but the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

ultimately failed to return to the top tier.

Mallorca

33-year-old Martí returned to Mallorca in July 2008, for about €500.000, being an undisputed starter in the first year upon his return and the following, when the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

side were edged in the last matchday for the final berth for the UEFA Champions League, precisely by former club Sevilla. Again from the penalty spot, he netted his only goal of the season at Sporting de Gijón on 4 October 2009 (4–1 defeat). Martí renewed his link on 29 June 2011, until the following year. Still first choice, the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

saw the team be relegated to division two in

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, the first time in 16 years. One month after his 40th birthday, Martí announced he would retire from football at the end of the 2014–15 campaign, with Mallorca still in the second division.

Coaching career

Martí was appointed manager of Tenerife on 4 November 2015, replacing fired Raül Agné. He was himself relieved of his duties on 4 February 2018 after four league games without a win, totalling 39 wins, 40 draws and 29 defeats during his spell. On 8 April 2019, after more than a year without a club, Martí signed for Deportivo de La Coruña in place of Natxo González who had been fired a day earlier. In late June, after leading the team to the sixth position in the regular season and falling short in the promotion play-offs, he left. On 28 October 2019, Martí replaced the dismissed Juan Carlos Unzué at the helm of

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

also in the second division. He was shown the door the following 30 June, with the side in fifth and therefore in the playoffs. Martí remained in the second tier in August 2020, taking the reins of

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

who had recently been relegated. He was sacked on 26 January 2021, after a five-match winless streak. On 23 February 2022, Martí replaced

David Gallego David Gallego Rodríguez (born 26 January 1972) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of SD Ponferradina. Playing career Born in Súria, Barcelona, Catalonia, Gallego made his s ...

at the helm of Sporting de Gijón, still in the second division. On 3 May, after just one win in ten games, he was dismissed.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Sevilla * Copa del Rey: 2006–07 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

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* UEFA Cup: 2005–06, 2006–07 * UEFA Super Cup:

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; runner-up

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marti, Jose Luis 1975 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Palma de Mallorca Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players RCD Mallorca B players RCD Mallorca players CD Tenerife players Sevilla FC players UEFA Cup winning players Real Sociedad footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División managers CD Tenerife managers Deportivo de La Coruña managers Girona FC managers CD Leganés managers Sporting de Gijón managers