José Aurelio Gay López (born 10 December 1965) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and the

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 Bolivian club CD Vaca Díez. He was associated with

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

throughout his career, serving the club as both a player and manager. He amassed

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 ...

totals of 180 matches and 27 goals over eight seasons, starting out at Castilla. After starting working in that capacity in 2000, Gay went on to coach a host of clubs 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 ...

and

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 ...

Playing career

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Gay began playing football with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, eventually progressing to the reserves,

Castilla CF Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in Primera Federación – Group 1 for the 2022–23 season. It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a capa ...

. While at the club he was a member of the Spain under-20 side that finished runners-up at the

1985 FIFA World Youth Championship The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, starting in five of six games and appearing as a substitute in the other. After four seasons in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, Gay moved up to

with

RCD Español Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

in the summer of 1988. He scored twice in 17 matches during his debut season, in which the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan language, Catalan, French language, French and Occitan language, Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian language, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance languages, Romance ethnic group native to Cataloni ...

were relegated, but eventually established himself in the starting XI, spending one season in the second level and another in the first; in 1990–91, his last year, he was the team's second-highest league goalscorer with five goals – only behind German

Wolfram Wuttke Wolfram Wuttke (17 November 1961 – 1 March 2015) was a German professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Wuttke made his Bundesliga debut in October 1979 for Schalke 04 in a 3–0 win against Werder Bremen. From 1981 to ...

– as he helped them retain their top-flight status. Gay moved to

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

in the 1991 off-season. In consecutive seasons he helped the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

ese to the 1994

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 ...

and the following year's

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, although he was seriously injured during the latter campaign. He only appeared sparingly afterwards, and left the club in June 1996. Gay's final three seasons were spent at

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

and

CD Toledo Club Deportivo Toledo, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1928 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 18, holding home games at '' Estadio Salto del Caballo'', ...

, with whom he spent two years in division two, amassing only 43 league appearances both clubs combined and retiring in 1999 at the age of 33. In total, he played in nearly 350 matches both major levels of Spanish football combined.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Gay managed numerous teams in both the second and third tiers, starting at his last club Toledo one year after hanging up his boots.

Real Madrid C Real Madrid Club de Fútbol C, commonly known as Real Madrid C, was a Spanish association football team that played in the Tercera División – Group 7. It was Real Madrid's second reserve team. They played their home games at La Ciudad del ...

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 ...

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF, holding home matches at ''Nuevo Estadio de La Victoria'', with a capacit ...

Lorca Deportiva CF Lorca Deportiva Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. was a Spanish football club in Lorca, in the autonomous community of Murcia. Founded in 2002 it was dissolved ten years later, and held home matches at ''Estadio Francisco Artés Carrasco'', which seats 8, ...

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

and

Real Zaragoza B Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

followed– he took the reins of the latter's first team following the dismissal of

Marcelino García Toral Marcelino García Toral (; born 14 August 1965), known simply as Marcelino in his playing days, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. During a ten-year senior career, he amassed La Liga totals o ...

, on 12 December 2009. Gay's first game in charge of Zaragoza saw them lose 6–0 away against Real Madrid, a result that led to rumours that he would be replaced by

Víctor Muñoz Víctor Muñoz Manrique (born 15 March 1957), known simply as Víctor in his playing days, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and a manager. An all-around midfield unit, he was best known for his great physical strengt ...

. The reports, however, proved to be unfounded and he was offered the job until the summer of 2010; after bringing in several new players in the January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, the side's fortunes began to turn as he led them out of the relegation zone by mid-February, eventually finishing in 14th position. In mid-November 2010, with Zaragoza ranking last in the league (eventually managing to avoid relegation), Gay was sacked. On 12 December 2012, after more than two years out of work, he replaced fired

Fabri Fabri is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anna Fabri (f. 1496), Swedish publisher and printer * Annibale Pio Fabri (1697–1760), Italian singer and composer * Emanuel Fabri (born 1952), Maltese footballer * Ernst Fabri (189 ...

at the helm of

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

, lasting until March in a season that saw the

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

ns relegated to the third division. Gay returned to Real Madrid C in November 2013. He led the team to a top-half finish, but they were relegated to

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 ...

due to the fate of Castilla and disbanded in 2015. In August 2016, Gay ran training sessions for

CD Palencia Balompié Club Deportivo Palencia Balompié was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Palencia, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 2011, it played in Segunda División B, holding home games at ''Estadio N ...

but did not manage the club in an official match. He signed a one-year deal with the option of a second at third-tier

RCD Espanyol B Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona "B" is the reserve team of the RCD Espanyol, club based in Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. The team was founded in 1991 and plays in the Segunda Federación, Segunda Federación – ...

in June 2019.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Spain U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

: Runner-up

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Manager

Pontevedra *

: 2003–04

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Jose Aurelio 1965 births Living people Footballers from Madrid Spanish footballers Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Real Madrid Castilla footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Real Zaragoza players Real Oviedo players CD Toledo players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers CD Toledo managers Real Madrid C managers Pontevedra CF managers Real Jaén managers Lorca Deportiva CF managers CF Fuenlabrada managers Real Zaragoza managers Racing de Santander managers RCD Espanyol B managers C.D. Vaca Díez managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Expatriate football managers in Bolivia