Julio Velázquez Santiago (born 5 October 1981) is a Spanish

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 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 ...

, currently in charge of

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

. He began coaching at 15, and was the youngest ever

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 ...

manager with Villarreal B at 30. He managed four other teams in that league. Abroad, Velázquez spent several years in Portugal's

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

with Belenenses,

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

and Marítimo. He also had a brief spell in the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, at

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

Football career

Early years

Velázquez started training at the age of only 15, being in charge of youth teams in his hometown of

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

. His first job as a senior came in 2004, with AD Peña Respuela in the regional leagues. Velázquez made his debut in the national leagues in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, being appointed at

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'', ...

in the

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 ...

. He resigned in March, days after

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

Enrique Burgos, and the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

ns eventually finished 14th.

Villarreal

Velázquez then joined

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

's setup, first being in charge of the C side. On 24 December 2011, as

José Francisco Molina José Francisco Molina Jiménez (born 8 August 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Eleven years of his extensive professional career were spent at Atlético Madrid and Deportivo de La Coruña, where he won a total ...

left the reserves for the main squad, he was appointed his successor, thus becoming the youngest person ever to coach a club in the

, aged 30 years and two months. On 13 June 2012, following the Yellow Submarine's top-flight relegation – which meant the B's also had to drop down a tier even though they finished in 12th position in division two – Velázquez was named first-team manager. On 13 January of the following year, following a 1–1 away draw against

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 ...

, he was relieved of his duties.

Segunda División

In the following years, Velázquez continued to work in the second division, being relegated with

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

even though the side finished in fourth position and qualified to the play-offs, and being sacked by

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

after only five months in charge. During roughly ten months and starting in December 2015, he was in charge of

C.F. Os Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Rest ...

in the Portuguese

. Velázquez returned to his country and its second tier on 13 October 2016, signing with

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo ...

. He eventually managed to steer them out of the relegation zone and also ousted

RCD Espanyol 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 fourth round of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

, renewing his contract a two further years after the latter achievement.

Italy and Portugal

On 4 June 2018, after narrowly avoiding relegation, Velázquez left Alcorcón. From June–November of the same year he was in charge of

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Football in Italy, Italian association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a ...

of the Italian

, being dismissed after only two league wins. Velázquez returned to the Portuguese top flight in November 2019, being appointed at Vitória F.C. until the end of the season. He left by mutual consent the following 2 July, with the team three points above the relegation zone having not won any of the five games since the resumption of play following the COVID-19 break. On 11 March 2021, Velázquez became

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

's third manager of the campaign at the last-placed side. His first match in charge was the following day, a 2–1 away win over

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional, commonly known as Nacional and sometimes Nacional da Madeira (), is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, Portug ...

in the

Madeira derby Throughout the history of football in Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Loca ...

. Velázquez was relieved of his duties on 11 November 2021, with his team second-bottom after 11 rounds. He first reached his country's

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 ...

the following April, when he became

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

' third coach of the season after Javier Calleja and

José Luis Mendilibar José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (born 14 March 1961) is a Spanish former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder, currently Manager (association football), manager of Sevilla FC. He played no higher than Segunda División, ...

; one month later, after relegation as last, he left.

Fortuna Sittard

On 9 September 2022, Velázquez signed a one-year contract with

, bottom in the Dutch

. He led them to their first victory of the campaign eight days later, 1–0 against

Excelsior Rotterdam Excelsior Rotterdam, commonly known as Excelsior, is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion. The club was found ...

in spite of playing 15 minutes with one player less.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velazquez, Julio 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Salamanca Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Polideportivo Ejido managers Villarreal CF B managers Villarreal CF managers Real Murcia managers Real Betis managers AD Alcorcón managers Deportivo Alavés managers Primeira Liga managers C.F. Os Belenenses managers Vitória F.C. managers C.S. Marítimo managers Serie A managers Udinese Calcio managers Eredivisie managers Fortuna Sittard managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in Italy Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands