Luis Lucas Alcaraz González (born 21 June 1966) 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 ...

, currently

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 ...

UD Ibiza Unión Deportiva Ibiza is a Spanish professional football club based in the town of Ibiza, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded in 2015, it plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at '' Estadi Municipal de Can Mis ...

. In a managerial career of over two decades, he competed in ten

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' ...

seasons at the helm of Recreativo,

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 syst ...

, Granada and Levante. He was also in charge of eight clubs in Segunda División, winning promotion with Recreativo and

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, and had a brief spell in international selection with

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Football career

Born in Granada,

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost 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 "historical nationality". The t ...

, Alcaraz started coaching with

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

in 1995 at the age of 29, achieving two top-four finishes in the third division in his three-year spell but failing to promote in the playoffs. In the following two seasons he managed in the same tier and region, with

Almería CF Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

and Dos Hermanas CF, suffering relegation with the former. In June 2000, 34-year-old Alcaraz signed for

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

, helping the oldest club in Spain return to

after an absence of 23 years in 2002 behind champions Atlético Madrid and

. Even though ''Recre'' returned to the second level immediately, they also managed to reach the final 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 footb ...

, losing 0–3 to RCD Mallorca. Alcaraz then moved to Racing Santander, being sacked midway through the 2004–05 campaign due to bad results. He spent the following two seasons in the second division, helping

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 ...

to promote in 2007 but being immediately relegated afterwards – he was fired on 6 March 2008 – and meeting the same fate with his following club, Recreativo. In the summer of 2009, Alcaraz signed with another team in his native Andalusia, Córdoba CF (second level), helping the side finish tenth in his first season. In late June 2011, he re-joined Almería – now called ''Unión Deportiva'' – recently relegated from the top flight. On 3 April 2012, after only four points in six games and no wins, Alcaraz was relieved of his duties. On 30 January of the following year, after a very short spell in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

with Aris Thessaloniki FC, he returned to his country and Granada, with the club now in the top tier. Alcaraz was appointed at Levante UD on 21 October 2014, replacing fired

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, ...

after just eight rounds. On 25 October of the following year, following a 0–4 home defeat to Real Sociedad, he was sacked. On 11 June 2016, Alcaraz was announced as the new

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...

manager, only to refuse the job six days later. On 3 October, he began his third spell at Granada. As the team stood second from the bottom in the table, Alcaraz was relieved of his duties on 10 April 2017. Three days later, he was appointed at the helm of the Algeria national side, but was fired in October after failing to qualify to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, receiving a €345,000 payout. Alcaraz returned to Almería on 16 November 2017, replacing

Luis Miguel Ramis Luis Miguel Ramis Monfort (born 25 July 1970) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played mainly as a central defender, currently manager of CD Tenerife. He amassed La Liga totals of 165 matches and eight goals over nine seasons, ma ...

. He resigned the following 24 April, after an eight-match winless run. On 22 October 2018, Alcaraz was appointed

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 L ...

manager in the place of sacked

Imanol Idiakez Joseba Imanol Idiakez Barkaiztegi (born 14 March 1972) is a Spanish former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder, currently Manager (association football), manager of CD Leganés. Playing career Born in San Sebastián, Gipu ...

. On 17 December, he was himself dismissed. Alcaraz was named manager of

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

on 3 February 2020, still in the second division, He was relieved of his duties on 13 October, just five matches into the new season. On 29 December 2021, Alcaraz moved to Cyprus with

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia ( el, Ολυμπιακός Λευκωσίας, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus and competes in the Cypriot First Division. The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the C ...

, but left after collecting no wins in eight games. In November 2022, he became

's third manager of the second-tier campaign.

Personal life

Alcaraz's father, Felipe, was a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, being a longtime secretary-general of the

Communist Party of Andalusia Communist Party of Andalusia (in Spanish: ''Partido Comunista de Andalucía'') is the federation of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) in Andalusia. History PCA was founded in 1979, as the Andalusian branch of PCE was converted into a regional par ...

. His grandfather was Manuel González, and his

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

his uncle.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alcaraz, Lucas 1966 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Granada Association footballers not categorized by position Granada CF footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Granada CF managers UD Almería managers Recreativo de Huelva managers Racing de Santander managers Xerez CD managers Real Murcia managers Córdoba CF managers Levante UD managers Elche CF managers Real Zaragoza managers Albacete Balompié managers UD Ibiza managers Super League Greece managers Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers Cypriot First Division managers Olympiakos Nicosia managers Algeria national football team managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in Algeria Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Algeria Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus