Manuel "Manolo" Ruiz Hierro (born 8 February 1962) is a Spanish former professional
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 ...
who played as a
central defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
.
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' ...
totals of 175 matches and seven goals over ten seasons, representing mainly
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
(four years) and
Málaga (three).
Playing career
Born in
Vélez-Málaga
Vélez-Málaga () is a municipality and the capital of the Axarquía comarca in the province of Málaga, in the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the most important city in the comarca. Locally it is referred to as Vélez. Vélez ...
,
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 ...
, Hierro started playing professionally with local
CD Málaga, but only totalled 26 games for the first team in his first five seasons, also suffering
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' ...
relegation in
the last one. After one more year in the
Segunda División, he joined
Real Valladolid
Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system.
The club c ...
of the top division.
After helping the
Castile and León side
finish eighth in his second season, with one of the best defensive records in the competition (38 matches, 34 goals), Hierro signed for
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Found ...
, but only lasted a few months in
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
, moving to
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 ...
on loan.
Suffering top-flight relegation with the ''Verdiblancos'', he subsequently joined
CD Tenerife
Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...
– also in the top tier and on loan – and retired from football at 32, having amassed professional totals of 206 games and 11 goals.
Post-retirement
After retiring as a player, Hierro served as
director of football
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 ...
to his first team – now renamed
Málaga CF – for several seasons. In early 2006, following the dismissal of
Antonio Tapia, he was named head coach, as the club was eventually
relegated from the first division and he was relieved of his duties as both director and manager.
Personal life
Hierro was the second of three siblings who were all footballers, and defenders. His older brother,
Antonio, played almost exclusively for Málaga, while the youngest,
Fernando
Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...
, represented mainly
Real Madrid and scored more than 20 goals for the
Spain national team.
From 1980 to 1986 Manuel and Antonio played together in Málaga, and Fernando was Manuel's teammate at Valladolid for one season.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hierro, Manolo
1962 births
Living people
People from Vélez-Málaga
Spanish men's footballers
Footballers from the Province of Málaga
Men's association football central defenders
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Atlético Malagueño players
CD Málaga footballers
Real Valladolid players
FC Barcelona players
Real Betis players
CD Tenerife players
Spain men's under-21 international footballers
Spain men's under-23 international footballers
Spanish football managers
La Liga managers
Segunda División B managers
Málaga CF managers
CD Puertollano managers