Manuel Fernández Mora (10 October 1932 – 1 January 2017), known as Moruca, was a Spanish professional
football forward and manager.
Playing career
Born in
Vargas, Cantabria, Moruca started playing with
Rayo Cantabria
Rayo Cantabria, formerly known as Real Racing Club de Santander "B" is the reserve team of Racing de Santander, a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Santander, Cantabria, Santander, in the autonomous community of Cant ...
who acted as
farm team
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...
to
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 ...
.
On 25 March 1951 he took part in his first and only
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' ...
match with the latter side, in a 1–2 away loss against
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 ...
.
At the professional level, Moruca also appeared for
SD Eibar
Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country.
Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...
in
Segunda División. He also represented
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 ...
, retiring in 1956 at the age of 24 with his first club Rayo Cantabria.
Coaching career
After working with
CA Osasuna
Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El S ...
,
Gimnástica de Torrelavega
Real Sociedad Gimnástica de Torrelavega is a Spanish football team based in Torrelavega, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded on 28 September 1907 it is the oldest football club in the region, and currently plays in Tercera Divisià ...
and
Barakaldo CF
Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Lasesarre'', with a capacity ...
, promoting the latter to the second level in 1977, Moruca returned to Racing on a permanent basis in 1969–70 – he had already acted as
interim manager
Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change with ...
six seasons before. He achieved promotion from
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 ...
that year and, in
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, with him still in charge, they reached the top flight for the first time ever with a team composed mainly of local players.
Moruca went on to rank second in Racing's all-time list of managers with most games, only behind
José MarÃa Maguregui
José MarÃa Maguregui Ibarguchi (16 March 1934 – 30 December 2013) was a Spanish football midfielder and coach.
Playing career
Born in Ugao-Miraballes, Biscay, Maguregui made his professional debuts in 1952 at the age of 18, with Basque Co ...
.
[
]
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moruca
1932 births
2017 deaths
Spanish men's footballers
Footballers from Cantabria
Men's association football forwards
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Tercera División players
Rayo Cantabria players
Racing de Santander players
Real Betis players
SD Eibar footballers
Spanish football managers
La Liga managers
Segunda División managers
Racing de Santander managers
CA Osasuna managers
Gimnástica de Torrelavega managers
Barakaldo CF managers
Elche CF managers