Benigno 'Nino' Lema Mejuto (born 12 September 1964) is a Spanish retired

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 ...

right-back 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 ...

and

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 ...

Playing career

Born in

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

Province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, th ...

, Lema played since the age of 8 with local giants

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut on 31 August 1985 in a 1–1 away draw against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

, and finished his debut season with 27 games and one goal as the

Galicians Galicians ( gl, galegos, es, gallegos, link=no) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group from Spain that is closely related to the Portuguese people and has its historic homeland is Galicia, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Romance l ...

suffered relegation with only 14 points; during his contract, he also served a loan in the lower leagues with

Arosa SC Arosa Sociedad Cultural is a Spanish football team based in Vilagarcía de Arousa, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1945, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio A Lomba'', with a capac ...

. Lema left Celta in June 1987 after winning promotion, and played in both the top tier and the

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 ...

for the remainder of his career, representing

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

. He totalled 279 matches across both major levels of Spanish football over 11 seasons, and achieved five promotions.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Lema settled in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

and worked with amateur teams in the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

, his first appointment being with

Torrellano CF Torrellano Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Torrellano (es), Elche, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1983 it was dissolved 26 years later, and held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal de Torrellano'', with a capacity of ...

. In his beginnings, he also worked as a radio commentator in local matches. In 2007–08, Lema signed for what would be his main club the following years,

CD Dénia Club Deportivo Dénia is a Spanish football team based in Dénia, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1927 it plays in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Valencian Community, holding home games at '' Estadio Diego Mena Cuesta ...

, leading it through its first season ever 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 ...

and helping to a 12th-place finish. Subsequently, he moved to the professionals with

Alicante CF Alicante Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1918, it played its home matches at ''Estadio Alicante CF'', with a 4,000-seat capacity. History ''Alicante Club de Fútbol'', under t ...

(division two), but would only be in charge of the team for five games as one of four managers during the 2008–09 campaign, which ended in relegation. Returned to Dénia in summer 2009, Lema led the side to the fifth position in the first year in his second spell, just five points shy of the promotion playoffs. At the end of the 2011–12 season he decided to leave after their relegation, even though permanence was achieved on the pitch. Lema was appointed at

Orihuela CF Orihuela Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Orihuela, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1993 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 3, holding home games at ''Estadio Municipal Los Arcos'', with a capacity of 7,000 sea ...

on 24 October 2012, following the dismissal of Sergio Inclán.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lema, Nino 1964 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Vigo Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players RC Celta de Vigo players RCD Mallorca players CD Tenerife players RCD Espanyol footballers Rayo Vallecano players Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Alicante CF managers