Antonio Rodríguez Saravia (born 28 January 1971), commonly known as Rodri, 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 le ...

, who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, 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 ...

. He is currently an individual development coach at

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Playing career

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

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 north ...

, Rodri joined

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. Founded ...

's youth setup in 1988 from Santfeliuenc FC, but was released in the following year. He subsequently joined

FC Martinenc Fútbol Club Martinenc is a Spanish football team based in Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it plays in ''Primera Catalana – Group 1'', holding home games at ''Camp Municipal del Guinardó''. Season to season ...

, and in January 1990 he moved to

CD Teruel Club Deportivo Teruel is a Spanish football team based in Teruel, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1954, the club plays in the Segunda División RFEF – Group 3, and holds home games at ''Estadio Pinilla'', with a capacity of ...

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 ...

. In the following five seasons, Rodri rarely settle into a club, representing

FC Levante Las Planas Fútbol Club Levante Las Planas (Catalan: ''Llevant Les Planes'') is a Spanish football club from Sant Joan Despí, Barcelona currently playing in Liga F. History Levante Las Planas was founded in 1983 in Las Planas district as a merge of loca ...

CF Igualada Club de Futbol Igualada is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Igualada, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1939, it plays in Tercera División, Tercera División – Group 5, holding home matches ...

, CF Balaguer,

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

, UE Tàrrega and

FC Santboià Futbol Club Santboià is a Spanish football team based in Sant Boi de Llobregat, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1908 it plays in Tercera División – Group 5, holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal Joan Baptista Milà ...

. In 1996 he signed for

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 Di ...

side

Palamós CF Palamós Club de Futbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Palamós, a town and commercial port in the ''Costa Brava'', in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in the late 19th century, it currently plays in '' Tercera Divisió ...

, helping in their promotion to the third division in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. Rodri also had a brief stint at

CF Gavà Club de Futbol Gavà is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Gavà, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1922 it plays in 1ª Catalana – Group 2, holding home games at ''Estadi La Bòbila'', with a c ...

during the 1999–2000 season, but returned to Palamós after appearing rarely. He resumed his career with CF Peralada and

UE Olot Unió Esportiva Olot, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Olot, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1921, it plays in Segunda Federación RFEF – Group 3, holding home games at '' Estadi Municipal d'Olot'', with a capac ...

, retiring with the latter in 2004, aged 33.

Managerial career

Rodri started his career as

Raül Agné Raül Agné Montull (born 24 May 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Playing career Born in Mequinenza, Province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Agné never competed in higher than Segunda División ...

's assistant at

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

in 2010. On 16 March 2012, he was appointed assistant manager at Olot, but was in charge of the first team along with Àlex Terma during his spell. On 10 December 2012, Rodri left Olot and moved to

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

, again as Agné's second. On 25 November 2014 he returned to his previous club, now named first team manager. Rodri was sacked on 22 February 2016 due to his poor results, and reunited with Agné at

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 La ...

on 28 October. On 22 June of the following year, he returned to ''Nàstic'' after being named

CF Pobla de Mafumet Club de Fútbol Pobla de Mafumet is a Spanish football club based in La Pobla de Mafumet, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1953, it plays in Tercera Federación – Group 5, holding home games at ''Estadi Municipal'', which ...

manager. On 9 September 2017, after

Lluís Carreras Lluís Carreras Ferrer (born 24 September 1972) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mostly as a left back but also as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. He started his professional career with Barcelona, without much success, ...

' dismissal, Rodri was named interim manager of the first team in

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 ...

. His first professional match in charge occurred eight days later, a 3–1 home win against

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 ...

. After three wins in five matches, Rodri was confirmed as manager until the end of the season. On 29 January 2018, he was sacked. On 25 September 2018,

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 ...

announced that Rodri would join the technical staff, working as an assistant coach. On 13 November, he was named

Extremadura UD Extremadura Unión Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2007, it last played in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio Francisco de la Her ...

manager, with the club also in the second division; on 16 February 2019, he was dismissed. In November 2020, Rodri was named manager of Andorran

Primera Divisió The Primera Divisió (First Division) or Lliga Multisegur Assegurances for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of men's football in Andorra. The league was launched in 1995 sponsored by the local federation (Andorran Football Federation) whic ...

club Inter d'Escaldes. He chose to depart the club on 22 February 2021, after being offered the role of development coach at

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 ...

club

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 ...

. He subsequently followed Villarreal manager

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Aston Villa. After a career spent playing mostly in Spain's Segunda División, Emery transitioned into coa ...

to join

club

in the same role in November 2022.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

Gavà profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodri 1971 births Living people Footballers from Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Teruel footballers CF Balaguer footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers UE Tàrrega players FC Santboià players Palamós CF footballers CF Gavà players UE Olot players CF Peralada players Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers UE Olot managers CF Pobla de Mafumet managers Gimnàstic de Tarragona managers Extremadura UD managers Villarreal CF non-playing staff Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Andorra Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate football managers in Andorra