Imanol Alguacil Barrenetxea (born 4 July 1971), known simply as Imanol as a player, 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, rugb ...

who played as a

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 ...

, 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 activitie ...

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 Septemb ...

. He appeared in 121 matches in

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 Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

over nine seasons (eight goals scored), representing Real Sociedad and

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

. In 2014 he started working as a manager, with a four-year spell with

Real Sociedad B Real Sociedad de Fútbol "B" (also known as Sanse) is a Spanish football team based in San Sebastián, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1955, it is the reserve team of Real Sociedad and plays in Primera Federación ...

followed by a short stint with the club's senior team in spring 2018, a role he was asked to take on again in the winter of the same year.

Playing career

Born in

Orio Orio may refer to: People Notable people with this name include: Surname * Baltasar de Echave Orio (late 16th century – mid-17th century), Basque Spanish painter * Shane Orio (born 1980), Belizean football player Given name * Orio Mastropiero ( ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French de ...

, Basque Country, Imanol was a

youth graduate. He made his senior debut with the reserves, spending two full seasons in

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 Foo ...

. On 29 September 1990, Imanol made his first-team – and

– debut, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away loss against

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club ...

. He was definitely promoted to the main squad in summer 1991, featuring regularly the following campaigns. Imanol scored his first professional goal on 20 September 1992, netting his side's first in a 2–1 away win over

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 ...

. He was used rarely in the final years of his stint at the

Anoeta Stadium Anoeta Stadium ( es, Estadio de Anoeta), currently known as the Reale Arena for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain that was inaugurated in 1993. The stadium lies at the Anoeta Sports Complex, ...

as he dealt with several injury problems, leaving the club in 1998 after playing only four matches during the season. In the 1998 off-season, Imanol joined

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, ...

also of the top division, appearing sparingly in his first year and suffering relegation. After returning to the top flight in 2000 he was released, and moved to

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 L ...

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Jaén, Spain, Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF, holding home matches at ''Nu ...

. Imanol then resumed his career in the third tier, representing

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

and

Burgos CF Burgos Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1985, it started to play in 1994. It currently plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at the ''Esta ...

. He retired with the latter side in 2003, aged 32.

Coaching career

On 26 July 2011, Alguacil returned to his first club Real Sociedad, being appointed manager of the youth setup. On 17 June 2013 he was named reserve team coach Asier Santana's assistant, and was also in charge of the main squad along with Santana in November 2014 after

Jagoba Arrasate Jagoba Arrasate Elustondo (born 22 April 1978) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a forward, currently manager of CA Osasuna. Playing career Born in Berriatua, Biscay, Arrasate only played for lower league clubs during his ten-year ...

's dismissal. After the arrival of

David Moyes David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manch ...

in November 2014, Alguacil was included in the first team staff, but he was appointed manager of the B side late in that month. On 19 March 2018, he replaced the fired

Eusebio Sacristán Eusebio Sacristán Mena (; born 13 April 1964), known simply as Eusebio in his playing days, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He had a 20-year playing career, which started and en ...

at the helm of the main squad until the end of the season. In the summer of 2018, Alguacil returned to the reserves and

Asier Garitano Asier Garitano Aguirrezábal (born 6 December 1969) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. During a 14-year senior career, he appeared in 134 matches in Segunda División over five seasons, totalling 23 goals f ...

took over the senior role, but in December of the same year the latter was dismissed following a poor sequence of results and the former again became the first team coach. Following a strong start to the 2019–20 campaign, he was given a one-year contract extension. Alguacil led Real to their first trophy since 1987 on 3 April 2021, with a 1–0 victory against Basque rivals

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los L ...

in the

2020 Copa del Rey Final The 2020 Copa del Rey Final was a football match that decided the winner of the 2019–20 Copa del Rey, the 118th edition of Spain's primary football cup (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The match was played at the E ...

(postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

). In the post-match press conference he celebrated by putting on a team jersey and scarf and chanting in joy.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Real Sociedad *

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 ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alguacil, Imanol 1971 births Living people People from Urola Kosta Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Sociedad B footballers Real Sociedad footballers Villarreal CF players Real Jaén footballers FC Cartagena footballers Burgos CF footballers Basque Country international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División B managers Real Sociedad B managers Real Sociedad managers Real Sociedad non-playing staff