Alfredo Santaelena Aguado (born 13 October 1967), known simply as Alfredo as a player, 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

. He amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 211 games and seven goals over 11 seasons, representing

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, Deportivo and

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

in the competition. In 2003, he started working as a coach.

Playing career

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Alfredo's career professional career began with hometown's

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

in 1988, and he moved the following year to

with neighbours

; he was personally signed by chairman

Jesús Gil Gregorio Jesús Gil y Gil (12 March 1933 – 14 May 2004) was a Spanish businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Marbella between 1991 and 2002, and presided for a 16-year tenure as president of the football club Atlético de Madrid ...

after a friendly, going on to experience some of his best years whilst with the team.Alfredo Santaelena, 23 años de su fichaje (Alfredo Santaelena, 23rd anniversary of his signature)

Vavel Vavel (stylized VAVEL) is a Spain-based sports news website. It has 8 editions; Spain, United States, United Kingdom, France, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Mexico, and Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country p ...

, 10 July 2016 (in Spanish) On 29 June 1991, Alfredo scored the game's only goal against

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

in the final of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

,El Mallorca, finalista elemplar (Mallorca, the perfect finalists)
Mundo Deportivo, 30 June 1991 (in Spanish) also appearing in the following year, a 2–0 win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

.Futre y Schuster llevan al Atlético hasta el éxtasis (Futre and Schuster bring Atlético to ecstasy)
Mundo Deportivo, 28 June 1992 (in Spanish) He joined

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

in 1993 alongside teammate Donato, and produced roughly the same numbers, although he would be used more regularly. Brought from the bench in the 1995 domestic cup final against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

, diminutive Alfredo scored with his

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

for the final 2–1 victory.Supertítulo (Supertitle)
Mundo Deportivo, 28 June 1995 (in Spanish) He left for

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

two years later, being rarely used over a three-and-a-half-year spell and finishing his career at nearly 36, with his first and second clubs.

Coaching career

Santaelena took up coaching immediately after retiring, mainly in the lower leagues. In 2007, he led

CD Cobeña Club Deportivo Cobeña was a Spanish football team based in Cobeña, a small suburb of Madrid. Founded in 1998, it last played in Segunda División B - Group 1 in 2006–07, holding home matches at '' Municipal La Dehesa'' (The meadow) munici ...

– also in Madrid – to

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

for the first time ever, but the club folded soon after. Starting in 2012, Santaelena spent several years in charge of Atlético's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

s. On 10 February 2014, following a third-division loss at

CD Sariñena Club Deportivo Sariñena is a Spanish football team based in Sariñena, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1945 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio El Carmen'', with a 4,500-seat capacity. History Club background *''Clu ...

which left the

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

in the relegation zone, he was fired, being replaced by Oscar Mena who had also played for them in the 90s. In November 2016, Santaelena took over

UD San Sebastián de los Reyes Unión Deportiva San Sebastián de los Reyes, also known as Sanse is a Spanish football team based in San Sebastián de los Reyes, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Nuevo Mat ...

also in the third tier. He was dismissed on 21 January 2018, and spent more than a year without a club before being appointed at Internacional de Madrid of the same league on 2 July 2020. Santaelena continued to work in the third division (renamed

Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

in 2021) in the following years, being in charge of

CF Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish professional football club in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with a capacity of 3,800 seats. ...

and

San Fernando CD San Fernando Club Deportivo Isleño is a Spanish football team based in San Fernando, Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2009, it plays in , holding home matches at Estadio Bahía Sur, with a capacity of 8,000 seats. H ...

. On 29 April 2024, he was sacked by the latter as they were seriously threatened with relegation, and in July he dropped down two levels after taking over

Tercera Federación Tercera Federación, previously known as Tercera RFEF, is the fifth tier of the Spanish football league system. It is below the ''La Liga'', ''Segunda División'', and its fellow semi-professional divisions '' Primera Federación'' and ''Segunda F ...

CD Toledo Club Deportivo Toledo, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Toledo, Spain, Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1928 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Salto del Cab ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Atlético Madrid *

: 1990–91, 1991–92 Deportivo *Copa del Rey: 1994–95 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Spain – List of Super Cup Finals
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santaelena, Alfredo 1967 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Getafe CF footballers Atlético Madrid footballers Deportivo de La Coruña players Sevilla FC players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Primera Federación managers Tercera Federación managers Marbella FC managers Atlético Madrid B managers UD San Sebastián de los Reyes managers CF Rayo Majadahonda managers San Fernando CD managers CD Toledo managers