Fernando Miguel Fernández Escribano, known simply as Fernando (; born 2 June 1979), 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 mainly as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

but also as a supporting striker. Over 12 seasons, 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 276 matches and 55 goals, mostly at Betis (six years) and

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

(three). In the competition, he also appeared for

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 ...

and

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

Playing career

Club

Real Madrid

Fernando was born in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

. After starting at hometown's

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

, he finished his football development in the ranks of

giants

, going on to appear once for its first team in the 1999–2000 season, against

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 football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

(90 minutes, 1–0 home win). After that, Fernando joined

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

on loan as many Real Madrid ''

cantera Cantera, literally meaning "quarry" in Spanish, is a term used in Spain to refer to youth academies and farm teams organized by sports clubs. It is also used to refer to the geographical area that clubs recruit players from. The term is widely ...

nos'' would move to that club in that timeframe ( Alberto Marcos,

Víctor Víctor is a Spanish masculine given name, equivalent to Victor in English and Vítor in Portuguese. Notable people with the given name include: *Víctor Barrio (1987–2016), Spanish bullfighter * Víctor Cabrera (Argentine footballer) * Víctor ...

José García Calvo José Antonio García Calvo (born 1 April 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender. During his professional career, he represented both Madrid clubs, Real and Atlético (but was mainly associated with Valladolid) ...

, etc.).

Betis

In the summer of 2002, Fernando signed with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

, scoring 15 goals in his debut campaign, with the team finishing in eighth place thanks greatly to his braces against Málaga (3–0),

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

(4–2) and

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

(3–2). He won the only trophy of his career in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, the 2–1

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 ...

victory over

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. On 27 June 2008, as his role was a lesser one from 2005 to 2008 – only ten matches in his last season – Fernando signed a four-year contract with Málaga, returning to his first youth club after 11 years.

Málaga and later years

Fernando netted his first league goal for Málaga on 23 September 2009 against Espanyol, more than one year after arriving; however, this happened in a 2–1 away loss. Sparingly used in his debut season, he became a starter in 2009–10, scoring on five occasions. Fernando continued in the starting lineups in the 2010–11 campaign, under new manager

Jesualdo Ferreira Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira (born 24 May 1946) is a Portuguese Manager (association football), football manager who last managed Zamalek SC, Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League. In a managerial career of over forty years, he was in charge of all ...

. In the second matchday, he scored twice in a 5–3 win at Zaragoza, the first goal coming after just 73 seconds. Rarely used by the following coach,

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

, he still contributed 21 games as the ''Boquerones'' finally avoided relegation. On 21 August 2011, the 32-year-old Fernando was released from his contract. He moved abroad for the first time on 4 February of the following year, joining several compatriots at Hungarian side

Diósgyőri VTK Diósgyőri Vasgyárak Testgyakorló Köre, more commonly Diósgyőri VTK () is a professional Association football, football club, part of the Hungarian sports club from Diósgyőr district of Miskolc. Founded in 1910 by the local working clas ...

. He retired from football in June 2013.

International

Fernando won four

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for Spain at under-21 level in six months. His first arrived on 27 February 2001, when he played the second half of the 4–0 friendly defeat of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Coaching career

Fernando started working as a full-time manager in 2016, with amateurs CD El Palo which he had already coached briefly the previous year after starting out with their youths. Early into the season in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

, he resigned. On 23 April 2018, Fernando was appointed at former club Diósgyőr with the purpose of avoiding relegation from the

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

, which was finally achieved. On 3 September 2019, with his team placed last in the standings and following a 1–0 defeat against

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, commonly known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, FTC is a Hungary, Hungarian professional Association football, football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hunga ...

at the

Groupama Arena Groupama, an abbreviation for Groupe des Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles (), is a French insurance group headquartered in Paris with operations in 10 countries. It is listed in the 2007 ICA Global 300 list of mutuals and cooperatives, rank ...

, he was dismissed. Fernando returned to Betis in summer 2020, reuniting with Pellegrini as part of the newly signed manager's staff.

Honours

Málaga *

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 ...

: 1997–98 Betis *

: 2004–05

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando Fernandez 1979 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Málaga Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Málaga CF players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Real Valladolid players Real Betis players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Diósgyőri VTK players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Spanish football managers Tercera División managers Nemzeti Bajnokság I managers Diósgyőri VTK managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Hungary Real Betis non-playing staff