José Ignacio Soler Bayona (born 30 October 1967) 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 lea ...

who played as a

central 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 ...

, and a current

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Club career

Born in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, Soler graduated with

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 ...

's youth setup, and made his senior debuts with the reserves in

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 ...

. In 1988, he joined

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 ...

, being assigned to the B-team in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. Soler made his debut as a professional on 15 October 1988, coming on as a second half substitute in a 2–3 home loss against

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a historical List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sabadell ( Catalonia) Founded in 1903, its first men's team plays in the . Its first CE Sabadell (women), women's tea ...

. He subsequently spent several seasons with the side in the second and third levels. In the 1990 summer Soler moved to

CF Extremadura Club de Fútbol Extremadura was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1924, it played two seasons in La Liga, and held home games at '' Estadio Francisco de la Hera'', with a cap ...

, also in the third division. After two seasons he moved to

CD Badajoz Club Deportivo Badajoz is a Spanish football team based in Badajoz, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1905, it currently plays in , and holds home games at '' Estadio Nuevo Vivero'', with a 15,198-seat capacity. History Fo ...

, after failing to achieve any promotions with the former; he scored his first professional goal with the latter, netting the second in a 6–2 away routing over

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

on 30 October 1993. In December 1993 Soler joined

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 ...

club

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 ...

. He made his debut in the competition on 9 January of the following year, starting in a 0–0 home draw against

UE Lleida Unió Esportiva Lleida was a Spanish football team based in Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It was founded as ''Lérida Balompié-AEM'' on 30 October 1939, and became ''Unión Deportiva Lérida'' in 1947, after a merger with ''C ...

. On 27 March 1994 Soler scored his first goal in the main category of Spanish football, netting the game's only in an away win against

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 ...

. In January 1995, after appearing sparingly with ''Atleti'', he was loaned to the former until June. Soler subsequently represented CA Marbella also in a temporary deal before rescinding his link with the

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 ...

outfit in the 1996 summer. He immediately returned to Extremadura, with his side now in the top division, and was an ever-present figure as his side were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. In 1997 Soler signed for

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

in the second level. After appearing regularly during the campaign, again suffering relegation, he retired.

Coaching career

After his retirement Soler joined UD Casetas as a

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

. In 2002, he was appointed manager of the club, and achieved a promotion to the third level in his first campaign. After being immediately relegated, Soler was named

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División ...

manager in 2004. He remained in charge for only ten matches, and was subsequently sacked. Soler would subsequently resume his managerial career in the lower levels, taking charge of

Villanueva CF Villanueva Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Villanueva de Gállego, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1974 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Nuevo Enrique Porta'', with a capacity for 2,000 spectat ...

Andorra CF Andorra Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Andorra, province of Teruel, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1957, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Juan Antonio Endeiza'', with a capacity of 3,000 seat ...

and

CD Robres Club Deportivo Robres is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Robres, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 2001, it plays in , holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal San Blas''. Since June 2017, it ...

(two stints). On 10 July 2013 he returned to his first club Zaragoza, now as a director of the youth setup.José Ignacio Soler será el nuevo encargado de dirigir la cantera (José Ignacio Soler will be the one responsible to manage the youth setup)
El Periódico de Aragón, 10 July 2013

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Soler, Jose Ignacio 1967 births Living people Footballers from Zaragoza Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Deportivo Aragón players Real Madrid Castilla footballers CF Extremadura footballers CD Badajoz players Atlético Madrid footballers CA Osasuna players CA Marbella footballers Elche CF players Spanish football managers CD Mirandés managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen