Luis García Plaza (; born 1 December 1972) is a Spanish retired 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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, currently a

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 ...

Playing career

In his career, García never played in higher than

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 ...

. 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 ...

, he finished his development at

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 ...

and, after three seasons with its reserves, moved to Yeclano CF, where he coincided with

José Luis Oltra José Luis Oltra Castañer (born 24 March 1969) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a midfielder, currently a manager. Playing career Born in Valencia, Oltra spend the vast majority of his 14-year senior career in the lower leagues, re ...

and

Paulino Paulino is a surname and a masculine given name. It is a Spanish and Portuguese form of the Roman family name ''Paulinus'', which was itself derived from the Roman family name Paulus meaning "small" or "humble" in Latin. People with the given ...

. Still in the Madrid community, García then represented Rayo Vallecano B, completing his sole season with the club on loan at

Talavera CF Talavera Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Talavera de la Reina, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1948, it played its last season in Tercera División - Group 18, holding home matches at ''Estadio ...

. In 1996, he signed for

Benidorm CF Benidorm Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Benidorm, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1964 and dissolved in 2011 it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor'', which had a capacity of 6,000. ...

, spending four years at the

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

side. García was forced to retire due to injury in 2000, at only 27.

Coaching career

García took up coaching in 2001, starting with amateurs

UD Altea Unión Deportiva Altea is a Spanish football team based in Altea, in the Valencian Community. It was founded in 1962, and plays in , holding home matches at ''Garganes'' stadium, which has a capacity of 2,000 seats. Season to season ---- *1 ...

and moving after two years to another club in the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

Villajoyosa CF Villajoyosa Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Vila Joiosa, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1942, in the 2022–23 season, the club competes in , holding home matches at the ''Estadio Nou Pla'', with a capaci ...

of the third tier, remaining the same amount of time there. In 2005–06, after a very brief spell at Altea, García led

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

's reserves to the

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 ...

championship, but the team failed to gain promotion in the subsequent playoffs. Afterwards, he signed with

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 ...

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 ...

– and also in the

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

region – being sacked on 7 January 2007 following a 1–1 home draw against

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

(the team eventually retained their league status). After one year with former club Benidorm, García was appointed at

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

, helping to a return to

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 ...

after a three-year absence in his second season. In the following campaign he led the side to the 14th place, the home highlights being a 2–0 win over Atlético Madrid and home draws with

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 ...

(0–0) and

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

(1–1). On 8 June 2011, García signed for Getafe for three years. He coached the capital outskirts team to the 11th position in his debut season, finishing one better the following year. García was dismissed on 10 March 2014, after Getafe only collected four draws in 12 games. In the following two seasons, he worked in the

UAE First Division League UAE First Division League is the second tier of football league competition in the United Arab Emirates. As of 2020–21, the league features 15 sides who play each other in a home and away round-robin format, with a total of 28 games for each t ...

with

Baniyas Club Baniyas Sports & Cultural Club is an United Arab Emirates, Emirati sports club based in Al Shamkha, in the Baniyas area of Abu Dhabi. The club's association football, football section competes in the UAE Pro League. Presidency * SourcePreside ...

. In June 2017, García was appointed as manager of

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

club

Beijing Renhe F.C. Beijing Chengfeng Football Club ( zh, s=北京橙丰, t=北京橙丰, p=Běijīng Chéngfēng) was a professional Chinese Association football, football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Footbal ...

on a five-month agreement. He coached the team to promotion back to the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

in his first season, collecting 13 wins, two draws and three losses; on 9 November, he extended his contract. García returned to Villarreal on 10 December 2018, replacing the fired Javier Calleja at the helm of the first team. After only one month in charge, and no league wins, he too was relieved of his duties. On 9 July 2019, García headed back to Beijing Renhe following the resignation of

Aleksandar Stanojević Aleksandar Stanojević ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Станојевић, ; born 28 October 1973) is a Serbian football manager and player. Playing career Stanojević started his playing career in Partizan youth squad. From 1992 until 1997 ...

. He left on 18 November following their relegation, having won none and drawn two of 11 games. Before the end of the year, he found a new job at

Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh) Shabab Club also known as Al-Shabab () is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Riyadh that competes in the Saudi Pro League. Founded in 1947 as ''Shabab Al-Riyadh'' (; ), it was renamed ''Al-Shabab'' in 1967. The club earned it ...

, ninth in the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

. On 6 August 2020, García replaced

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 ...

-bound

Vicente Moreno Vicente Moreno Peris (born 26 October 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and is currently the manager of La Liga club Osasuna. He spent most of his career with Xerez, appearing in 412 offici ...

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 second division, winning promotion as runners-up in his debut campaign. On 22 March 2022, with the club inside the relegation zone, he was dismissed. García was appointed at second-tier

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

on 23 May 2022, on a one-year contract. He achieved promotion in his first season via the playoffs, then secured survival the following campaign with four games to spare. On 2 December 2024, García was relieved of his duties.

Managerial statistics

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Luis 1972 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football defenders Segunda División B players Tercera División players Atlético Madrid B players Yeclano CF players Rayo Vallecano B players Talavera CF players Benidorm CF footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Villarreal CF B managers Elche CF managers Levante UD managers Getafe CF managers Villarreal CF managers RCD Mallorca managers Deportivo Alavés managers UAE Pro League managers Baniyas SC managers Chinese Super League managers Beijing Chengfeng F.C. managers Saudi Pro League managers Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in China Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Spanish expatriate sportspeople in China Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia