Víctor Fernández Braulio (born 28 November 1960) is a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

. He had four spells with his hometown team

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 ...

, winning 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 ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and the

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

a year later. He also led

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, Celta,

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 ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

, and won the Intercontinental Cup in a brief spell at

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Football career

Zaragoza

Fernández was born in

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, ...

. Late into the 1990–91 season, aged only 30, he was promoted to hometown

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 first team, eventually leading it to the 17th league position and avoiding

relegation in the playoffs against

Real Murcia CF Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

; at the time of his beginnings, he was the second youngest manager to ever coach in the league after Xabier Azkargorta. In the following years, Fernández helped Zaragoza consolidate in the top division, notably reconverting Gus Poyet from forward to

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. ...

and winning the

and the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

the next season. He was relieved of his duties on 8 November 1996, meeting the same fate the following year with his next club,

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

Celta

In May 1998, Fernández was appointed to replace Javier Irureta at

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, Profiting from the recent

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of associati ...

, his team fielded many

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

players such as

Claude Makélélé Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He last managed Super League Greece club Astera ...

, as well as those from further afield such as the Israeli Haim Revivo and Russian midfield duo Valeri Karpin and

Aleksandr Mostovoi Aleksandr Vladimirovich Mostovoi ( ; born 22 August 1968) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Known as ''O Zar de Balaídos'' ("The Tsar of Balaídos") from his lengthy spell at Celta de Vigo, he ...

; the Galician team played highly attractive football and were known as ''EuroCelta'' for their performances in continental competitions. Fernández led Celta in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in each of his four seasons, reaching the quarter-finals on all but one occasion; highlights included a 3–1 win over

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in November 1998, a 7–0 rout of S.L. Benfica a year later and a 4–0 victory at

Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in March 2000. His team won the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

in the summer of 2000, with a 4–3 aggregate defeat of

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club p ...

. Domestically, he surprisingly lost the 2001 Copa del Rey final 3–1 to Zaragoza, who had barely avoided relegation.

Betis

Fernández was appointed at fellow top flight team

in May 2002, after the exit of

Juande Ramos Juan de la Cruz "Juande" Ramos Cano (born 25 September 1954) is a former Spanish footballer and manager. After playing and managing at an amateur level, Ramos led Rayo Vallecano to promotion to La Liga, followed by reaching the quarter-finals ...

. He finished eighth and

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

respectively in his two years, and his team were eliminated from the third round of the UEFA Cup by

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...

in his first campaign.

Porto

In August 2004, Fernández moved abroad and joined Portuguese club

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

; the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

holders had dismissed

Luigi Delneri Luigi Delneri (born 23 August 1950), often incorrectly written as Del Neri, is an Italian football manager and a former player. After a playing career as a midfielder including for several Serie A clubs, he began managing in the lower leagues, a ...

before a single competitive game. He won on his debut on 20 August in the

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

, with new signing Ricardo Quaresma scoring the only goal of a win against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Benfica; on 12 December he added the conquest of the last ever Intercontinental Cup with a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory over Colombia's

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club plays its home games at Estadio Palogrande. The club wa ...

. Domestically, Fernández's team gave up their

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

lead to Benfica on 20 November 2004 when they lost 1–0 at home to neighbours Boavista FC. Home form was a struggle with three wins from the first seven fixtures, including another single-goal defeat to S.C. Beira-Mar two weeks later. He was abruptly dismissed the following January following a 1–3 defeat to S.C. Braga, again at the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; ') is an all-seater football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the third-largest football stadium in Portugal. Designed by Portugue ...

Returns to Zaragoza and Betis

Fernández returned to his beloved Zaragoza for the 2006–07 campaign, qualifying the side for the

in his first year but being sacked midway through his second, as the season eventually ended in relegation. In another return, Fernández joined Betis in late January 2010, replacing fired Antonio Tapia. During his spell the ''Verdiblancos'' were the team in the league with the most points, but they missed out on promotion from

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 ...

after being beaten to promotion places through head-to-head against

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

and

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– ...

, despite beating the latter 4–0 on the final day.

Later years

On 9 January 2013, Fernández moved for his second experience abroad, signing a contract with Belgium's K.A.A. Gent. He was sacked on 30 September 2013, due to poor results. Fernández was appointed as the new manager of

on 10 July 2014, succeeding Fernando Vázquez. He was relieved of his duties on 9 April of the following year, with the team eventually narrowly escaping relegation. In the summer of 2015, Fernández signed 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 ...

as youth system coordinator. He left the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

in 2017, and on 17 December 2018 he returned to Zaragoza for a third stint as manager replacing the dismissed Lucas Alcaraz. Fernández resigned on 18 August 2020, after losing the play-off semi-finals to

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 ...

. On 11 March 2024, after nearly four years without a club, he returned to Zaragoza for his fourth spell. On 18 December 2024, Fernández resigned again. He announced his decision while holding a press conference, and in the aftermath of a seven-game winless run.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Zaragoza *

: 1993–94 *

: 1994–95 Celta *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Porto *

* Intercontinental Cup:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Victor 1960 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Zaragoza Men's association football midfielders Tercera División players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Deportivo Aragón managers Real Zaragoza managers CD Tenerife managers RC Celta de Vigo managers Real Betis managers Deportivo de La Coruña managers Primeira Liga managers FC Porto managers Belgian Pro League managers K.A.A. Gent managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in Belgium Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Real Madrid CF non-playing staff