Abelardo Fernández

Abelardo Fernández Antuña (Spanish pronunciation: [aβeˈlaɾðo feɾˈnandeθ anˈtuɲa]; born 19 April 1970), known simply as Abelardo as a player, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fernández and the second or maternal family name is Antuña.
Abelardo
Abelardo managing Sporting Gijón in 2014
Personal information
Full name Abelardo Fernández Antuña[1]
Date of birth (1970-04-19) 19 April 1970[1]
Place of birth Gijón, Spain[1]
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
1985–1986 La Braña
1986–1988 Estudiantes Somió
1988–1989 Sporting Gijón
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989 Sporting Gijón B 4 (2)
1989–1994 Sporting Gijón 179 (13)
1994–2002 Barcelona 178 (11)
2002–2003 Alavés 28 (0)
Total 389 (26)
International career
1990 Spain U20 1 (0)
1990–1991 Spain U21 6 (1)
1991–1992 Spain U23 12 (5)
1991–2001 Spain 54 (3)
2002 Asturias 1 (1)
Managerial career
2008–2010 Sporting Gijón B
2010–2011 Candás
2011–2012 Tuilla
2012 Sporting Gijón (assistant)
2012–2014 Sporting Gijón B
2014–2017 Sporting Gijón
2017–2019 Alavés
2019–2020 Espanyol
2021 Alavés
2022–2023 Sporting Gijón
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Spain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1992 BarcelonaTeam Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A player with good heading and marking ability, he was also known for a distinctive bald head, a style which he adopted from a relatively young age.[2] During his career he was almost exclusively associated with Sporting de Gijón and Barcelona, having amassed La Liga totals of 385 matches and 24 goals over 14 seasons, and also managed the former club for three years.

Having won more than 50 caps for Spain in one full decade, Abelardo represented the nation in two World Cups and as many European Championships.

Playing career

Club

Born in Gijón, Asturias, Abelardo started his professional career with local Sporting de Gijón, with which he made his La Liga debuts. Signing with FC Barcelona for the 1994–95 season in a 275 million pesetas deal, he was always an important first-team element, helping the Catalans to two leagues, cups and supercups, adding another two European trophies. However, he was greatly hampered by injuries in his final years at the Camp Nou.[3]

Aged 32, Abelardo joined Deportivo Alavés, initially signing a two-year deal[4] but retiring after just one season[5] due to a recurrent knee injury, which had already bothered him at Barcelona.[6]

International

Abelardo made his debut for the Spain national team on 4 September 1991, in a friendly against Uruguay in Oviedo.[7] He went on to appear in a further 53 games and score three goals, being a participant at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups and UEFA Euro 1996 and 2000.

Abelardo was also an essential member of the squad that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, netting in both the semi-finals (2–0, Ghana) and the final (3–2 over Poland).[8][9] On 28 December 2002 he played for the Asturias regional team in a friendly against Honduras in Avilés, and scored the opening goal of a 5–3 win.[10]

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition[11]
1.12 October 1991Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain France1–21–2Euro 1992 qualifying
2.13 November 1991Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain Czechoslovakia1–02–1Euro 1992 qualifying
3.29 March 2000Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain Italy2–02–0Friendly

Coaching career

Subsequently, Fernández took up coaching, starting with his first club's B side in 2008. Midway through his second year he was fired, with the team managing to retain their Segunda División B status nonetheless. In May 2010, he moved to neighbouring amateurs Candás CF.[12]

Fernández signed for CD Tuilla for the 2011–12 campaign – also in Asturias and the Tercera División[13]– winning the Copa Federación de España (Asturias tournament).[14] On 10 February 2012, Sporting Gijón hired him as an assistant coach after Iñaki Tejada was appointed following the departure of Manuel Preciado.[15]

Fernández returned to head coach duties and Sporting B for 2012–13.[16] Late into the following season, he led them to a 4–1 away win over neighbouring Real Oviedo and, one week later, replaced the sacked José Ramón Sandoval at the helm of the main squad.[17] Amidst severe financial problems, he led them to promotion back to the top flight in his first full season, and quit his post in January 2017 due to irreconcilable differences.[18]

On 1 December 2017, Fernández was hired as manager of Alavés, which were placed in the last position in the top division at the date of his arrival.[19] His first game in charge took place three days later, and he led the visitors to a 3–2 away win over Girona FC after they trailed 2–0 with 20 minutes left.[20] In 2018–19, his team started well and were in contention for a Champions League place before fading in the second half to finish 11th, and he resigned at its conclusion.[21]

Fernández returned to the city of Barcelona on 27 December 2019, becoming RCD Espanyol's third coach of the campaign as the side was in last place.[22] Six months later, he was dismissed as the side were eight points from safety with seven games remaining.[23]

On 12 January 2021, Abelardo returned to Alavés in place of the sacked Pablo Machín.[24] He went back to Sporting in May 2022,[25] being relieved of his duties the following 15 January.[26]

Personal life

Abelardo first met Luis Enrique at the age of 6, and the pair played together for the same junior team, Sporting, Barcelona and Spain.[18]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 14 January 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Sporting Gijón B Spain 10 July 2008 4 January 2010 59 19 9 31 67 87 −20 032.20 [27]
Candás Spain 1 July 2010 14 June 2011 38 19 12 7 60 38 +22 050.00 [28]
Tuilla Spain 14 June 2011 10 February 2012 24 11 6 7 29 26 +3 045.83 [29]
Sporting Gijón B Spain 22 May 2012 4 May 2014 73 23 25 25 94 96 −2 031.51 [30]
Sporting Gijón Spain 4 May 2014 17 January 2017 110 37 34 39 130 144 −14 033.64 [31]
Alavés Spain 1 December 2017 20 May 2019 69 29 14 26 83 86 −3 042.03 [32]
Espanyol Spain 27 December 2019 27 June 2020 17 5 5 7 19 24 −5 029.41 [33]
Alavés Spain 12 January 2021 5 April 2021 12 1 2 9 8 29 −21 008.33 [34]
Sporting Gijón Spain 3 May 2022 15 January 2023 30 10 12 8 34 30 +4 033.33 [35]
Career Total 432 154 119 159 524 560 −36 035.65 —

Honours

Player

Barcelona

Spain U23

Manager

Candás

Tuilla

  • Copa Federación de España (Asturias tournament): 2011[14]

References
  1. "ABELARDO Fernández Artuña [sic]". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  2. "El pelao – #03 Abelardo" [The shaven one – #03 Abelardo] (in Spanish). Cuonda. 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  3. Injury woe for Abelardo; UEFA, 9 January 2002
  4. Alavés take on Abelardo; UEFA, 4 June 2002
  5. Abelardo ready to say adiós; UEFA, 4 June 2003
  6. Abelardo on the mend; UEFA, 22 January 2002
  7. Ortiz, Fabián (5 September 1991). "Tiempo de llorar, tiempo de soñar" [A time to cry, a time to dream]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  8. Morenilla, Juan (25 February 2007). "Supervivientes de oro" [Golden survivors]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  9. "El triunfo en el fútbol, broche de oro para España en Barcelona 92" [Football win, icing on the cake for Spain in Barcelona 92] (in Spanish). Dame Un Silbidito. April 2010. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  10. "Asturias mantiene su racha de triunfos" [Asturias maintain their winning streak]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 28 December 2002. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  11. "Abelardo Fernández". European Football. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  12. Álvarez Lozano, Javier (19 May 2010). "El Candás se pone en manos de Abelardo" [Candás put themselves in the hands of Abelardo]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  13. Núñez, H. (15 June 2011). "Abelardo ya es entrenador del Tuilla" [Abelardo is already manager of Tuilla]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  14. Martínez, Guillermo (21 October 2011). "El Tuilla gana la Copa Federación" [Tuilla win the Federation Cup]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  15. "Abelardo se incorpora al primer equipo como segundo entrenador" [Abelardo joins first team as assistant coach] (in Spanish). Sporting Gijón. 10 February 2012. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  16. Vega-Arango anuncia que se bajará el precio de los abonos (Vega-Arango announces season tickets will be cheaper) Archived 20 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Sporting Gijón, 22 May 2012 (in Spanish)
  17. Abelardo Fernández sustituye a Sandoval como entrenador del Sporting (Abelardo Fernández replaces Sandoval as Sporting coach) Archived 4 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Sporting Gijón, 4 May 2014 (in Spanish)
  18. Lowe, Sid (23 January 2017). "Abelardo Fernández saved Sporting Gijón but now his revolution is over". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  19. "Abelardo: "Estoy muy identificado con el Alavés; en un gran club con una afición espectacular y entre todos saldremos de esta situación"" [Abelardo: "I relate greatly to Alavés; in a great club with an awesome fanbase and together we will see ends meet"] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  20. García, Óscar (4 December 2017). "Pedraza e Ibai le dan la primera alegría a Abelardo" [Pedraza and Ibai give first joy to Abelardo]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  21. "Abelardo Fernandez resigns as Alaves head coach". Sky Sports. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  22. "Abelardo, nou entrenador del RCD Espanyol de Barcelona" [Abelardo, new RCD Espanyol de Barcelona manager] (in Catalan). RCD Espanyol. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  23. "OFICIAL: el Espanyol despide a Abelardo" [OFFICIAL: Espanyol dismiss Abelardo] (in Spanish). Be Soccer. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  24. "Abelardo, nuevo entrenador del Deportivo Alavés" [Abelardo, new manager of Deportivo Alavés] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  25. Menéndez, Andrés (3 May 2022). "Oficial: Abelardo ficha por el Sporting hasta junio de 2023" [Official: Abelardo signs for Sporting until June 2023]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  26. "Abelardo Fernández deja de ser el entrenador del Real Sporting" [Abelardo Fernández leaves Real Sporting] (in Spanish). Sporting Gijón. 15 January 2023. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  27. "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2008–09 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
    "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2009–10 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  28. "Tercera División (Grupo 2) 2010–11" [Tercera División (Group 2) 2010–11] (in Spanish). Futbolme. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  29. "Tercera División (Grupo 2) 2011–12" [Tercera División (Group 2) 2011–12] (in Spanish). Futbolme. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  30. "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2012–13 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
    "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2013–14 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  31. "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2013–14 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
    "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2014–15 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
    "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2015–16 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
    "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2016–17 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  32. "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2017–18 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
    "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2018–19 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  33. "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2019–20 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  34. "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2020–21 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  35. "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2021–22 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
    "Matches Abelardo Fernández, 2022–23 season". BDFutbol. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  36. "La Roja de 1992, nuestra medalla de oro Olímpica" [1992's La Roja, our Olympic gold medal] (in Spanish). Antena 3. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  37. Lorca, Antonio (29 October 2010). "El Candás gana su primera Copa Federación" [Candás win their first Federation Cup]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 January 2020.
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