David Gallego Rodríguez (born 26 January 1972) is a Spanish professional

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 ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who played as a

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 ...

. He is the manager of

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

APOEL APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

. He played 10

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 ...

games for Recreativo, and 97 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 ...

for

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

and

Terrassa Terrassa () is a city in central-eastern Catalonia and in the province of Barcelona (Spain). It is one of the two capitals of Vallès Occidental county, being the larger in both area and population. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ''Te ...

, scoring 10 goals in the latter. He spent most of his career 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 ...

. As a manager, Gallego had two brief spells at

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 ...

in the top flight, also leading

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *BFA Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Real Sporti ...

and Ponferradina in the second division.

Playing career

Born in

Súria Súria () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Bages in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Cardener river between Manresa and Cardona, Spain, Cardona. The area is best kn ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Gallego made his senior debut for

CE Manresa Centre d'Esports Manresa is a Spanish football team based in Manresa, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1916, it plays in , holding home games at ''Nou Estadi Municipal del Congost'', with a capacity of 3,000 spectators. Histo ...

, before joining

side

CE L'Hospitalet Centre d'Esports l'Hospitalet is a Spanish football team based in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1957 it currently plays in , holding home games at Estadi Municipal de Futbol de L'Hospitalet, wit ...

in 1991. He continued to appear in the category in the following years, representing

AEC Manlleu Agrupació Esportiva i Cultural Manlleu is a football team based in Manlleu, Spain. Founded in 1931, it plays in the . Its stadium is '' Municipal de Manlleu'' with a capacity of 3000 seats. Season to season ---- *8 seasons in ''Segunda Divisi ...

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– ...

UE Sant Andreu Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu () is a Spanish football club based in the district of Sant Andreu in Barcelona, Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it plays in , holding home matches at '' Camp Municipal Narcís Sala'', with an all-seated capacity of 6,56 ...

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

Terrassa FC Terrassa Futbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Terrassa, Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1906, it currently plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadi Olímpic de Terrassa'', with a capacity of 7,500 sp ...

and

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 ...

; with the ''Egarenses'' he scored a career-best 19 goals in the 1997–98 campaign. Gallego returned to Córdoba in January 2001, with the club now in

. He made his professional debut on 14 January by starting in a 0–0 away draw against

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

, and scored his first professional goal seven days later in a 2–0 home win against

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

. In 2002 summer Gallego joined

club

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

. He made his debut in the category on 1 September, coming on as a second half substitute in a 2–3 home loss against

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 ...

. After ''Recre's''

relegation 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 ...

, Gallego returned to Terrassa. After suffering another drop, he moved down to the lower leagues, representing

CF Badalona Club de Fútbol Badalona () is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903 it plays in , temporarily holding home games at Estadi Municipal de Badalona, with a capacity of 4,170 seats. Ba ...

and Manresa before retiring in 2009, aged 37.

Managerial career

Immediately after retiring Gallego worked as a manager, being appointed at the helm of CE Sant Feliu Sasserra on 23 January 2010. In July, he returned to former club , and achieved promotion to

Segona Catalana The Segona Catalana is the eighth tier of the Spanish football league system and the third highest league in the autonomous community of Catalonia. The league was formed in 2011 to replace Territorial Preferent as second level of Catalonia and w ...

with the latter in 2013. On 25 June 2013, Gallego was appointed manager of

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 ...

's youth setup, being in charge of the ''Juvenil'' squad. He was named at the helm of the reserve team in the third division on 16 June 2016. Gallego was named as the manager of the first team on 20 April 2018 after the sacking of

Quique Sánchez Flores Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 games and 16 g ...

. Starting with a 2–0 win at neighbours

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

two days later, he won four and drew the other of his five fixtures, with ten goals for and two against; the run included victories 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

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

. On 30 May, he returned to his previous role. On 6 June 2019, Gallego replaced Rubi at the helm of the main squad, after agreeing to a two-year contract. He was sacked on 7 October after a poor run of results. Gallego was named in charge of

in the second division on 21 July 2020. On 22 February 2022, after only achieving three wins in the last 17 matches, he was sacked. On 20 November 2022, Gallego replaced José Gomes at the helm of

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

also in the second level. He was shown the door on 10 April, with the team six points inside the relegation zone with seven games remaining. Gallego embarked on the first foreign job of his career on 14 June 2023, with

club

Anorthosis Famagusta FC Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallego, David 1972 births Living people People from Bages Footballers from the Province of Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CE Manresa players CE L'Hospitalet players AEC Manlleu footballers Levante UD footballers UE Sant Andreu footballers Córdoba CF players Terrassa FC footballers Hércules CF players Recreativo de Huelva players CF Badalona players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers RCD Espanyol B managers RCD Espanyol managers Sporting de Gijón managers SD Ponferradina managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta FC managers