Fernando Rodríguez Serena (28 January 1941 – 15 October 2018) was a Spanish

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

right winger 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. ...

. He appeared in 144

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 ...

matches during nine seasons, scoring a combined 23 goals 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 ...

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

and

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

. With the first club, he won the 1966 European Cup.

Club career

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 ...

, Serena finished his development at

, and started his senior career with their reserves. He then served a two-year loan at

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 ...

, making his

debut on 3 September 1961 in a 2–2 home draw against

RCD Español 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 ...

and scoring his first goal two weeks later to help the hosts defeat

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 ...

3–1. Returned to 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 ...

, Serena went on appear in 86 competitive matches (15 goals) and be part of the squads that won four national championships and the 1965–66 edition of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

. In the latter competition, he scored the winning goal in the final against

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

, controlling the ball with his chest and volleying in from outside the box in a 2–1 win in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. After a further two top flight seasons 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 ...

, with whom he took part in the 1969 Copa del Generalísimo Final against

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 ...

, Serena signed with

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 ...

club

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 ...

in 1970. After 210 games across all competitions at the ''

Camp Municipal Narcís Sala Camp Municipal Narcís Sala () is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is the home of the team UE Sant Andreu Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu () is a Spanish football club based in the district of Sant Andreu in Barcelona, Catalo ...

'', he retired at the age of 35.

International career

Serena earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Spanish national team, playing the second half of the 0–0 friendly home draw to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 9 January 1963 after coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Enrique Collar.

Death

Serena died in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

on 15 October 2018, at the age of 77. He had settled in the city after retiring, marrying María Ángeles Gastón and fathering two children.

Honours

Real Madrid *

: 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68 *

: 1965–66

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Serena, Fernando 1941 births 2018 deaths Footballers from Madrid Spanish men's footballers Men's association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players CA Osasuna players Elche CF players UE Sant Andreu footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's international footballers UEFA Champions League–winning players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen