Manuel José "Manolo" Villanova Rebollar (born 27 August 1942) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

Playing career

Born in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tribut ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to so ...

, Villanova's first professional club was Segunda División's

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

, whom he joined in 1966. After a full season at the club he moved to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vi ...

, suffering relegation during his first campaign. Villanova continued to appear with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

ns in the following years, all in the second level. In 1972, he returned to the top tier, after agreeing to a deal with

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 league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

. A backup to Manolo Nieves, Villanova appeared sparingly for his hometown club, and retired in 1975 at the age of 32.

Managerial career

Immediately after retiring Villanova took up coaching, being appointed at Zaragoza's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

Deportivo Aragón Real Zaragoza Deportivo Aragón is the reserve team of Real Zaragoza, a Spanish football club based in Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1958, currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 3, holding home matches at ...

. In May 1979 he was appointed at the helm of the main squad, replacing

Vujadin Boškov Vujadin Boškov ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Бошков, ; 16 May 1931 – 27 April 2014) was a Serbian footballer and manager. A midfielder, he played 57 matches for the Yugoslav national team. He experienced his greatest success as a coach in ...

. Villanova was sacked in March 1981, after winning only one match out of ten. In June he was named

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...

manager, and took the club back to the top level at first attempt. Villanova was in charge of the ''Charros'' until 1984, and left the club after suffering relegation as dead last. In 1984, he was appointed manager of

in the second division, finishing

the campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme *Bli ...

in the seventh position. In October 1985 Villanova returned to the main category, being appointed

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its home ...

manager and replacing sacked Antoni Torres. He was unable prevent relegation nonetheless, and subsequently left the club. In December 1987 Villanova returned to Zaragoza, taking the club to an impressive fifth position before resigning. He only returned to coaching duties in 1991, while in charge of

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded on 29 March 1960, SD Huesca plays in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in ...

. In 1996, after four full seasons at

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

, Villanova rejoined Zaragoza and its reserve team. In charge until 2003, he only left his post to join the club's board. In July 2006 Villanova returned to Huesca. On 3 March 2008 he returned to Zaragoza for a third spell, with his side seriously threatened with relegation. After failing to avoid the drop with the main squad, Villanova was appointed manager of the reserves for a third time. He was relieved from his duties in June 2009, ending a 12-year relationship with the club. On 14 October 2013 Villanova was named manager of

CD Sariñena Club Deportivo Sariñena is a Spanish football team based in Sariñena, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1945 it plays in Tercera División - Group 17, holding home games at ''Estadio El Carmen'', with a 4,500-seat capacity. Sea ...

, in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, 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 Fo ...

. After suffering relegation, he left the club.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villanova, Manolo 1942 births Living people Footballers from Zaragoza Spanish footballers Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players RCD Mallorca players Real Betis players Real Zaragoza players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Real Zaragoza managers UD Salamanca managers RCD Mallorca managers Hércules CF managers SD Huesca managers Recreativo de Huelva managers