Manuel "Manolo" Alfaro de la Torre (born 19 January 1971) is a Spanish retired

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 ...

who played as a striker, and a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. His 14-year professional career was mainly associated with Hércules, for which he scored 55 official goals whilst competing in all three major levels of Spanish football.

Playing career

Born in

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated municipality. ...

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest mun ...

, Alfaro made his professional debuts with the club at which he finished his football formation,

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in ...

. He played rarely for the ''Colchoneros first team, with 18 of his 24 appearances coming in the 1992–93 season, and was also loaned to

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

during his stint in the Spanish capital. Alfaro signed for

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 ...

in 1994, scoring 20 Segunda División goals in his first two seasons combined, including 12 in the 1995–96 campaign ''en route'' to a

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' ...

return after a ten-year absence for the

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

side. In the following year he netted a career-best 15 goals, but they were immediately relegated back. In 1998–99, Alfaro produced another solid season in the top flight, now with

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

(35 games and 12 goals), but suffered another relegation. After years battling with chronic

tendinitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tennis e ...

he decided to retire from football in December 2002, aged only 31; his last club was Hércules, now 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 ...

Coaching career

After his retirement, Alfaro coached mainly in amateur football. In the 2004–05 season he worked alongside former Hércules teammate

Josip Višnjić Josip Višnjić ( Cyrillic: Jocип Bишњић; born 17 November 1966) is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and a coach. His first name has also been spelled as Josif. After starting out at Radnički Niš, he w ...

at hometown's

RSD Alcalá Real Sociedad Deportiva Alcalá is a Spanish football team based in Alcalá de Henares in the Community of Madrid. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 7, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal del Val'', with a capaci ...

, acting as

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The spor ...

, youth coordinator and first-team assistant manager for the third division team; in the following year, he returned to his main club Hércules as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

. After two seasons in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

with as many sides, Alfaro again worked with Hércules, as director of football. In 2009–10 he returned to coaching duties in the tier where he left off, with

Talavera CF Talavera Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Talavera de la Reina, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1948, it played its last season in Tercera División - Group 18, holding home matches at ''Estadio ...

, but the club folded soon after. In November 2010 he was appointed at another fourth level team,

CD Toledo Club Deportivo Toledo, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1928 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 18, holding home games at '' Estadio Salto del Caballo'', w ...

Honours

Player

Atlético Madrid *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 1991–92 Hércules * Segunda División: 1995–96

Manager

Toledo *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfaro, Manolo 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Alcalá de Henares Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Community of Madrid Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players RSD Alcalá players Atlético Madrid B players Atlético Madrid footballers Real Valladolid players Hércules CF players Villarreal CF players Real Murcia CF players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers CD Toledo managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Expatriate football managers in Bolivia