Manuel "Manolo" Ruiz Pérez (born 3 December 1962) 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

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 ...

, and a current

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 ...

Playing career

Ruiz was born in

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , th ...

Province of Cádiz Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of continental Europe. It is bordered by the Spanish provinc ...

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 ...

. After playing youth football for

UD Melilla Unión Deportiva Melilla is a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1976, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 5, holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro'', with a 8,000 cap ...

and

Atlético Sanluqueño CF Atlético Sanluqueño Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1948, although its registration in official competitions took place in 195 ...

, he signed for

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

in 1979. Four years later, 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 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 ...

, making his debut on 4 December 1983 in a 0–0 away draw against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

. During his four-year spell with the

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 ...

ese, however, Ruiz only played in a combined nine league matches, barred by

Andoni Cedrún Andoni Cedrún Ibarra (born 5 June 1960) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He appeared in 351 La Liga matches over 17 seasons, representing mostly Zaragoza with which he won three major titles, including the 1995 Cup W ...

which would later become a legendary player for the club. In 1985–86 he featured prominently for Zaragoza's reserves in Segunda División, in an eventual relegation-ending season. Before retiring, Ruiz also played professionally for

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

– no appearances whatsoever due to a serious injury– and

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a Spanish football club in Valencia, in the namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante play in Segunda División, holding home games at Ci ...

, suffering another second division relegation with the latter side.

Coaching career

In 1997, shortly after retiring, Ruiz started coaching, starting with his first senior team Xerez and helping the

ns return to the second level in 2001 after a three-year absence. Subsequently, he was part of

Bernd Schuster Bernd Schuster (born 22 December 1959) is a German former professional footballer of the late 1970s through early 1990s, who won club titles playing for the Spanish sides FC Barcelona (1980–1987) and Real Madrid (1988–1990). He played as a ...

's staff at the

Estadio Municipal de Chapín Estadio Municipal de Chapín is a multi-purpose stadium in Jerez, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Xerez Deportivo FC. Xerez Deportivo are the current tenants and Xerez CD former tenants. The ...

(in six matches comprising two separate seasons, he would also act as an

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change wit ...

). Schuster signed with

FC Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...

in 2003, and Ruiz was one of four coaches as Xerez finished ninth in the second tier. When the German returned to Spain to join

, Ruiz re-joined his coaching staff, continuing to work with him at his following clubs,

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, until he was dismissed from the latter in December 2008; amongst other tasks, he was charged with designing the teams' strategic

set pieces "Set Pieces" is the first EP release by Canadian indie band Braids. The EP was released in 2008 under the band's original name, The Neighbourhood Council. Recording The EP was recorded at CJSW CJSW-FM is a campus radio station, broadcasting ...

. Ruiz started a career as manager in his own right in 2011, being linked to

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo ...

and

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding ...

in 2013. On 24 December 2015, he was named

Real Balompédica Linense Real Balompédica Linense is a Spanish football team based in La Línea de la Concepción, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1912 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home matches at Estadio Municipal de ...

coach after replacing the fired Rafael Escobar.

Managerial statistics (second division)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Manuel 1962 births Living people Footballers from Jerez de la Frontera Spanish footballers Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Xerez CD footballers Real Zaragoza players Real Zaragoza B players Deportivo de La Coruña players Levante UD footballers UD Almería players UD Melilla footballers Atlético Sanluqueño CF players Spain youth international footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Xerez CD managers Extremadura UD managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey