Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish football

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 who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He began his professional career with

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in 1984, going on to amass

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 ...

totals of 304 games and 16 goals over 12 seasons and also appearing 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 ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

in the competition, retiring in 1997. Internationally, he represented

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at under-18, under-21 and under-23 levels, appearing with the senior side at the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

. In 2001, Flores began his managerial career when he took charge of Real Madrid's youth team. His first senior post came in 2004, with

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

, and he also managed Valencia,

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 ...

– where he won the 2010 Europa League – and Espanyol in the top division. Abroad, he had spells at Benfica in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

(twice) in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, as well as stints in the United Arab Emirates and China.

Playing 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 ...

, Flores spent his first ten years as a senior with

, starting in 1984–85. The club was relegated in his second season, and when it returned to

in the 1987–88 campaign, finished 14th. However, from that point until

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

the team never ranked lower than seventh, with him as first-choice. Flores moved to

in summer 1994 on a four-year contract, and stayed with the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

side for two seasons, winning the league title in the first one but being deemed surplus to requirements early into the 1996 preseason after complaining to newly-arrived manager

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL, AS Roma, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus FC, Juventus. H ...

of toenail pains. Subsequently, he had a brief spell 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 football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

, retiring from professional football at the age of 32 with Spanish top flight totals of 304 games and 16 goals; in his only season in the

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 ...

, as Valencia won the championship, he posted career-highs with 40 matches and nine goals. Flores made 15 appearances for the Spain national team, and was included in the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

squad. On 23 September 1987, he debuted in a 2–0 friendly win against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Castellón de la Plana Castellón de la Plana (in ), or simply Castellón (), is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea. Th ...

Coaching career

Beginnings

Flores began his coaching career in 2001 by taking charge of Real Madrid's youth teams. After earning plaudits during his three seasons with the youth teams, he caught the eye of the newly promoted

, also in Madrid.

Valencia

After the 2004–05 campaign with Getafe, in which they finished in 13th place, Flores was given the opportunity to coach his former club Valencia, succeeding

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Serie A club AS Roma, Roma but will leave on 30 June 2025, followin ...

. In his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, he guided them to third place and thus

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

where the team went on to reach the quarter-finals, being knocked out by Chelsea. In May 2007, the ''Che'' achieved a top-four league finish and consequently a place in the next Champions League. On 29 October, however, the board of directors dismissed Flores after a string of poor results.

Benfica

Flores was appointed as manager of Benfica on 24 May 2008. On 8 June of the following year he left the

side by mutual consent, after a

third place In sociology, the third place refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Examples of third places include Church (building), churches, C ...

in the league and

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...

the domestic league cup.

Atlético Madrid

On 23 October 2009, Flores signed for

following the dismissal of Abel Resino, penning a contract until 30 June 2010. At the end of the campaign, he led the team to the ninth position in the domestic competition, but also to two cup finals: the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

(2–1 win) and the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, lost to

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. Frequently clashing with star player

Diego Forlán Diego Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former football player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his ...

during

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Flores announced his departure from the ''Colchoneros'' before the season ended, with the team finally

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Al Ahli

In early May 2011, Flores was linked with a move to Spartak Moscow. On 8 November, however, he was named new coach of

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

team Al Ahli, replacing

Ivan Hašek Ivan Hašek (born 6 September 1963) is a Czech professional football coach and former player who currently manages the Czech national football team. Hašek played as a central midfielder and spent a 11-year career with Sparta Prague, appearing ...

. He left on 11 June 2013.

Al Ain

On 28 September 2013, only three months after leaving the country, Flores returned to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, being appointed at

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

. However, his tenure was brief, as he was dismissed on 8 March 2014 due to poor results.

Return to Getafe

After nearly nine months without a club, Flores returned to Getafe on 5 January 2015 to succeed

Cosmin Contra Cosmin Marius Contra (; born 15 December 1975) is a Romanian football manager and former player. Primarily an attacking-minded right-back, he was also deployed as a midfielder. He played professionally in three countries his own notwithstanding ...

as the new manager, following the latter's departure to China. His first match in charge took place two days later, and it ended with a 1–1 away draw against

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

in the domestic cup; on 26 February, however, citing personal reasons, he resigned.

Watford

On 5 June 2015, Flores was appointed the head coach of newly promoted

side

, replacing

Slaviša Jokanović Slaviša Jokanović ( sr-Cyrl, Славиша Јокановић, ; born 16 August 1968) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of UAE Pro League club Al-Nasr. A physical player considered st ...

and being the fifth man to hold that position in twelve months. In December, the team won three and lost only one of their league matches, earning him the

Premier League Manager of the Month The Premier League Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League manager each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to ...

accolade; his forward

Odion Ighalo Odion Jude Ighalo (born 16 June 1989) is a Nigerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Saudi Pro League club Al Wehda FC, Al-Wehda. After starting his career at Nigerian clu ...

earned the equivalent award for his five-goal haul that month. However, despite going on to lead the team to a comfortable mid-table position and the semi-finals of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, it was announced on 13 May 2016 that Flores would be leaving at the end of the season.

Espanyol

On 9 June 2016, Flores returned to Spain, signing a three-year deal to replace

Constantin Gâlcă Constantin "Costel" Gâlcă (born 8 March 1972) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club Rapid București. Equally at ease as a defensive or central midfielder and possessing an a ...

as manager of Espanyol. His second signing was

José Antonio Reyes José Antonio Reyes Calderón (; 1 September 1983 – 1 June 2019) was a Spanish professional footballer who played mainly as a left winger and also as a forward. He made his debut for Sevilla aged 16 and signed for English club Arsenal in J ...

, with whom he had previously worked at Benfica and Atlético. Flores was dismissed on 20 April 2018, after achieving poor results towards the end of the season. In July, he was on a four-man shortlist for the vacant Egyptian national team manager job.

Shanghai Shenhua

On 25 December 2018, Flores was appointed as manager of Chinese club

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

. The following July, he left.

Return to Watford

Flores returned to Watford on 7 September 2019, replacing his compatriot Javi Gracia who was dismissed the same day. His team completed a comeback from 2–0 down to draw 2–2 with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of EFL Championship, Championship club Watford F.C., Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, w ...

in his first game back on 15 September. However, one week later, they were defeated 8–0 at the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, with the opposition scoring five goals in the first 15 minutes for their biggest ever Premier League win. On 30 November 2019, Watford went away to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and lost 2–1. The next day, Flores was sacked after securing only a single victory in his second stint in charge.

Third Getafe spell

On 6 October 2021, Flores was presented as Getafe manager for the third time, after Míchel was dismissed for not winning any of the first eight games of the season. His team were eliminated from the second round of the Spanish Cup on 16 December with a 5–0 loss at Atlético Baleares of the

Primera Federación The Primera Federación, officially the Primera Federación Versus e-Learning for sponsorship reasons (formerly known as Primera RFEF). is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administe ...

, but seventeen days later achieved the first victory over Real Madrid in nearly nine years with a lone goal by

Enes Ünal Enes Ünal (born 10 May 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a forward for club AFC Bournemouth and the Turkey national team. Ünal scored on his Süper Lig debut on 25 August 2013 for Bursaspor against Galatasaray, mak ...

. Flores' side finished 15th in his first campaign back. On 27 April 2023, he was relieved of his duties as they fought relegation with seven matches remaining, and was replaced by another returnee, José Bordalás.

Sevilla

On 18 December 2023, Flores was appointed at Sevilla, signing a contract until 2025; he was their third coach of the campaign after

José Luis Mendilibar José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (born 14 March 1961) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, currently manager of Super League Greece club Olympiacos. He played no higher than Segunda División, making 290 appea ...

and

Diego Alonso Diego Martín Alonso López (; born 16 April 1975) is an Uruguayan professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. Other than in his own country, he played football in Argentina, Spain, Mexico and China in a 16-year ca ...

. He won on his debut the following day, 3–0 at second-bottom

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. During a match at Getafe on 30 March 2024, Sánchez Flores, of Spanish Gypsy ancestry, was the victim of racist abuse from behind the coaches' benches. As a result of chants against Marcos Acuña in the same game, the hosts were ordered to close sections of their stadium for three matches and fined. However, as the insults against the manager were not mentioned in the referee's report, no action was taken with regards to them. On 18 May 2024, having secured survival, Sánchez Flores announced he would be leaving the

Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium (; ) is a association football, football stadium in Seville, Spain. It is the home stadium of Sevilla Fútbol Club, Sevilla, and is named after the club's former president, Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán (1900–195 ...

on 30 June.

Personal life

Flores is the nephew of

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

singer and dancer

Lola Flores María Dolores "Lola" Flores Ruiz (; 21 January 1923 – 16 May 1995) was a Spanish actress, (flamenco dancer) and singer. Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Flores became interested in the performing arts at a very young age. Known for her overwhe ...

. His father, Isidro, was also a footballer and a defender, and

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond A ...

was his godfather. His brother and son, named Isidro and Enrique respectively, played football at lower levels.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Valencia *

: 1986–87 Real Madrid *

: 1994–95 Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Manager

Benfica *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

: 2008–09 Atlético Madrid *

: 2009–10 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

runner-up: 2009–10 Al Ahli *

UAE League Cup The UAE League Cup () is a knockout tournament for clubs in the UAE Pro-League. The first edition of the tournament was played in the 2008–09 Etisalat Emirates Cup, 2008–2009 season. In the 2008–09 season, UAE League Cup replaced the UAE Fed ...

: 2011–12 *

UAE President's Cup The UAE President's Cup, or simply the President Cup, is a association football, football tournament that takes place in United Arab Emirates, between Football team, clubs in the UAE Pro League and the UAE First Division League. The winner qualifi ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Al Ain *

: 2013–14 Individual *

: December 2015

References

External links

* *
CiberChe stats and bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez Flores, Quique 1965 births Living people Spanish people of Romani descent 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Romani footballers Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players Valencia CF players Real Madrid CF players Real Zaragoza players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Getafe CF managers Valencia CF managers Atlético Madrid managers RCD Espanyol managers Sevilla FC managers Primeira Liga managers S.L. Benfica managers UAE Pro League managers Al Ahli Club (Dubai) managers Al Ain FC managers Premier League managers Watford F.C. managers Chinese Super League managers Shanghai Shenhua F.C. managers UEFA Europa League–winning managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in England Expatriate football managers in China Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in China Real Madrid CF non-playing staff