.jpg) Abelardo managingSporting Gijón in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Abelardo Fernández Antuña[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1970-04-19)19 April 1970 (age 55)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Gijón, Spain[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1986 | La Braña | ||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1988 | Estudiantes Somió | ||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | Sporting Gijón | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Sporting Gijón B | 4 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1989–1994 | Sporting Gijón | 179 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–2002 | Barcelona | 178 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Alavés | 28 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 389 | (26) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Spain U20 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | Spain U21 | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Spain U23 | 12 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 1991–2001 | Spain | 54 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Asturias | 1 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Sporting Gijón B | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Candás | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Tuilla | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Sporting Gijón (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Sporting Gijón B | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | Sporting Gijón | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Alavés | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Espanyol | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Alavés | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Sporting Gijón | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Cartagena | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Abelardo Fernández Antuña (Spanish pronunciation:[aβeˈlaɾðofeɾˈnandeθanˈtuɲa]; born 19 April 1970), known simply asAbelardo as a player, is a Spanish formerfootballer who played as acentral defender, currently amanager.
A player with good heading and marking ability, he was also known for a distinctive bald head, a style which he adopted from a relatively young age.[2] During his career he was almost exclusively associated withSporting de Gijón andBarcelona, having amassedLa Liga totals of 385 matches and 24 goals over 14 seasons, and also managed the former club for three years.
Having won more than 50caps forSpain in one full decade, Abelardo represented the nation in twoWorld Cups and as manyEuropean Championships.
Born inGijón,Asturias, Abelardo started his professional career with localSporting de Gijón, with which he made hisLa Liga debuts. Signing withFC Barcelona for the1994–95 season in a 275 millionpesetas deal, he was always an important first-team element, helping theCatalans to two leagues,cups andsupercups, adding another twoEuropean trophies. However, he was greatly hampered by injuries in his final years at theCamp Nou.[3]
Aged 32, Abelardo joinedDeportivo Alavés, initially signing a two-year deal[4] but retiring after justone season[5] due to a recurrent knee injury that had already bothered him at Barcelona.[6]
Abelardo made his debut for theSpain national team on 4 September 1991, in afriendly againstUruguay inOviedo.[7] He went on to appear in a further 53 games and score three goals, being a participant at the1994 and1998FIFA World Cups andUEFA Euro 1996 and2000.
Abelardo was also an essential member ofthe squad thatwon the gold medal at the1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, netting in both the semi-finals (2–0,Ghana) and the final (3–2 overPoland).[8][9] On 28 December 2002 he played for theAsturias regional team in a friendly against Honduras inAvilés, and scored the opening goal of a 5–3 win.[10]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition[11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 October 1991 | Benito Villamarín,Seville, Spain |  France | 1–2 | 1–2 | Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 2. | 13 November 1991 | Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain |  Czechoslovakia | 1–0 | 2–1 | Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 3. | 29 March 2000 | Montjuïc,Barcelona, Spain |  Italy | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
Subsequently, Fernández took up coaching, starting with his first club'sB side in 2008. Midway through hissecond year he was fired, with the team managing to retain theirSegunda División B status nonetheless. In May 2010, he moved to neighbouring amateursCandás CF.[12]
Fernández signed forCD Tuilla for the 2011–12 campaign – also in Asturias and theTercera División[13]– winning theCopa Federación de España (Asturias tournament).[14] On 10 February 2012, Sporting Gijón hired him as an assistant coach afterIñaki Tejada was appointed following the departure ofManuel Preciado.[15]
Fernández returned to head coach duties and Sporting B for2012–13.[16] Late intothe following season, he led them to a 4–1 away win over neighbouringReal Oviedo and, one week later, replaced the sackedJosé Ramón Sandoval at the helm of the main squad.[17] Amidst severe financial problems, heled them to promotion back to the top flight in his first full season, and quit his post in January 2017 due to irreconcilable differences.[18]
On 1 December 2017, Fernández was hired as manager of Alavés, which were placed inthe last position in the top division at the date of his arrival.[19] His first game in charge took place three days later, and he led the visitors to a 3–2 away win overGirona FC after they trailed 2–0 with 20 minutes left.[20] In2018–19, his team started well and were in contention for a Champions League place before fading in the second half to finish 11th, and he resigned at its conclusion.[21]
Fernández returned to the city ofBarcelona on 27 December 2019, becomingRCD Espanyol's third coach ofthe campaign as the side was in last place.[22] Six months later, he was dismissed as the side were eight points from safety with seven games remaining.[23]
On 12 January 2021, Fernández returned to Alavés in place of the sackedPablo Machín.[24] He went back to Sporting in May 2022,[25] being relieved of his duties the following 15 January.[26]
On 6 June 2024, after more than a year of inactivity, Abelardo was named as the new manager ofSegunda División sideFC Cartagena on a contract for theupcoming season.[27] He was dismissed after six matches.[28]
Abelardo first metLuis Enrique at the age of 6, and the pair played together for the same junior team, Sporting, Barcelona and Spain.[18]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Sporting Gijón B |  | 10 July 2008 | 4 January 2010 | 69 | 23 | 10 | 36 | 81 | 101 | −20 | 033.33 | [29] |
| Candás | | 19 May 2010 | 14 June 2011 | 47 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 76 | 49 | +27 | 051.06 | [30] |
| Tuilla | | 14 June 2011 | 10 February 2012 | 32 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 45 | 34 | +11 | 050.00 | [31] |
| Sporting Gijón B | | 22 May 2012 | 4 May 2014 | 86 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 111 | 108 | +3 | 033.72 | [32] |
| Sporting Gijón | | 4 May 2014 | 17 January 2017 | 110 | 37 | 34 | 39 | 130 | 144 | −14 | 033.64 | [33] |
| Alavés | | 1 December 2017 | 20 May 2019 | 69 | 29 | 14 | 26 | 83 | 86 | −3 | 042.03 | [34] |
| Espanyol | | 27 December 2019 | 27 June 2020 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 19 | 24 | −5 | 029.41 | [35] |
| Alavés | | 12 January 2021 | 5 April 2021 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 29 | −21 | 008.33 | [36] |
| Sporting Gijón | | 3 May 2022 | 15 January 2023 | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 033.33 | [37] |
| Cartagena | | 6 June 2024 | 25 September 2024 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 016.67 | [38] |
| Career total | 478 | 175 | 126 | 177 | 592 | 615 | −23 | 036.61 | — | |||
Barcelona
Spain U23
Candás
Tuilla
Spain squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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