| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anselmo Fernandez Rodrigues | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1918-08-21)21 August 1918 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Lisbon, Portugal | |||||||||||||
| Date of death | 19 January 2000(2000-01-19) (aged 81) | |||||||||||||
| Place of death | Madrid, Spain | |||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||
| 1964 | Sporting CP | |||||||||||||
| 1965 | Sporting CP | |||||||||||||
| 1965–1968 | CUF Barreiro | |||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Anselmo Fernandez Rodrigues (21 August 1918 – 19 January 2000) was a Portuguesearchitect andfootball manager who ledSporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting CP) to victory in theUEFA Cup Winners' Cup in1964 and was the architect of Sporting CP'sEstádio José Alvalade inaugurated in 1956.[1][2]
Anselmo Fernandez, born in Lisbon of Spanish descent, initially hoped for a career as football player with Lisbon'sSporting Clube de Portugal, however his health did not allow for it. He later engaged with Rugby at the club and emerged as a well regarded referee in that sport. His career focus then switched to architecture. His first major work was the originalEstádio José Alvalade, which he built in conjunction withAntónio Augusto Sá da Costa. The 61,000 capacity stadium of SCP opened in 1956. He was a major collaborator in many works of the architectsPorfírio Pardal Monteiro andAntónio Pardal Monteiro being involved with construction of the Lisbon hotel Tivoli,National Library of Portugal, the directorate of Lisbon University and the Faculty of Law. TheReitoria da Universidade, the university directorate was awarded with aPrémio Valmor, a major architectural prize. In 1962 he had a first brief stint as coach of Sporting's football team. His second stint at the helm of Sporting ended spectacularly. In the quarterfinals of the European Cup Winner' Cup in March 1964 Sporting defeatedManchester United – featuringBobby Charlton,George Best andDenis Law – 5-0 after an initial away defeat of 1-4, which was instrumental in the ousting of his predecessor, the BrazilianGentil Cardoso. After a tight contest in the semifinals againstOlympique Lyonnais Sporting metMTK Budapest in the final. The match in Brussel'sHeysel Stadium ended 3-3. The rematch in Antwerp was decided by a directly converted corner kick byJoão Morais, who was replacing injured star defenderHilário Conceição, thus Sporting gained its hitherto only international trophy. After this, Fernandez withdrew and made way for FrenchmanJean Luciano. Another crisis at the club made Fernandez step up once more for several weeks. He began the next season at the helm of the club. Fernandez, who up to then has offered all his services to Sporting for free, including his work for the stadium, was offered a remuneration of 15 million Escudos, which he considered low. Further dissonances led to an early separation. The BrazilianOtto Glória succeeded him and achieved the championship by the end of the year. Fernandez continued coaching at the then first division clubCUF Barreiro, which achieved mid-table positions between 1965/66 and 1967/68. In his third season with CUF he got severely injured in a road accident requiring neurosurgery. This led to his retirement. In further years Sporting Clube de Portugal would bestow all its honours – the Prémio Stomp and honorary membership – to Anselmo Fernandez.Os Cinquentenários, an organisation closely linked to the club, anointed himVisconde de Alvalade, the "Viscount of Alvalade", in reference toAlfredo Holtreman, Viscount of Alvalade, the first president of Sporting CP, from 1906 to 1910, the sports club founded in 1906 by his grandsonJosé Alvalade through the Viscount's donation of money and land.[3][4]
