Iñaki Tejada Fernández (born 19 November 1965) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder.

Iñaki Tejada
Personal information
Full name Iñaki Tejada Fernández
Date of birth (1965-11-19) 19 November 1965 (age 58)
Place of birth Bilbao, Spain
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Iturrigorri
1979–1985 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1988 Bilbao Athletic 13 (0)
1987Sestao (loan) 0 (0)
1987–1988Lemona (loan)
1988–1989 Marbella
1989–1990 Hospitalet
1990–1991 Gandía
1991–1992 Lugo 17 (0)
Total 30 (0)
Managerial career
1996–1998 Sporting Gijón (youth)
1998–2003 Sporting B (assistant)
2003–2012 Sporting Gijón (assistant)
2012 Sporting Gijón
2012–2014 Sporting B (assistant)
2014–2017 Sporting Gijón (assistant)
2017–2019 Alavés (assistant)
2020 Espanyol (analyst)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career edit

Born in Bilbao, Biscay, Basque Country, Tejada joined Athletic Bilbao's youth setup in 1979, aged 13, after starting it out at SD Iturrigorri.[1] Promoted to the reserves in 1985, he made his professional debut on 27 April of the following year, coming on as a second-half substitute for Roberto Martínez in a 1–6 Segunda División home loss against CD Málaga.

After appearing sparingly, Tejada served loans at Sestao River Club and SD Lemona, suffering a severe knee injury while at the latter. He would subsequently represent CA Marbella, CE L'Hospitalet, CF Gandía and CD Lugo, the latter in Segunda División B.[2]

After retiring at the age of just 27 due to injuries, Tejada joined Sporting de Gijón's youth setup as a coach. In 1998, he was appointed Marcelino García Toral's assistant at the club's reserve team, being also with the manager in the main squad.[3]

Tejada remained at Mareo after Marcelino's departure, being an assistant of both Ciriaco Cano and Manolo Preciado.[4] On 31 January 2012, after Preciado's dismissal, he was appointed manager of the first team.[5]

Tejada was in charge of the Asturians for two matches (a 1–1 draw against CA Osasuna and a 0–4 defeat against Valencia CF) before being replaced by Javier Clemente.[6]

Tejada was appointed Abelardo Fernández's assistant at Sporting B for the 2012–13 campaign. On 5 May 2014, after the manager's promotion to the first team, he remained as his second fiddle.[7]

From 2017 to 2019, he accompanied Abelardo Fernández once again, this time at Alavés. At the end of December 2019, he was appointed analyst under Abelardo at Espanyol.[8] They left the club in June 2020.[9]

References edit

  1. ^ "Iñaki Tejada" (in Spanish). Iturrigorri's official website. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Tejada triunfa en Gijón con la receta de Lezama" [Tejada triumphs in Gijón with Lezama's recipee] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 23 June 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Un pedacito de Lezama en Mareo" [A little piece of Lezama in Mareo] (in Spanish). Marca. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  4. ^ "La hora de Iñaki Tejada" [Iñaki Tejada's time] (in Spanish). El Comercio. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  5. ^ ""Lamento si hice algo mal, seré de este equipo siempre"" ["I'm sorry if i did something wrong, this will be my team for always"] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Javi Clemente piensa ya en sportinguista" [Javi Clemente already thinks as a sportinguista] (in Spanish). Sporting Gijón's official website. 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Abelardo sustituye a Sandoval hasta final de temporada" [Abelardo replaces Sandoval until the end of the season] (in Spanish). La Nueva España. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  8. ^ Tomás será el segundo entrenador de Abelardo en el Espanyol, lne.es, 27 December 2019
  9. ^ Pintó el descenso, pintó el despido..., ole.com.ar, 27 June 2020

External links edit