Samuel San José Fernández (born 1 March 1984), known simply as Samuel or Samu for short, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender, and is currently the manager of UM Escobedo.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel San José Fernández | ||
| Date of birth | 1 March 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Santander, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Escobedo (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rayo Cantabria | |||
| Racing Santander | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2006 | Racing B | 31 | (4) |
| 2005–2008 | Racing Santander | 8 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | → Sporting Gijón (loan) | 33 | (0) |
| 2008 | → Las Palmas (loan) | 21 | (0) |
| 2008–2011 | Las Palmas | 68 | (2) |
| 2011–2014 | Ponferradina | 90 | (1) |
| 2014–2015 | Racing Santander | 22 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Atlético San Luis | 16 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Llagostera | 34 | (1) |
| 2017–2020 | Formentera | 89 | (2) |
| 2020–2023 | Escobedo | 67 | (0) |
| Total | 479 | (10) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2023– | Escobedo | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editBorn in Santander, Cantabria, Samu was a product of his hometown club Racing de Santander's youth system. He first appeared for its main squad on 11 September 2005, in a 0–1 home loss against Cádiz CF.[1] He finished the season with seven appearances (all but one were complete matches) and four yellow cards, as the Cantabria side finished 17th in La Liga and narrowly avoided relegation.
After having served a season-long loan stint with Sporting de Gijón in the Segunda División,[2] Samuel returned to Racing but, midway through the 2007–08 campaign, would be loaned again, alongside teammate Christian Fernández, to second-tier strugglers UD Las Palmas.[3] Both would be instrumental in helping the Canarians to retain their league status.
Subsequently, Christian returned to Santander but Samu stayed, signing for three years with the option for a further one.[4] He appeared in an average of 23 games the following three seasons, with his team always managing to stay afloat in division two.
Samuel then alternated between the second division and the Segunda División B, representing SD Ponferradina[5] and Racing Santander[6] and achieving promotion with the former in 2012.[7] He spent 2015–16 in the Mexican Ascenso MX, with Atlético San Luis.[8]
After returning to his home country, Samu saw out his career at age 39, playing lower-league and amateur football with UD Llagostera,[9] SD Formentera[10] and UM Escobedo.[11]
Coaching career
editOn 16 June 2023, Samu announced his retirement as a player and was immediately named manager of his last club Escobedo.[12] On 19 May 2024, after achieving promotion to Segunda Federación as group winners, he renewed his contract for a further year.[13]
Managerial statistics
edit- As of match played 11 May 2024
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Escobedo | 
|
16 June 2023 | Present | 37 | 23 | 5 | 9 | 61 | 33 | +28 | 62.16 | [14] |
| Career total | 37 | 23 | 5 | 9 | 61 | 33 | +28 | 62.16 | — | |||
References
edit- ^ El cántabro Sesma da la victoria al Cádiz en Santander (Cantabria's Sesma gives win to Cádiz in Santander); Mundo Deportivo, 12 September 2005 (in Spanish)
- ^ El Sporting cerrará esta mañana la cesión del racinguista Samuel (Sporting to complete loan of Racing man Samuel this morning); El Comercio, 7 August 2006 (in Spanish)
- ^ Samuel, cedido a Las Palmas hasta junio (Samuel, loaned to Las Palmas until June); El Diario Montañés, 18 December 2007 (in Spanish)
- ^ Samuel vuelve a Las Palmas para quedarse tres años (Samuel returns to Las Palmas to stay three years); Marca, 10 July 2008 (in Spanish)
- ^ Urzaiz, en la lista (Urzaiz, a possibility); Diario de León, 3 July 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ Samuel, primer refuerzo del Racing 2014/15 (Samuel, first addition of 2014/15 Racing); Racing Santander, 9 July 2014 (in Spanish)
- ^ La Ponferradina asciende ante un rival desquiciado (Ponferradina promote against undone rivals); Diario AS, 25 June 2012 (in Spanish)
- ^ El defensa español Samuel San José, tercer refuerzo del ASL (Spanish defender Samuel San José, third ASL addition); Atlético San Luis, 14 July 2015 (in Spanish)
- ^ Sanjosé i Pablo Sánchez, experiència per al Llagostera (Sanjosé and Pablo Sánchez, experience for Llagostera); Diari de Girona, 23 July 2016 (in Catalan)
- ^ Samuel San José, experiencia de Primera para el nuevo Formentera (Samuel San José, Primera experience for new Formentera); Diario de Ibiza, 6 July 2017 (in Spanish)
- ^ Samuel San José: "El objetivo del Escobedo es el ascenso, no hay que poner paños calientes" (Samuel San José: "Escobedo's goal is to promote, no grey area there"); Cadena SER, 18 August 2021 (in Spanish)
- ^ "OFICIAL: UM Escobedo, Samuel San José se retira y asume el cargo de entrenador" [OFFICIAL: UM Escobedo, Samuel San José retires and takes over as manager] (in Spanish). Todo Mercado Web. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "Samuel San José seguirá al frente del equipo la próxima temporada" [Samuel San José will continue leading the team next season] (in Spanish). UM Escobedo. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "UM Escobedo" (in Spanish). Resultados Fútbol. Retrieved 24 May 2024.