Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | José Manuel Figueira | ||
Date of birth | 9 February 1982 | ||
Place of birth | Crawley, England [1] | ||
Youth career | |||
Years | Team | ||
Crawley Town | |||
Managerial career | |||
2008–2011 | Auckland City (youth) | ||
2012–2013 | New York Red Bulls (youth coach) | ||
2014–2016 | Central United | ||
2014–2015 | New Zealand U17 | ||
2015–2016 | Auckland City (youth) | ||
2016–2019 | Team Wellington | ||
2018–2019 | New Zealand U17 | ||
2018–2019 | New Zealand (assistant) | ||
2019–2021 | Auckland City | ||
2021– | Auckland United |
José Manuel Figueira (born 9 February 1982 in Crawley, England) is an English football coach of Spanish descent, who is the current manager of Northern League club Auckland United. [2] Figueira previously held notable roles as the head coach of Team Wellington, assistant coach of the New Zealand national team, and head coach of the New Zealand under-17 national team. [3] [4]
In his short managerial career, Figueira has won multiple domestic and international competitions, including the New Zealand Football Championship, OFC Champions League, OFC U-17 Championship and the National Youth League. [4] [5]
Born in Crawley to Spanish parents. Figueira initially began his career as a player, playing for the youth side of local club Crawley Town, but quit at the age of 19 to pursue a career in coaching, arriving in New Zealand in 2003 following a short stint coaching at the academy of Brighton & Hove Albion. [4] [6]
Figueira was announced as head coach of the New Zealand under-17 national team in preparation for the 2015 OFC U-17 Championship; however, after winning the tournament, he was controversially sacked despite winning all seven games and lifting the title. [6] [7] He was reappointed in 2018, as well as being named assistant manager to Fritz Schmid for the New Zealand senior team. [8] [3] Despite a shock 5–0 loss to the Solomon Islands, Figueira and New Zealand lifted the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship title. [9] [10]
In 2016, Figueira was announced as the new manager of defending ISPS Handa Premiership champions Team Wellington; [6] [11] he immediately led them to another title in the 2016–17 season at his first attempt. [12] This led to him being named New Zealand Football Coach of the Year in 2017. [13] Under Figueira, Team Wellington won the 2018 OFC Champions League, qualifying the club for their first ever FIFA Club World Cup; [5] the club was knocked out on penalties to Al-Ain in the playoff round after a 3–3 draw. [14]