Moruca

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fernández and the second or maternal family name is Mora.

Moruca

Personal information
Full name	Manuel Fernández Mora
Date of birth	(1932-10-10)10 October 1932
Place of birth	Vargas, Spain
Date of death	1 January 2017(2017-01-01) (aged 84)
Place of death	Santander, Spain
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1945–1949	Los Kotskas
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1949–1951	Rayo Cantabria
1951	Racing Santander	1	(0)
1951–1954	Betis
1954–1955	Eibar	4	(0)
1955–1956	Rayo Cantabria
Managerial career
?–?	Ayrón
?–?	Cantabria (youth)
1963	Racing Santander (interim)
1969–1972	Racing Santander
1972–1973	Osasuna
1975–1976	Gimnástica
1976–1978	Barakaldo
1978	Elche
1980–1983	Racing Santander
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Manuel Fernández Mora (10 October 1932 – 1 January 2017), known as Moruca, was a Spanish professional football forward and manager.

Playing career

Born in Vargas, Cantabria, Moruca started playing with Rayo Cantabria who acted as farm team to Racing de Santander.^[1] On 25 March 1951 he took part in his first and only La Liga match with the latter side, in a 1–2 away loss against RCD Español.^[2]

At the professional level, Moruca also appeared for SD Eibar in Segunda División. He also represented Real Betis, retiring in 1956 at the age of 24 with his first club Rayo Cantabria.^[1]

Coaching career

After working with CA Osasuna, Gimnástica de Torrelavega and Barakaldo CF, promoting the latter to the second level in 1977, Moruca returned to Racing on a permanent basis in 1969–70 – he had already acted as interim manager six seasons before. He achieved promotion from Tercera División that year and, in 1981, with him still in charge, they reached the top flight for the first time ever with a team composed mainly of local players.^[3]

Moruca went on to rank second in Racing's all-time list of managers with most games, only behind José María Maguregui.^[3]

References

1. "Luto en el Racing de Santander por la muerte de Manuel Fernández Mora "Moruca"" [Mourning at Racing de Santander due to death of Manuel Fernández Mora «Moruca»]. ABC (in Spanish). 2 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
2. "Español, 2 – Santander, 1". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 26 March 1951. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
3. "Fallece 'Moruca', un entrenador histórico del Racing" ['Moruca', historical Racing manager, dies]. El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). 2 January 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.

External links

• Moruca at BDFutbol
• Moruca manager profile at BDFutbol