Born in Málaga on 2nd May 1954, Manolito started out playing for Deportivo ICET, from the Málaga neighbourhood of El Palo. In the ‘juvenil’ category he moved to Centro de Deportes El Palo, making his debut with the senior team in the 1972-73 season. From there he went to CD Veleño where he remained for a season, and subsequently signed to CD Málaga.
In the 1974-75 season he was loaned out to Atlético Marbella and during the following season, although he was part of the Malaguista squad, he didn’t make his debut, and was loaned out to RCD Mallorca, in the 1976-77 season, then in the Third Division.
A forward, he could play on both wings, even as a centre forward, standing out for using both legs and for his headers. He played his first official match as a Malaguista on league matchday three of the Second Division in the 1977-78 season against Granada CF (18/09/1977), held in Granada. CD Málaga, coached by José Luis Fuentes, ended up losing the match by 1-0. During that season he took part in 25 league games and scored two goals.
In the 1978-79 season, when the team was coached by the Jenos Kalmar-Sebastián Viberti tandem, Manolito played 17 matches in the Second Division, again scoring two goals.
In the duel in the last match of the season, in which CD Málaga won by 3-0 against RC Deportivo de La Coruña, Manolito played the final 23 minutes of the match, his final minutes as a Malaguista.
Fifty official matches (42 League and eight Cup games) and six goals (two in the Cup tournament), plus a promotion, were his stats as a CD Málaga player.
After leaving the Blue and Whites, he played for various teams including Linares CF, AD Ceuta, Algeciras CF and CD Antequerano, and finally in 1988 he returned to his neighbourhood of CD El Palo where he retired from active football in 1990.
Rest in peace.
