Forever Manolo Preciado

Levante President Quico Catalan and others 

react to the death of Manolo Preciado

Manolo Preciado (August 28th 1957 – June 6th 2012), loved and defiant, a legendary manager in Spain, left us unexpectedly at midnight last night due to a heart attack. He was just hours away from being presented as the new manager of Villarreal, embracing yet again the challenge of promoting a club from Segunda. He accomplished the same feat with Levante in 2004, the club’s first promotion to First Division in 50 years. Just three years later he managed Sporting Gijon to a promotion and a long run in La Liga’s top flight, resisting relegation all the way up until being fired midway through this season. He will be remembered fondly across Spain, particularly in the hearts of those whose clubs he managed: Gimnastica de Torrelavega, Racing Santander (He also played 115 games for Racing and even coached the B team during several seasons), Levante, Murcia, Sporting Gijon and, for one day, Villarreal.

An outpouring of messages and mourning is taking over the footballing world and online communities as so many remember a loving man who resisted and fought on the playing field as much as he did off of it. His perseverance will be remembered more than any on field accomplishment he achieved. His life was rocked by a series of tragedies to his loved ones, losing his wife to cancer in 2002 and his son to a car crash in 2004. Most recently, his father was killed in a pedestrian crossing accident in 2011. It was after this most recent tragedy that Manolo explained his perseverance through so much sorrow and tragedy.

“Life has left me severed. I could have been vulnerable and end up shooting myself, or look to the heavens and grow. I chose the second.”

A relentless competitor, a friend to so many in football and an exemplary human being, may you find peace and reassurance with your loved ones now that you have joined them and may your memory fill the hole that you have left behind.

Rest in Peace, Manolo.