José Figueira
English football manager (born 1982)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
José Manuel Figueira (born 9 February 1982) is an English football coach, 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]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Manuel Figueira | ||
| Date of birth | 9 February 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Crawley, England[1] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| –2001 | 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 | ||
| 2021–2025 | Auckland United | ||
| 2026– | New Zealand U20 | ||
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]
Career
Born in Crawley, England 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]