Moruca
Spanish association football player
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The basics
Quick Facts
| Intro | Spanish association football player | |
| A.K.A. | Manuel Fernández Mora | |
| A.K.A. | Manuel Fernández Mora | |
| Places | Spain | |
| was | Athlete Football player Association football player | |
| Work field | Sports | |
| Gender |
| |
| Birth | 10 October 1932 | |
| Death | 1 January 2017 (aged 84 years) |
The details
Biography
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 Deportivo Rayo Cantabria who acted as farm team to Racing de Santander. 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.
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.
Manager 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.
Moruca went on to rank second in Racing's all-time list of managers with most games, only behind José María Maguregui.