Manuel Clares

Manuel Clares
Personal information
Full name Manuel Clares García
Date of birth (1948-02-23) 23 February 1948
Place of birth Madrid, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Forward
Youth career
Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1965–1966 Getafe Deportivo
1966–1971 Gandía
1970–1973 Castellón 110 (37)
1973–1979 Barcelona 173 (69)
1978–1980 Rayo Vallecano 47 (9)
1980–1981 Gandía
1981–1982 Villarreal
National team
1973 Spain 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Manuel 'Manolo' Clares Garcia (23 February 1948) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a forward.

He appeared in 197 La Liga games during eight seasons, scoring 65 goals combined for Castellón, Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano.

Club career

Born in Madrid, Clares played lower league football until the age of 23, representing Getafe Deportivo and CF Gandía. In March 1971 he signed with CD Castellón, scoring 13 goals in 36 games in his first full season to help the club return to La Liga after a 25-year absence.

Clares made his debut in the Spanish top flight on 17 September 1972, in a 1–4 home loss against Athletic Bilbao. During the campaign, he contributed with 11 goals from 30 appearances to help the Valencians to a best-ever fifth position, as well as the final of the Copa del Rey; subsequently, he caught the eye of both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid,[1] but as the former had practically secured his services,[2] manager Lucien Muller opposed to the transfer citing his team's lack of attacking options.[3]

In late May 1974, after Castellón's relegation, Clares finally joined Barcelona, as a direct replacement for Johan Cruyff as the foreign players were not allowed to participate in the Spanish Cup.[4] During the knock-out competition, he finished as top scorer with five successful strikes in only six matches,[5] but the final ended 4–0 in favour of Real Madrid.[6]

During his four-year spell at the Camp Nou, Clares was regarded as a highly inconsistent player, capable of scoring wonderful goals but also of missing clear chances.[7] On 28 November 1976, he netted five of the Blaugrana goals in a 6–1 home demolition of Valencia CF,[8] for a total of 22 during the season.[6]

In July 1978, after the arrival of president Josep Lluís Núñez, and with him former coach Muller, Clares was transferlisted. He moved to Rayo Vallecano in October,[9] going on to be relatively played during his two-year tenure and retiring at the age of 32, even though he later returned for a spell in the lower divisions.

International career

Clares gained one cap for Spain: on 17 October 1973, he played 67 minutes in a 0–0 away friendly draw with Turkey.[10]

Honours

Barcelona

References

  1. ↑ "El presidente del Castellón: "Sólo lo traspasaremos al Barcelona"" [Castellón's president: "We will only transfer him to Barcelona"] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 27 June 1973. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "Clarés fichará hoy por el Barcelona" [Clarés will sign for Barcelona today] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 16 July 1973. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  3. ↑ "Zabalza, con un pie en Bilbao" [Zabalza, all but in Bilbao] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 5 September 1973. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "Clares: "No estoy nervioso; sólo me preocupa que todo salga bien"" [Clares: "I am not nervous; I am only worried about making things work out right"] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 25 May 1974. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "Clares, el máximo goleador" [Clares, top scorer] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 28 June 1974. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Manolo marca ya" [Manolo score already] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "La penya más especial se llama ‘Fórum Manolo Clares’" [The most special supporters group is called ‘Fórum Manolo Clares’] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 20 May 1993. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Y Manolo marcó 5" [And Manolo scored 5] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 4 October 2003. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Clares: "No será fácil olvidar estos años"" [Clares: "These years will be hard to forget"] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 11 October 1978. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "0–0: España se defendió sin ahogos ante Turquia" [0–0: Spain had no problem fending off Turkey] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 18 October 1973. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
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