Mariano Hernán

Mariano Hernán López (born 23 November 1957), known during his playing career simply as Hernán, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and later held several non-playing positions at Albacete Balompié.

Playing career Early career

Hernán was born in Talarrubias in the province of Badajoz in Extremadura, and spent seven years in the Real Madrid youth teams.

On 31 October, he started a match for the first time in the return leg of the Valdemoro Copa del Rey tie. Zafra won 2–1, but were eliminated on aggregate. After nine substitute appearances, he finally made his full league debut at home to Racing Portuense on 16 December, a match which Portuense won 1–0. He made a total of 32 appearances that season, scoring five times, but began to fall out of favour towards the end of the campaign, and a substitute appearance in the 4–1 home win over Ontinyent on 25 May would prove to be his last for the club.

He played 33 times that season, scoring a healthy 11 goals. This included two braces: in a 6–1 home win over Ilicitano on 7 December, and a stunning 7–0 away win over Hellín on 8 March. Although he played 26 times during the campaign, this would be his only season with Albacete in which he failed to score.

On the club's return to the third tier, Hernán continued to be an important part of the team, but his number of appearances would decline steadily over the following four seasons. In 1989–90, he made just seven appearances, scoring twice, as Albacete won their group and secured promotion once again. However, Hernán would not join them in the Segunda División, as he left the club at the end of the season. He left Albacete after ten seasons, with 343 appearances and 65 goals in all competitions.

He finally made his way into the starting line-up for the 2–1 away win against Cartagena FC at the Cartagonova on 3 March, and kept his place for the home win a week later over Sant Andreu, by the same score line. Ultimately, he made eleven appearances that season in all competitions, scoring just once: in the 5–2 win away at Torrent on 14 April, which was also the only match in which he played the full 90 minutes. Head coach Julián Rubio was sacked, and Hernán and Ginés Meléndez were appointed joint caretaker managers.

The pair's only match in charge was away to Espanyol at the Estadi de Sarrià on 20 December, which Albacete lost 2–0. The new permanent coach was Víctor Espárrago, who eventually guided Albacete clear of relegation in 17th place.

Later, Hernán was appointed as Albacete's technical secretary, a post which he left after the 1996–97 season, following the club's relegation from La Liga the previous year. He returned for a second spell as technical secretary ahead of the 2007–08 season.

Honours Albacete Balompié Tercera División: 1981–82 Segunda División B runners-up: 1984–85 (earning promotion to Segunda División) Segunda División B: 1989–90

Career statistics As a player

1. Appearances in the 1983 Copa de la Liga Segunda División B 2. Appearances in the 1984 Copa de la Liga Segunda División B 3. Appearances in the 1985 Copa de la Liga Segunda División B 4. Appearances in the 1986 Copa de la Liga

As a manager

+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Albacete Balompié20 December 199220 December 1992