Patxi Salinas

Francisco 'Patxi' Salinas Fernández (born 17 November 1963) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager.

He amassed La Liga totals of 432 games and 11 goals over 16 seasons, with Athletic Bilbao and Celta, winning two national championships with the former club. Subsequently, he worked as a manager.

Club career Born in Bilbao, Salinas emerged through Athletic Bilbao's youth ranks, and made his league debut on 10 November 1982, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win against Salamanca. He appeared in 14 La Liga matches in the 1983–84 season as the team managed to conquer the double. In the following campaign, he became a regular fixture with the Basques alongside fellow Lezama youth graduate Genar Andrinúa.

In summer 1992, Salinas joined Celta de Vigo, where he proceeded to post equally impressive numbers in his six-season spell – always in the top division – retiring from the game at almost 35.

International career Over a one-month span, Salinas earned two caps for Spain, both in friendlies. His debut was on 14 September 1988 in a 2–1 loss to Yugoslavia, in Oviedo.

Coaching career After retiring as a player, Salinas had brief stints as coach of Celta's youth teams and Gramenet, also working with Rápido de Bouzas in directorial capacities. As a manager, in quick succession, he was in charge of Athletic's youth teams, Ourense, Melita (Maltese Premier League) and Sant Andreu.

Salinas achieved promotion to Segunda División B with Rápido in June 2017. One month later, after announcing weeks before he would leave the Galician side, he agreed terms with Burgos. He was dismissed on 5 February 2018, leaving them in ninth position and having conceded the fewest goals in the division.

On 22 May 2018, Salinas was appointed manager of Badajoz. In June of the following year, he signed in the same capacity with Basconia, Athletic Bilbao's farm team; his former teammate Rafael Alkorta was now director of football at the parent club. In December 2021, he moved up to become coach of the reserves following the sacking of Imanol de la Sota.

Personal life Salinas' older brother, Julio, was also a professional footballer (centre-forward), and played most notably for Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona. Both made their top-flight debut in the 1982–83 season.

They held the record for combined appearances in La Liga by siblings at the time of their retirement with 849 matches – occasions where they both played as teammates or opponents counted for each – 86 more than the next pair, Quini and Jesús Castro.

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Porriño1 July 200130 June 2004 Gramenet18 March 200517 June 2005 Ourense22 June 201110 December 2011 Rápido Bouzas30 June 20166 July 2017 Burgos10 July 20175 February 2018 Badajoz22 May 201824 October 2018 Basconia13 June 201914 December 2021 —

Honours Athletic Bilbao La Liga: 1982–83, 1983–84 Copa del Rey: 1983–84; runner-up: 1984–85 Supercopa de España: 1984

Celta Copa del Rey runner-up: 1993–94

Spain Under-21 UEFA Under-21 European Championship runner-up: 1984