Felines (footballer)

Félix Barderas Sierra (born 6 October 1943), commonly known as Felines, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left winger, and a current manager.

Felines

Personal information
Full name	Félix Barderas Sierra
Date of birth	(1943-10-06) 6 October 1943 (age 80)
Place of birth	Pedro Bernardo, Spain
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1965–1978	Rayo Vallecano	366	(37)
Managerial career
1979–1981	Rayo B
1980	Rayo Vallecano (interim)
1981–1982	Getafe Deportivo
1983–1986	Ávila
1987–1990	Rayo Vallecano
1990–1992	Racing Santander
1992–1993	Talavera
1993	Rayo Vallecano
1994–1996	Talavera
1996–1997	Marbella
1998–1999	Fuenlabrada
1999–2000	Guadalajara
2000–2001	Linense
2001–2003	Getafe
2003–2004	Badajoz
2010–2011	Talavera
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Barderas and the second or maternal family name is Sierra.

His career is mainly associated to Rayo Vallecano, where he amassed 366 league matches and 37 goals over the course of 13 campaigns.

Playing career

Born in Pedro Bernardo, Ávila, Castile and León, Felines joined Rayo Vallecano in 1965 after only playing amateur football in Madrid,^[1] and made his professional debut on 5 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home win against CD Badajoz in the Segunda División championship. His first goal in the category came on 28 November, the first in a home success against CF Calvo Sotelo, with the same outcome.

Felines appeared regularly with Rayo in the following campaigns, netting a career-best seven goals in 1972–73 and achieving promotion to La Liga in 1976–77 after featuring in all league matches. He made his debut in the main category of Spanish football on 13 November 1977, coming on as a late substitute in a 3–1 home win against Sporting de Gijón.

Felines retired in June 1978, at the age of 34.^[2]

Managerial career

Shortly after his retirement Felines was appointed Rayo Vallecano B manager in 1979, also being an interim manager of the main squad in a 0–7 away loss against Real Madrid on 3 February 1980. After spells at Getafe Deportivo and Real Ávila CF, he returned to Rayo in 1987, now as a permanent manager of the first team.

Felines led the club to an impressive second place in the 1988–89 campaign, but was sacked in January 1990 after a poor season in the main category overall. Shortly after he was named Racing de Santander manager, achieving another promotion in 1991.

After two years at Talavera CF Felines re-joined Rayo for a third spell, but his reign only lasted two months. He subsequently returned to Talavera, narrowly missing out the play-offs in two consecutive seasons.

Felines subsequently resumed his career in Segunda División B and Tercera División, managing UD Marbella, CF Fuenlabrada, CD Guadalajara, Real Balompédica Linense and Getafe CF. With the latter he achieved promotion to the second level in 2002, but was relieved from his duties on 19 January 2003.^[3]

In August 2003 Felines was appointed at the helm of Badajoz,^[4] but was sacked in February of the following year. He only returned to the bench six years later, with his former club Talavera.^[5]

References

1. "España reivindica el fútbol de barrio: tocar, divertirse... y ganar" ("Spain claims the district football: touch, enjoy... and win"); Diario AS, 26 February 2012 (in Spanish)
2. Felines va a ser el presidente de honor del Rayo (Felines becomes Rayo's honours president); Diario AS, 3 November 2013 (in Spanish)
3. El Getafe destituye a Felines y Pepe Mel confirma que lo sustituirá (Getafe sacks Felines and Pepe Mel confirms he will replace him); Diario AS, 19 January 2003 (in Spanish)
4. Felines ya da órdenes a la plantilla del Badajoz (Felines already rules Badajoz's squad); El Periódico de Extremadura, 10 August 2003 (in Spanish)
5. El CF Talavera destituye a Luis Quintas y le releva por Félix Barderas «Felines» (CF Talavera sacks Luis Quintas and replaces him for Félix Barderas "Felines"); ABC, 18 November 2010 (in Spanish)

External links

• Felines at BDFutbol
• Felines manager profile at BDFutbol