José Manuel Aira


José Manuel Aira Lindoso is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central defender, and the manager of Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa.

Playing career

Born in Ponferrada, Castile and León, Aira arrived at Deportivo de La Coruña from local SD Ponferradina aged 19, but never broke into the first-team setup during his stay, only appearing twice in La Liga. With more individual success, he resumed his career in the second division for the following seven seasons, with CD Tenerife, Racing de Ferrol, Sporting de Gijón and Polideportivo Ejido.
Aira returned to Galicia in the summer of 2006, moving to CD Lugo which had just returned to the third level after a three-year absence. He continued to be a defensive mainstay in the subsequent four years after which he returned to Ferrol, now in division four.

Coaching career

Aira retired in 2011, being immediately named manager of his last club Racing. He was subsequently in charge of Real Murcia and Albacete Balompié, leading the latter in their promotion to the second tier in 2017. He was dismissed on 2 October that year, with the team second from bottom.
On 13 March 2018, Aira moved abroad for the first time to NK Rudeš of Croatia, who had also had compatriot Iñaki Alonso in charge at the start of the season. His time there was brief, as by 23 May he was in charge of FC Sochaux-Montbéliard of France's Ligue 2. Having won one of nine games with the side in 18th on 25 November, he was sacked.
Aira took over at Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa on 18 December 2018 until the end of the third-division campaign, with an extra year in the case of promotion. The team eventually missed the playoffs and his contract expired, though a deal on the same terms was agreed the following 20 June.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Racing Ferrol
Albacete