Lucas Alcaraz Spanish Footballer From Granada

Early life

Luis Lucas Alcaraz González was born on 21 June 1966 in Granada, in the Andalusia region of Spain. Records list him as a defender who played for Granada CF, his hometown club, before he moved into coaching. His later career as a manager has been spent largely in Spain's professional divisions, with a few spells abroad.

Career

Alcaraz began coaching in 1994 with AD Adra. He then spent three years in charge of Granada CF in the third tier, Segunda División B, and twice finished in the top four, though the club did not win promotion through the play-offs. After that he managed two more sides in the same division and region, Almería CF and Dos Hermanas CF, and Almería were relegated during his time there.

In June 2000 he took charge of Recreativo de Huelva. In 2002 the club, the oldest in Spain, returned to La Liga after an absence of 23 years, finishing behind champions Atlético Madrid and Racing de Santander. Recreativo went straight back down to the second division but also reached the final of the Copa del Rey, where they lost 3–0 to RCD Mallorca. From there he moved to Racing Santander in the top flight, a job that ended midway through the 2004–05 season because of poor results.

He then worked in the Segunda División for two seasons. At Real Murcia he secured promotion in 2007, but the club was relegated straight afterwards, and he left in March 2008. He returned to Recreativo, where the club suffered the same fate. In the summer of 2009 he signed with Córdoba CF, another Andalusian club in the second division, and finished tenth in his first season. In late June 2011 he rejoined Almería, by then called Unión Deportiva Almería and newly relegated from the top flight. He left that post on 3 April 2012 after a poor run of results.

His next job came abroad. In January 2013 he had a very short stay with Aris Thessaloniki in Greece, then returned to Spain and took over Granada, who were by then in the top division. On 21 October 2014 he was appointed at Levante UD, replacing José Luis Mendilibar after eight rounds, and he was dismissed a year and four days later after a 4–0 home defeat to Real Sociedad. In June 2016 he was named Elche manager but declined the position six days afterwards. On 3 October 2016 he began a third period in charge of Granada, which ended on 10 April 2017.

Three days later he was appointed to coach the Algeria national team. He left in October of that year when the side failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Alcaraz returned to Almería on 16 November 2017 and resigned on 24 April 2018 after eight matches without a win. On 22 October 2018 he took over Real Zaragoza, and he was dismissed on 17 December of that year.

He became manager of Albacete Balompié on 3 February 2020, again in the second division, and left on 13 October 2020, five matches into the new season. On 29 December 2021 he moved to Cyprus to coach Olympiakos Nicosia and departed after eight games without a win. In November 2022 he took over UD Ibiza, the club's third manager that season in the second tier. He left on 6 June 2023 after Ibiza were relegated. On 24 December 2023 he signed for Nassaji Mazandaran in the Persian Gulf Pro League and left the post in February 2024.

Recognition

Over a managerial career of more than two decades, Alcaraz oversaw ten La Liga seasons with Recreativo, Racing Santander, Granada and Levante. He led eight different clubs in the Segunda División and won promotion to the top flight with both Recreativo and Murcia. His best-known result as a manager is the run to the 2003 Copa del Rey final with Recreativo. He also had a brief spell with the Algerian national side.