Juande Ramos, a talented football manager, was born on September 25, 1954 in Pedro Muñoz, Ciudad Real, Spain.
He began his football career as a midfielder with Elche Club de Fútbol and represented the club in his first appearance at the Spanish Premier League. The match was played against Hercules Club de Fútbol on January 19, 1975. During his time as a footballer, Juande Ramos represented the teams of Club Deportivo (CD) Alcoyano, CD Linares, CD Eldense, Alicante Club de Fútbol and CD Denia. His playing career was cut short by his knee injury and had to retire at the age of 28.
Juande Ramos moved on to the management side and took up his first job as coach of the CD Alcoyano in 1993. Between 1994 and 2004, he improved his coaching skills with the training he imparted to the various teams he managed. Juande Ramos served as a manager for a number of clubs in Spain like the Levante Unión Deportiva, the CD Logroñés, the Futbol Club Barcelona Atlètic, the Unió Esportiva Lleida, the Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, the Real Betis Balompié, the Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona and the Málaga Club de Fútbol. During his tenure with the CD Logroñés, the team performed well to become the runner-up in the Segunda Division, 1995-96. The Rayo Vallecano de Madrid club won a promotion in the Segunda Division in 1998-99 season, with the efficient training it received from Juande Ramos. He then moved to the Sevilla Fútbol Club for the 2005-06 season.
All the experience that he gathered helped him to coach the Sevillistas and brought forth amazing results. The 2005-06 season turned out to be a fruitful one for both Juande Ramos and his club; as the team beat Middlesbrough (4-0) in the final and walked away with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup for that season. The good training of Juande Ramos helped the club to fetch the UEFA Super Cup in 2006 by defeating FC Barcelona 3-0. The team went on to win the Copa del Rey after eliminating Getafe CF in the final. The Sevillistas retained the UEFA Cup for 2006-07 season by scoring 3-1 in the penalty shoot-out against RCD Espanyol in the finals. In 2007, the Sevilla Fútbol Club clinched the Supercopa de España title and became the runner-up in the UEFA Super Cup as a result of the efficient training it got from Juande Ramos. For managing Sevilla to win the UEFA Cup consecutively in 2006 and 2007, Juande Ramos was honoured with the Miguel Muñoz Trophy in 2006-07.
In October 2007, he joined the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club by signing a 4-year contract for a compensation package believed to be over €6 million. With Juande Ramos as the manager, the Spurs secured a 2-0 win against the Blackpool FC in the Carling Cup match at White Hart Lane. During the UEFA Cup campaign in the 2007-08 season, his club lost a few matches in the beginning but came back remarkably by winning the Hapoel Tel Aviv and the Aalborg BK and a draw with the Anderlecht team. The winnings helped the Spurs’ team to get qualified to the knock-out stages and finish 2nd in the group. Owing to the team-building capabilities of Juande Ramos, the Spurs emerged victorious (2-0) against Manchester City on December 18, 2007 in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup. At the Emirates Stadium, the Spurs’ team ended the first-leg against Arsenal in a 1-1 draw but rose to the occasion in the second-leg winning a memorable 5-1 against the Gunners since 1999. By defeating Chelsea at the Wembley Stadium, the Spurs’ team under the guidance of Juande Ramos, won the Carling Cup and got qualified for UEFA Cup in 2008-09 season.
