Manuel Sánchez Torres

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

Manuel Sánchez Torres
Personal information
Full name Manuel Sánchez Torres[1]
Date of birth (1960-01-01) 1 January 1960[1]
Place of birth Terrassa, Spain[1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position Forward
Youth career
PH Almelo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1985 Twente 173 (52)
1985–1987 Valencia 35 (1)
1987–1990 Roda 46 (6)
1990–1991 NEC 36 (8)
1991–1992 Sportclub Enschede
1992–1993 Heracles 0 (0)
Total 290 (67)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Manuel Sánchez Torres (born 1 January 1960) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Except for two seasons at Valencia, he spent his entire career in the Netherlands, where he appeared for three clubs – mainly Twente – and appeared in more than 250 competitive games.

Career

Sánchez Torres was born in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia. When he was seven years old, he moved with his parents to Almelo in the Netherlands, and started his career at local amateurs PH Almelo, being subsequently noticed and signed by Eredivisie club FC Twente.[2][3]

On 17 September 1978, aged 18, Sánchez Torres made his league debut for Twente, in a home game against Sparta Rotterdam, scoring his first goal a few weeks later at HFC Haarlem and ending his first season with three goals in 23 matches as the Enschede side finished in 11th position and reached the final of the KNVB Cup, lost to league champions AFC Ajax.[4]

From 1980 onwards, Sánchez Torres scored in double digits in every season, save for the 1982–83 campaign which ended in relegation to the Eerste Divisie. This was followed by immediate promotion, with the player netting 11 times for the runners-up.[4]

Sánchez Torres returned to his country in summer 1985 by joining Valencia CF, making his debut for the Che on 31 August in a 2–1 home win over Real Valladolid where he left the pitch injured after 24 minutes.[5] During his spell at the Mestalla Stadium, where he was coached by Alfredo Di Stéfano, he failed to reproduce his previous form, scoring only once and also suffering La Liga relegation in his first season; his acquisition was mostly financed by longtime supporter Emiliano Rojo, who lent 100.000 pesetas to the club.[6][7][3][4]

After leaving Valencia, Sánchez Torres returned to the Netherlands with top-division Roda JC Kerkrade, but appeared sparingly for that and his following teams, NEC Nijmegen and Heracles Almelo due to injury (no games whatsoever for the latter), retiring from football in 1993 at age 33 and going on to work with physically disabled youngsters.[2][4]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League
Division Apps Goals
Twente 1978–79[1] Eredivisie 23 3
1979–80[1] Eredivisie 5 0
1980–81[1] Eredivisie 32 10
1981–82[1] Eredivisie 33 15
1982–83[1] Eredivisie 21 3
1983–84[1] Eerste Divisie 26 11
1984–85[1] Eredivisie 33 10
Total 173 52
Valencia 1985–86[8] La Liga 20 1
1986–87[8] Segunda División 15 0
Total 35 1
Roda 1987–88[8] Eredivisie 26 4
1988–89[1] Eredivisie 18 2
1989–90[1] Eredivisie 2 0
Total 46 6
NEC 1989–90[1] Eredivisie 12 1
1990–91[8] Eredivisie 24 7
Total 36 8
Heracles 1992–93[8] Eredivisie 0 0
Career total 290 67

Honours

Valencia

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Manuel Sánchez Torres at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ a b "Manuel Sanchez Torres" (in Dutch). NEC Fan. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  3. ^ a b Gisbert, Paco (1 July 2024). "Sánchez Torres, el delantero lagartija" [Sánchez Torres, the lizard striker] (in Spanish). Plaza Podcast. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d "Manuel Sánchez Torres (1960)" (in Dutch). Kent u deze nog?. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  5. ^ Domínguez, Miguel (1 September 1985). "2–1: ¡Casi un milagro!" [2–1: Nearly a miracle!]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  6. ^ Bort, J.M. (18 November 2020). "El leonés anónimo que financió el fichaje de Sánchez Torres" [The anonymous man from León who financed the signing of Sánchez Torres]. Levante-EMV (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  7. ^ "Historia" [History] (in Spanish). Valencia CF. Archived from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e Manuel Sánchez Torres at BDFutbol
  9. ^ Domínguez, Miguel (31 May 1987). "2–0: El Valencia ya está en Primera" [2–0: Valencia are already in Primera]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2026.
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