José Luis Oltra Castañer (born 24 March 1969) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently assistant manager of La Liga club Alavés.
Playing career Born in Valencia, Oltra spend the vast majority of his 14-year senior career in the lower leagues, representing Valencia Mestalla, Sueca, Levante, Yeclano (two spells), Elche, Benidorm and Ontinyent. During an eight-season haul in Segunda División B, he amassed totals of 193 games and 21 goals.
The exception to this was in the 1991–92 campaign, when Oltra was part of Sabadell's squad in the Segunda División. His debut as a professional took place on 8 September 1991, when he came as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 home draw against Real Avilés. He retired in 2001, aged 32.
Coaching career Oltra started working as a manager immediately after retiring, with amateurs Catarroja. In 2002, he was appointed at third division club Castellón, leaving two years later by mutual consent and joining another team in that tier, Levante B.
Late into 2004–05, Oltra replaced fired Bernd Schuster at the helm of Levante's first team for the last four matches. He was not able to prevent La Liga relegation, and was himself relieved of his duties on 1 November 2005 due to poor results.
From 2006 to 2009, Oltra continued to work in division two, with Ciudad de Murcia and Tenerife. After collecting 24 wins from 42 games in the latter season, he led the latter team to the third place and the subsequent promotion.
In an emotional press conference, Oltra left the Canary Islands club on 20 May 2010 after suffering relegation. He continued to work in the top flight in the 2010–11 campaign, being one of three managers in charge of Almería as they went on to rank in 20th and last position.
Oltra won the 2012 second-tier championship with his next team, Deportivo de La Coruña. He was sacked on 30 December of that year, after a 2–0 away loss to Espanyol left the Galicians last.
In the following seasons, always in the second division, Oltra coached Mallorca, Recreativo de Huelva, Córdoba, Granada, Tenerife, Racing de Santander and Fuenlabrada. He moved abroad for the first time in his career on 3 June 2022, being named manager of Cypriot First Division club AEK Larnaca.
In December 2023, Oltra became Quique Sánchez Flores' assistant at Sevilla. He returned to head coaching duties on 20 January 2025, signing with second-tier Eldense; unable to avoid relegation, he left in June.
On 16 March 2026, Oltra became Huesca's third manager of the second-division season. On 1 June, after another drop, he left, and paired up again with Flores at Alavés.
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Catarroja 30 June 20011 July 2002 Castellón1 July 20028 July 2004 Levante B8 July 20042 May 2005 Levante 2 May 200531 October 2005 Ciudad Murcia8 July 20061 July 2007 Tenerife1 July 200720 May 2010 Almería24 November 20105 April 2011 Deportivo La Coruña 29 May 201130 December 2012 Mallorca9 June 201324 February 2014 Recreativo27 June 201410 February 2015 Córdoba 10 June 201527 November 2016 Granada 3 June 201719 March 2018 Tenerife 17 September 201812 May 2019 Racing Santander4 February 202021 July 2020Fuenlabrada3 February 202114 December 2021AEK Larnaca3 June 20226 November 2023Eldense 20 January 20254 June 2025Huesca 16 March 20261 June 2026Total —
Honours Manager Castellón Segunda División B: 2002–03
Deportivo Segunda División: 2011–12
References
External links