Anselmo Fernandez

Who was Anselmo Fernandez?

Anselmo Fernandez Rodrigues was a Portuguese architect and football manager who led Sporting Clube de Portugal to victory in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1964.

Anselmo Fernandez, of Spanish extraction, initially hoped for a career as football player with Lisbon's Sporting Clube de Portugal, however his health did not allow for it. He later engaged with Rugby at the club and emerged as a well regarded referee in that sport.

His career focus then switched to architecture. His first major work was the original Estádio José Alvalade, which he built in conjunction with António Augusto Sá da Costa. The 61,000 capacity stadium of SCP opened in 1956. He was a major collaborator in many works of the architects Porfírio Pardal Monteiro and António Pardal Monteiro being involved with construction of the Lisbon hotel Tivoli, National Library of Portugal, the directorate of Lisbon University and the Faculty of Law. The Reitoria da Universidade, the university directorate was awarded with a Prémio Valmor, a major architectural price.

In 1962 he had a first brief stint as coach of Sporting's football team. His second stint at the helm of Sporting ended spectacular.