José Alberto López Menéndez (born 21 May 1982), known as José Alberto, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a defender, who is currently in charge of Racing de Santander.

Born in Oviedo, Asturias, José Alberto started his career at Astur CF's youth setup in 2001 (later renamed Oviedo ACF); at that time, he was playing as a senior for Tercera División side SDR San Lázaro, but retired shortly after. In 2006 he took over CD Vallobín's under-19 squad, but returned to Astur in the following year.^[1]

In 2008, José Alberto moved to Sporting de Gijón, being named assistant manager of the under-14s. He was appointed manager of the under-13 team in the following year, and subsequently took over the under-14s.^[1]

On 12 October 2013, José Alberto was named manager of Tercera División side CD Covadonga,^[2] and led the side to fifth position during the campaign, one point shy of the play-offs. He resigned the following 19 May,^[3] and returned to Sporting on 2 June.^[4]

On 9 June 2016, José Alberto was appointed manager of the reserves, freshly relegated to the fourth division.^[5] He achieved promotion to Segunda División B in his first season, and reached the play-offs to Segunda División in his second.^[6]

On 18 November 2018, José Alberto replaced Rubén Baraja at the helm of the first team.^[7] His first match in charge occurred five days later, a 2–1 away win against Granada CF.^[8] He was sacked on 21 December 2019, after two losses against fourth-tier Zamora CF in the Copa del Rey, and Extremadura UD.^[9]

On 27 July 2020, José Alberto was appointed in charge of CD Mirandés, still in the second division.^[10] The following 1 June, he was named in charge of fellow league team Málaga CF.^[11]

On 24 January 2022, after a 5–0 home loss to UD Ibiza, José Alberto was dismissed by the Andalusians.^[12] On 13 December, he replaced sacked Guillermo Fernández Romo at the helm of Racing de Santander, still in division two.^[13]

José Alberto's younger brother Dani was a footballer. A left back, he was a Real Oviedo youth graduate.^[14]

As of match played 26 April 2024

More information Team, Nat ...

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record								Ref
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Covadonga		12 October 2013	19 May 2014	30	19	9	2	62	22	+40	063.33	[15]
Sporting Gijón B		9 June 2016	18 November 2018	105	64	25	16	218	83	+135	060.95	[16]
Sporting Gijón		18 November 2018	21 December 2019	53	20	15	18	55	54	+1	037.74	[17]
Mirandés		27 July 2020	1 June 2021	43	14	12	17	38	42	−4	032.56	[18]
Málaga		1 June 2021	24 January 2022	26	9	7	10	26	36	−10	034.62	[19]
Racing Santander		13 December 2022	Present	61	25	17	19	87	77	+10	040.98	[20]
Total				318	151	85	82	486	314	+172	047.48	—

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