José Aurelio Gay López (born 10 December 1965) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, currently a manager.
He was associated with Zaragoza throughout his career, serving the club as both a player and manager.[2] He amassed La Liga totals of 180 matches and 27 goals over eight seasons, starting out at Castilla.
After four seasons in the Segunda División, Gay moved up to La Liga with RCD Español in summer 1988. He scored twice in 17 matches in his debut season, in which the Catalans were relegated, but eventually established himself in the starting XI, spending one season in the second tier and another in the first; in 1990–91, his last year, he was the team's second-highest league scorer with five goals – only behind German Wolfram Wuttke – as he helped them to narrowly retain their top-flight status.[5][6][7]
Gay's final three seasons were spent at Real Oviedo[10] and CD Toledo, totalling only 43 league appearances for both clubs and retiring in 1999 at age 33.[11]
Gay's first game in charge of Zaragoza saw them lose 6–0 away against Real Madrid, a result that led to rumours that he would be replaced by Víctor Muñoz;[15] the reports, however, proved to be unfounded and he was offered the job until June 2010.[2] After bringing in several new players in the January transfer window, the side's fortunes began to turn as he led them out of the relegation zone by mid-February,[16] eventually finishing in 14th position with 41 points.[17]
In mid-November 2010, with Zaragoza ranking last in the league (eventually managing to avoid relegation), Gay was sacked.[18] On 12 December 2012, after more than two years out of work, he replaced the fired Fabri at the helm of Racing de Santander,[19] lasting until March in a season that saw the Cantabrians relegated to the third division.[20][21]
In August 2016, Gay ran training sessions for CD Palencia Balompié but did not manage the club in an official match.[25][26] He signed a one-year deal with the option of a second at third-tier RCD Espanyol B in June 2019.[27]
^ abDíez, Óscar (1 November 2014). "España en los mundiales sub'20: URSS 1985" [Spain in the under’20 World Cups: USSR 1985] (in Spanish). Cuadernos de Fútbol. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
^"José Aurelio GAY" (in Spanish). Hall of Fame Perico. 28 April 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^Oliván, Santi (24 July 2017). "Tres temporadas, un descenso y un ascenso" [Three seasons, a promotion and a relegation] (in Spanish). Diario La Grada. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
^Martínez, M. (30 May 1996). "Gay es el segundo refuerzo del club" [Gay is the second addition of the club] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 March 2018.