borja fernández · Biography

On 2 September 2003, in a 1-1 draw away to Villarreal, Borja Fernández Fernández made his La Liga debut for Real Madrid. Born in Ourense on 14 January 1981, the 1.89-metre central midfielder played professionally for sixteen years in the Spanish first and second divisions, had spells in the Indian Super League and moved into coaching after retiring in 2019. He won the Spanish second division twice and the Indian Super League twice.

Real Madrid academy

He joined the Real Madrid academy at fifteen from Pabellón Club de Fútbol, a club in his home city. He worked his way through the youth teams and made his debut for Real Madrid C in 2000. Between 2001 and 2003 he played for Real Madrid Castilla, making 73 appearances and scoring four goals. He also played for Spain at youth level: 15 caps for the under-16s in 1997-98, nine for the under-17s in 1998-99, four for the under-18s in 1999-2000 and two for the under-21s in 2002-03.

First team and loan to Mallorca

His top-flight debut came in the 2003-04 season, when he made 15 league appearances, mostly as a late substitute. He added eight more in 2004-05. In all he made 38 competitive appearances for the first team: 23 in the league, 11 in the Copa del Rey and four in the European Cup. Looking for more playing time, he joined RCD Mallorca on loan for 2005-06. He rarely got a chance there and did not score in 16 league games.

Valladolid, Getafe and Deportivo

In 2006 he signed for Real Valladolid, who had spent three years out of the top flight. In his first season, 2006-07, the team won the Spanish second division and went back up. Under José Luis Mendilibar he became a regular starter in La Liga, until the club went down in 2009-10 after finishing 19th. In four seasons at Valladolid he played 110 games and scored three goals. In late May 2010 he signed a four-year deal with Getafe, who loaned him to Deportivo de La Coruña in August 2011. He played 24 games and scored twice for the Galician side, winning his second second-division title in 2011-12. Back at Getafe, he scored his first competitive goal for the club on 16 March 2013, against Athletic Club.

India, Eibar and Almería

In 2014 he accepted an offer from Atlético de Kolkata for the first Indian Super League season. He scored the second goal in the tournament's opening match, a 3-0 win over Mumbai City, and was a regular in the side that won the 2014 title, beating Kerala Blasters in the final with a last-minute goal from Mohammed Rafique. Between Indian seasons he had short spells in Spain. On 31 December 2014 he signed a six-month deal with SD Eibar. He made his debut against Córdoba on 16 January 2015 and scored an equaliser against Getafe on 17 May that year. In January 2016 he went back to Valladolid for a few months. In August that year he returned to Kolkata, played 16 games and won his second Indian Super League. On 17 January 2017 he joined UD Almería on a six-month deal and played 20 second-division matches.

Promotion and retirement at Valladolid

On 12 July 2017 he returned to Real Valladolid for a third spell. That season the team won promotion to La Liga after beating Sporting de Gijón and Numancia in the play-offs. He played less in 2018-19 as the team stayed up. He made 63 appearances and scored five goals in this last spell at the club. He announced his retirement on 17 May 2019. Eleven days later he was arrested in Operation Oikos, an investigation by a court in Huesca into alleged match-fixing. In March 2024 the judge ordered a provisional dismissal and closed the case.

Coaching career

He started coaching in the Valladolid academy, first as assistant to Javier Baraja at Real Valladolid Promesas and then in charge of the under-19 side in 2021-22. In April 2024 he took over UD Ourense in Tercera Federación, the Spanish fifth tier. In 2024-25 the team won Group I and went up to Segunda Federación. In May 2026 he led them to a second straight promotion, to Primera Federación, after winning the play-off final against UB Conquense. On 16 June 2026 he was appointed head coach of CD Lugo, in Group 1 of Primera Federación.