Luis César Sampedro · Biography

Gimnàstic and promotion to La Liga

In the summer of 2004 Gimnàstic de Tarragona hired Luis Ángel César Sampedro (born 3 May 1966 in Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra), a Galician coach who had spent four seasons in the Racing de Ferrol dugout. The move changed his career. In 2004-05 the Catalan side finished seventh in the Spanish second division. The following season, 2005-06, they won promotion to La Liga, a level the club had not reached in 56 years. Luis César made his top-flight debut with Nàstic, but it did not last long: on 26 November 2006, after a 3-2 home defeat to Mallorca, he was sacked with five points from 12 matches.

A goalkeeper in Galicia

Before coaching he was a goalkeeper. He made his debut in 1984 for Arosa Sociedad Cultural, his hometown club, and stayed there until 1987. He then spent five seasons at CD Lalín, from 1987 to 1992, playing 110 league games and scoring one goal. In 1992 he joined Racing de Ferrol, where he spent eight seasons and made 161 appearances. Ferrol won promotion to the second division in 2000, and he retired the same year with 271 league games in total.

First steps as a coach at Ferrol

He took over at Racing de Ferrol straight after hanging up his gloves and led the team from 2000 to 2004, winning 63 of his 176 matches. The spell had its ups and downs: Ferrol went down to Segunda B at the end of 2002-03 and came straight back up in 2003-04. That promotion opened the door to Tarragona.

Mixed years after Tarragona

After leaving Nàstic he took charge of Polideportivo Ejido in 2007. He left in January 2008 with the team in the relegation zone, and Fernando Castro Santos replaced him. On 6 March 2010 he returned to Gimnàstic for a second spell and kept the club in the second division, in 18th place. He was dismissed on 6 December that year after a 2-1 home defeat to Villarreal B, with the team bottom of the table. On 21 March 2012 he replaced David Porras at CD Alcoyano, but could not prevent relegation.

Promotion with Albacete

In March 2013 he signed for Albacete Balompié, who were in Segunda B. In 2013-14 the team won their group, six points clear of La Hoya Lorca. In the play-off between group winners they knocked out Sestao River on away goals (5-5 on aggregate, after a 2-2 draw at the Carlos Belmonte on 25 May 2014), which sealed their return to the second division after three years away. On 8 June 2014 they beat Racing de Santander 3-2 to be crowned overall Segunda B champions. In 2014-15 he kept the team in the division. On 12 March 2016 he was sacked after a defeat to Real Zaragoza, with the side in 20th place. In all, he took charge of 131 Albacete matches and won 55 of them.

Lugo, Valladolid, Tenerife and Deportivo

On 17 June 2016 he was appointed head coach of CD Lugo. He took them to ninth place with 55 points, the club’s best second-division finish at that point, and in June 2017 he turned down a new contract. On 23 June 2017 he joined Real Valladolid, who dismissed him on 14 April 2018, with the team 11th after matchday 34. In May 2019 he took over CD Tenerife for the last four matches of the season, collected seven points and kept them up. On 7 October 2019 he signed for Deportivo de La Coruña, who sacked him on 27 December with one win in 11 league games. He returned to Lugo on 2 March 2021 and was dismissed on 19 April 2021 after taking three points from a possible 24.

Third spell at Gimnàstic

On 11 May 2025 Gimnàstic de Tarragona, in Primera Federación, hired him for a third time to replace Dani Vidal. He took charge of ten matches before the club announced his dismissal on 3 November 2025.