JUAN CARLOS UNZUÉ WILL BE INDUCTED INTO THE CLUB'S HALL OF FAME ON 23RD MARCH

Sevilla FC will induct Juan Carlos Unzué into their Hall of Fame, an unforgettable goalkeeper from the 90s that played in Nervión for seven seasons, where he enjoyed the best spell of his footballing career. Sevilla FC believe that Juan Carlos fulfils all the characteristics of receiving such a valued prize, both for his sporting achievements as for his example of fight and spirit that he has been showing since June 2020 when it was announced that he was suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease commonly known as ALS.  

Far from giving in, Juan Carlos Unzué has demonstrated a laudable example to Spanish society, developing an intense schedule with the aim of raising funds and raising awareness of a very serious disease that affects approximately 4000 people in Spain. The way in which Unzué is facing his illness represents the spirit of Sevilla FC and one of the core ideas that define it: Never Surrender. The decision to recognise this achievement was announced on Friday when the former Sevilla player, together with his wife, visited the traveling Sevilla group at the team hotel in his home city of Pamplona.

Unzué played 257 official games for Sevilla - with only fellow hall of fame members José María Busto and Andrés Palop having played more - winning 99. He is the goalkeeper with the second-highest number of minutes for the club - exactly 19,947. Only four goalkeepers have played more than his six seasons in the team: Palop, Mut, Manolín Torres and Busto. Also, since La Liga increased to 20 teams, he is the only red and white goalkeeper to have played in every match in a season. Specifically, he achieved it in 1991/92, 1992/93 and 1994/95. His average number of goals conceded per game is 1.24 - the tenth best ratio among those to have played 10 or more games. 

He is the Sevilla goalkeeper with the second highest number of minutes played

Developed in the youth teams at Osasuna, he played in the first team between 1986 and 1988, before playing another two seasons at FC Barcelona, where he won a Copa del Rey and a European Cup Winner's Cup. In the summer of 1991, he arrived in Nervión, for the longest spell of his career which would last until 1997. Then he went to CD Tenerife, where he played for two seasons for the club. He would then do the same for Real Oviedo between 1999 and 2001 before he returned home to Osasuna, where he played between 2001 and 2003 where he hung up his gloves. Although he wasn't a full international, he played 35 times in the U18, U19 and U21s, winning the Youth World Cup in 1985. 

Just after finishing his playing career, he returned to FC Barcelona to be a goalkeeping coach where he remained until 2010. Then he took the reins as first-team coach at CD Numancia in the second division. After returning to Barcelona in 2011/12, he was briefly manager at Racing Santander before becoming the assistant coach to Luis Enrique at Celta. Unzué followed the Asturian during his spell at FC Barcelona, with whom he won two league titles, three cups and a Champions League. In 2017/18 he returned to Vigo as first-team coach, while in 2019, a year before announcing his illness, he was also coach at Girona CF. 

Furthermore, Sevilla FC will induct Francisco López Alfaro into the Hall of Fame at the end of season.