Roberto Martinez has always been a very fast learner. You have to be, to walk into a pie shop near Wigan pier knowing precious little English. He tells FourFourTwo that when he said goodbye to his parents before boarding the plane from Spain to England, he said he would be home in two years. Some 28 years later, he remains a Spaniard abroad – a world-famous manager with a totally unique football education.
Born in Balaguer in the heart of Catalonia, Martinez is, in many ways, as British as they come. He has left pieces of himself in England, Wales and Scotland. In the mid-1990s, he arrived in Wigan just a couple of weeks after his 22nd birthday, as part of the fabled ‘Three Amigos’ alongside Jesus Seba and Isidro Diaz (the former going on to follow Martinez around Europe as part of his backroom staff). Roberto was a popular player in the lower leagues, then he headed north of the border to Motherwell and, in his brief time there, met the Scottish woman who would later become his wife. Returning down south, Martinez made a handful of appearances for Walsall, went to Wales to become a midfield mainstay at Swansea, and was back playing in England (just) for Chester when he was given his first managerial job, with Swansea, aged 33. Now, 16 years on, he’s one of the European game’s most experienced coaches.
Still not yet 50, the engaging Catalan is leading a Portugal side that contains some of the most exciting talents on the global stage, following the end of his six-year tenure as Belgium boss after the 2022 World Cup. That’s quite the journey, from the youth teams of Real Zaragoza to England’s shivering North West, then the glamour of the international stage, via the dugouts of Swansea, Wigan and Everton.
When he scored on his Wigan bow, in a 2-1 defeat against Gillingham, nobody could have foreseen the path on which he would ultimately travel. Any crystal balls prophesying the possibility of the Latics winning an FA Cup would have been directed to their points of purchase. Likewise, predictions that Martinez would later manage one of the best international teams of its era was a Wigan pie in the sky. It would, Martinez says, be torn up as a script for being too far-fetched.
He acknowledges that the latest chapter of this extraordinary career has entered dreamland territory. His Belgium team reached their sell-by date in Qatar, only for their manager to be almost immediately handed a golden ticket in January that would see him remain in international football as the No.1 at
