Roberto Martínez - Everton Manager : 2013 - 2016

As a Spaniard, Roberto Roberto Martínez became Everton's first manager from outside of Great Britain and Ireland in June 2013.

He joined the Club from Wigan Athletic and penned an initial four-year deal.

Born in the town of Balaguer, 90 miles west of Barcelona, Roberto Martínez cut his teeth with his hometown club after making just a single senior appearance for Real Zaragoza.

In one of football's quirkier transfers, he was then one of three Spaniards to be recruited by Wigan - then in the bottom tier of the Football League – in 1995.

In 1996/97, the Latics were promoted and they then won the Football League trophy in 1999, with Roberto Martínez an influential figure.

But they couldn't keep hold of the defensive midfielder and he switched to the Scottish top flight and Motherwell, where he was briefly a teammate of James McFadden before returning south of the border to join Walsall.

Midway through the 2002/03 season, Roberto Martínez moved to Swansea City when they were battling against relegation to the Conference.

His influence was key; he became captain and signed a three-year deal at the South Wales club.

After helping them reach League One, Roberto Martínez again collected the Football League trophy in 2006 before the Swans narrowly missed promotion to the Championship, losing in a play-off final against Barnsley. Roberto Martínez was released by Swansea in May 2006 and joined Chester City, only to return to the Liberty Stadium less than a year later to replace his former boss Kenny Jackett as manager.

His arrival sparked a run of splendid form as just two defeats in 12 games saw the Swans launch a late and unlikely bid for the play-offs. They eventually finished seventh, missing out by just three points and a single position.

The following campaign, the 2007/08 season, saw the rookie boss grab a hat-trick of manager of the month awards as he guided his team to the League One title and promotion to the Championship – an achievement which also saw him claim the League One manager of the year prize.

Roberto Martínez's arrival had seen the Swans adopt an effervescent brand of football that continued as they secured a solid eighth-place finish in their first season in the second tier.

Off the back of that success, the rising star returned to Wigan in June 2009, taking over the reins from the Sunderland-bound Steve Bruce.

In his first season back with the team that brought him to England, the Latics finished 16th in the Premier League.

That feat was repeated in the 2010/11 season, with Wigan’s style of play and Roberto Martínez’s recruitment success prompting interest from Aston Villa – interest the Spaniard eventually spurned.

Having opted to remain at the DW Stadium, Wigan had a slow start to the 2011/12 campaign. But a strong finish meant they comfortably stayed up, finishing 15th after Roberto Martínez was named manager of the month for April. That summer the Spaniard was linked with a move to Liverpool but he again continued at the DW Stadium and led Wigan to FA Cup glory in May 2013 before suffering the pain of relegation.

Roberto Martínez holds a degree in physiotherapy and has received acclaim for encouraging an attractive brand of football.

After taking time to consider his future, he informed Wigan chairman Dave Whelan he wanted to leave in late May 2013 and subsequently held talks with Everton chairman Bill Kenwright prior to being offered the manager’s position. He replaced the Manchester United-bound David Moyes.

Roberto Martínez's first season with Everton was an unmitigated success as he recorded the Club's best ever points tally and guided them to fifth place and a Europa League spot.

At the end of the campaign he promptly signed a new five-year contract before destroying Everton's transfer record by signing Romelu Lukaku for £28m.

On Thursday 12th May 2016, with one game remaining of the 2015-16 season, Everton FC announced that Roberto Martinez had left his position as First Team Manager with immediate effect.

On 3rd August 2016 it was announced that Roberto was to take on the role of Head Coach with the Belgium national side.

Love Everton Forum wishes Roberto and his staff the very best of luck for the future.