UCFB is delighted to announce that Belgium manager Roberto Martinez will be talking to UCFB Etihad Campus students next week as part of the Executive Guest Speaker Series.

Martinez, who won the FA Cup as manager of Wigan Athletic in 2013, will appear at UCFB Etihad Campus on Wednesday 1st November at 10am.

Roberto Martinez

Fresh from leading an unbeaten Belgium to next year’s World Cup in Russia, Martinez’s talk promises to be an enlightening event for those in attendance, and is the perfect opportunity for students to see inside the mind of an international football manager first-hand.

The Spaniard first came to the UK’s attention when he arrived as part of the “Three Amigos” at Wigan in 1995. Over the next decade he ploughed the lower leagues of English football, becoming a cult hero at Swansea City along the way.

It’s his time as a manager though that has made him a thoroughly respected name in the game, and he was given his first shot at management in 2007 when he was appointed to lead the Welsh side. In the summer of the following year, Martinez led Swansea into the Championship as League One champions.

After a full year in the Championship, Martinez then returned “home” to Premier League Wigan where he successfully kept the side in the top flight for three years, despite the club’s lack of financial muscle, before eventually succumbing to the drop in 2013. The season though has gone down as one of the greatest in the club’s history, after they beat Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley Stadium to win the FA Cup for the only time in their history.

That summer Everton came calling and his first season at Goodison Park ended with a fifth-place finish. Despite leading Everton to two domestic cup semi-finals in the 2015/16 season, Martinez was let go by the club that summer.

In August 2016, Martinez was named as Belgium manager, with French legend Thierry Henry as his assistant. An unbeaten World Cup qualifying campaign has renewed hopes that this “golden generation” of Belgian talent will live up to their undoubted potential in Russia.

Roberto Martinez will be at UCFB Etihad Campus in the Commonwealth Suite at 10.30am on Wednesday 1st November.