Julio Salinas facts for kids

In this article, the first or paternal family name is Salinas and the second or maternal family name is Fernández.

Quick facts for kids
Julio Salinas
Personal information
Salinas in 2016
Full name	Julio Salinas Fernández
Date of birth	(1962-09-11) 11 September 1962 (age 61)
Place of birth	Bilbao, Spain
Height	1.88 m
Playing position	Centre-forward
Youth career
1974–1981	Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1981–1984	Bilbao Athletic	93	(60)
1982–1986	Athletic Bilbao	68	(13)
1986–1988	Atlético Madrid	75	(31)
1988–1994	Barcelona	146	(60)
1994–1995	Deportivo La Coruña	24	(12)
1995–1996	Sporting Gijón	54	(24)
1997–1998	Yokohama Marinos	47	(34)
1998–2000	Alavés	50	(12)
Total		557	(246)
National team
1983–1984	Spain U21	7	(3)
1986–1996	Spain	56	(22)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Julio Salinas Fernández (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxuljo saˈlinas feɾˈnandeθ]; born 11 September 1962) is a Spanish former footballer who played during the 1980s and 1990s.

A tall, lanky centre-forward with skills, he was best remembered for his spell at Barcelona – having started his career with Athletic Bilbao – while he was also a prolific goalscorer for club and country.

Salinas earned 56 caps for Spain, and represented the nation in three World Cups and two European Championships.

Club career
International career
Post-retirement
Personal life
Career statistics
- Club
- International
Honours
See also

Club career

Athletic and Atlético

Salinas was born in Bilbao, Biscay, joining Athletic Bilbao's youth academy at the age of 11. In 1983–84 he won the second division's Pichichi Trophy award, as he helped the reserves to finish runners-up to Castilla CF. He also played 13 games for the first team over two seasons, scoring his first La Liga goal on 26 March 1983 in a 4–0 home win against RC Celta de Vigo as the Basques captured back-to-back league titles and added the 1984 Copa del Rey.

After two more seasons with Athletic, scoring a total of 12 goals for two-third-place finishes, Salinas moved to Atlético Madrid, where he found the net at an impressive rate (this included a brace on 7 February 1988 in a 7–0 home thrashing of RCD Mallorca).

Barcelona

Salinas signed for FC Barcelona for 1988–89, linking up with several other Basque players, including veteran José Ramón Alexanko, José Mari Bakero, Txiki Begiristain and Jon Andoni Goikoetxea – these would help form the backbone of the legendary Dream Team. He scored 20 league goals in his debut campaign as Barça finished second to Real Madrid, and he also netted in both the 1989 Cup Winners' Cup final against U.C. Sampdoria and in the following year's domestic cup 2–0 victory over Real Madrid.

In the subsequent seasons, Salinas appeared sparingly for the club due to his age and the emergence of attacking players as Hristo Stoichkov, but would still manage to grab some important goals in spite of limited playing time. On 30 January 1994, after coming in as a second-half substitute against Albacete Balompié, he scored both goals in a 2–1 home win, as he only played six games more during the campaign, with Barcelona eventually achieving four league titles in a row.

Late career

Upon leaving Catalonia, Salinas joined Deportivo de La Coruña, helping to a runner-up finish in his only season; although not a regular in the starting lineups he finished with 12 league goals, only surpassed by club great Bebeto. As a late replacement at the Camp Nou on 3 December, he netted in a 1–1 draw after a header from José Luis Ribera.

After the signing of, among others, Russian Dmitry Radchenko, Salinas was deemed surplus to requirements, agreeing to a contract at Sporting de Gijón where he scored 18 times in the 1995–96 campaign, crucial in helping the Asturians to avoid relegation. He was held in high regards in the city during his one-and-a-half-year spell, with the fans often singing: "Bota de oro, Salinas bota de oro!" ("Golden boot, Salinas, golden boot!").

Salinas then had a stint abroad with Yokohama Marinos in Japan, where he again showcased his scoring skills, rejoining his former Barcelona teammate Goikoetxea. He then returned close to home, having spent his last two seasons with Deportivo Alavés where he notably scored in 1999–2000's opener, a 2–1 home defeat of Málaga CF; his team finished sixth, and would go on to reach the following year's UEFA Cup final.

On 19 May 2000, Salinas played his last professional match, scoring in a 2–1 loss at his first team Athletic Bilbao. He retired at nearly 38 with 417 matches and 152 goals, in the Spanish top flight alone.

International career

Salinas represented the Spain national team over a decade, scoring 22 goals. His debut was on 22 January 1986 as he netted in a 2–0 friendly win over the Soviet Union, in Las Palmas.

Salinas went on to represent the country at three FIFA World Cups: 1986 (where he scored against Northern Ireland), 1990 (netting in the second-round loss to Yugoslavia) and 1994, as well as two UEFA European Championships, 1988 and 1996.

In the 1994 World Cup quarter-final against Italy, after he had found the net in a 2–2 draw against South Korea, Salinas missed the chance to put Spain into the last-four stage. With 1–1 and less than ten minutes to go, he marred a fast-break, with only goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca to beat; Roberto Baggio sealed the 2–1 final result minutes later, and the Spaniard was ultimately more remembered for this miss rather than the massive number of goals scored during an 18-year professional career.

Post-retirement

Immediately after retiring, Salinas began working as a sports commentator, first for RTVE and then on laSexta.

Personal life

Salinas' younger brother, Patxi, was also a professional footballer (centre-back), and played for Athletic Bilbao and Celta. Both made their top division debut in the 1982–83 season.

They held the record for combined appearances in the Spanish top tier by siblings with 849 matches (occasions where they both played as teammates or opponents counted for each), 86 more than the next pair, Quini and Jesús Castro.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Athletic Bilbao	1982–83	La Liga	7	1	6	3	4	0	0	0	17	4
	1983–84		6	0	2	2	2	1	0	0	10	3
	1984–85		28	8	10	4	1	0	1	1	40	14
	1985–86		27	4	6	2	0	0	3	3	36	9
	Total		68	13	24	12	7	1	4	4	103	30
Atlético Madrid	1986–87	La Liga	38	15	6	2	-		3	1	47	18
	1987–88	La Liga	37	16	5	2	-		-		42	18
	Total		75	31	11	4	0	0	3	1	89	36
Barcelona	1988–89	La Liga	37	20	5	4	-		7	2	49	26
	1989–90		34	15	7	2	-		4	1	45	18
	1990–91		33	11	4	4	-		8	2	45	17
	1991–92		17	7	2	0	-		5	2	24	9
	1992–93		18	5	5	5	-		3	0	26	10
	1993–94		7	2	4	2	-		1	0	12	4
	Total		146	60	27	17	0	0	28	7	201	84
Deportivo	1994–95	La Liga	24	12	4	4	-		4	0	32	16
Sporting Gijón	1995–96	La Liga	38	18	4	4	-		-		42	22
	1996–97	La Liga	16	6							16	6
	Total		54	24	4	4	0	0	0	0	58	28
Yokohama Marinos	1997	J1 League	26	21	2	2	5	3	-		33	26
	1998	J1 League	21	13	0	0	3	1	-		24	14
	Total		47	34	2	2	8	4	-		57	40
Alavés	1998–99	La Liga	22	4	0	0	-		-		22	4
	1999–2000	La Liga	28	8	2	0	-		-		30	8
	Total		50	12	2	0	0	0	0	0	52	12
Career total			464	186	74	43	15	5	39	12	592	246

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Spain	1986	10	5
	1987	2	0
	1988	8	1
	1989	4	1
	1990	5	1
	1991	0	0
	1992	1	0
	1993	8	7
	1994	12	7
	1995	4	0
	1996	2	0
Total		56	22

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Salinas goal.

List of international goals scored by Julio Salinas
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	22 January 1986	Estadio Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain	Soviet Union	1–0	2–0	Friendly
2	19 February 1986	Manuel Martínez Valero, Elche, Spain	Belgium	2–0	3–0	Friendly
3	26 March 1986	Ramón de Carranza, Cádiz, Spain	Poland	3–0	3–0	Friendly
4	7 June 1986	Tres de Marzo, Zapopan, Mexico	Northern Ireland	2–0	2–1	1986 FIFA World Cup
5	24 September 1986	El Molinón, Gijón, Spain	Greece	1–0	3–1	Friendly
6	24 February 1988	La Rosaleda, Málaga, Spain	Czechoslovakia	1–0	1–2	Friendly
7	11 October 1989	Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	1–0	2–2	1990 World Cup qualification
8	26 June 1990	Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona, Italy	Yugoslavia	1–1	1–2	1990 FIFA World Cup
9	28 April 1993	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	Northern Ireland	1–1	3–1	1994 World Cup qualification
10	28 April 1993	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	Northern Ireland	2–1	3–1	1994 World Cup qualification
11	22 September 1993	Qemal Stafa, Tirana, Albania	Albania	1–0	5–1	1994 World Cup qualification
12				3–0
13				4–1
14	13 October 1993	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	2–0	3–1	1994 World Cup qualification
15	13 October 1993	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	3–0	3–1	1994 World Cup qualification
16	19 January 1994	Balaídos, Vigo, Spain	Portugal	1–0	2–2	Friendly
17	2 June 1994	Ratina Stadion, Tampere, Finland	Finland	2–0	2–1	Friendly
18	10 June 1994	Claude-Robillard, Montreal, Canada	Canada	1–0	2–0	Friendly
19	17 June 1994	Cotton Bowl, Dallas, United States	South Korea	1–0	2–2	1994 FIFA World Cup
20	12 October 1994	City Stadium of Skopje, Skopje, Macedonia	Macedonia	1–0	2–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
21	12 October 1994	City Stadium of Skopje, Skopje, Macedonia	Macedonia	2–0	2–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
22	17 December 1994	Constant Vanden Stock, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	3–1	4–1	Euro 1996 qualifying