Juan Cutillas

Juan Cutillas
Personal information
Full name Juan Cutillas España
Date of birth(1942-07-02)2 July 1942
Place of birthBarcelona, Spain
Date of death 7 July 2025(2025-07-07) (aged 83)
Place of deathMálaga, Spain
PositionStriker
Youth career
Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
Atlético Madrid (0)
Managerial career
1967–1972Philippines
c. 1968 Philippines Youth
c. 1970sSan Miguel Corp.
1975–1978Philippines
1980–1981Taringa Rovers
1981–1984Philippines
c. 1980sBrisbane City
c. 1990sTaringa Rovers
1996–2000Philippines
Pachanga F.C.
2008–2009Philippines
2011–2012Kaya F.C.
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Juan Cutillas España (Spanish:[ˈxwaŋkuˈtiʎasesˈpaɲa]; 2 July 1942 – 7 July 2025) was a Spanish professional footballer and later a manager. He was the head coach of the Philippines national team.[1][2]

Education

Cutillas studied medicine against the wishes of his father who had wanted him to enter law school. After finishing medical school, Cutillas became a doctor and practiced medicine for four years. He later took football coaching courses.[3]

Football career

Club

Cutillas played for the youth team of Atlético de Madrid. When called up to join the first team, he was forced to decline the offer because he was engaged in compulsory military service at the time. He eventually played for the first team in a game against Zaragoza.[3]

Andres Soriano of the San Miguel Corporation brought Cutillas along with Francisco Escalante, Enrique de la Mata Calvo, and Claudio Sanchez as a Spanish contingent to compete in local commercial leagues in the Philippines in 1961. Cutillas left the country in 1965[4] for Spain to finish his medical studies and earn his physical training diploma[5] but later returned to the Philippines in 1967.[4]

Managerial

Philippines

After returning from Spain where he also obtained a national coaching license,[5] Cutillas was appointed the head coach of the Philippine national team in late 1967, succeeding Emilio Pacheco.[6] Among his results with the national team on his first stint was a 2–1 win over American club Dallas Tornado at home in 1968 with practically the same squad that played in the 0–15 record loss to Japan in the Asian Olympic qualifiers. He also coached the Philippine team that participated at the 1968 AFC Youth Championship. The Philippines reached the quarterfinals, its best finish in the tournament. Florentino Broce took over as head coach of the national team from 1993 until 1994. The national team's poor performance at the 1974 Asian Games led to the Philippine Football Association opting to reappoint Cutillas.[4] Cutillas coached until 1978.[1]

He also led San Beda College to three consecutive football titles at the NCAA, as well as steering the San Miguel Corporation FC to five PFA championships.[5]

Australia

In 1985, during the onset of the People Power Revolution, Cutillas briefly left the Philippines for Australia where he coached a handful of Australian professional football teams. He was named coach of the year by the Queensland Football Federation in 1987 for leading Brisbane City to a Grand Final finish and in 1993 for leading the Taringa Rovers in the Queensland Cup.[1][7] He served as head coach of the Queensland State and also the Queensland Academy of Sport from 1991 to 1996.[1]

Return to the Philippines

Cutillas coached the Philippine national team thrice after he returned from Australia, from 1981 to 1984,[1] 1996 to 2000 and 2008 to 2009.

Cutillas became head coach of Pachanga Diliman but later left for Kaya due to issues with some members of the management staff of the former.[3]

Other sports

Cutillas was a lecturer at the University of the Philippines and was the physical director of the Philippine National Men's Basketball team from 1976 to 1985.[1] He was the trainer of the Philippine team to the 1974 FIBA World Championship.[8]

Personal life and death

Cutillas returned to Spain after coaching with Kaya in the United Football League.

He married Tessy da Silva, a Filipina mestiza in 1964. They had two daughters. Da Silva died in 2022.[9]

Cutillas resided in Benalmádena. He died in Málaga on 7 July 2025, at the age of 83.[10]

References

  1. ^ abcdefGulle, Jimbo (29 October 1997). "Juan Cutillas: The coach Philippines football needs". Manila Standard. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  2. ^Tupas, Cedelf P. (2 September 2009). "RP football men's coach Cutillas quits". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  3. ^ abcOlivares, Rick (19 October 2011). "Woolyback: Lunch with Kaya FC coach Juan Cutillas". InterAKTV. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  4. ^ abcRamirez, Bert (2016). "Looking Back (chapter author)". Philippine Football: Its Past, Its Future. By Villegas, Bernardo. University of Asia and the Pacific. pp. 54–57. ISBN 978-621-8002-29-6.
  5. ^ abcOlivarez, Rick; Ramirez, Bert (2016). "Glory Days:We Owe Them (chapter authors)". Philippine Football: Its Past, Its Future. By Villegas, Bernardo. University of Asia and the Pacific. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-621-8002-29-6.
  6. ^Dee, Ignacio (2016). "A National Football League: A Cure-All? (chapter authors)". Philippine Football: Its Past, Its Future. By Villegas, Bernardo. University of Asia and the Pacific. pp. 161–163. ISBN 978-621-8002-29-6.
  7. ^"History of Football in the Philippines". philfootball.info. Philippine Football Federation. Archived from the original on 4 February 2006. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  8. ^"Exclusive Fernandez & Arnaiz: PBA Legends On FIBA World Cup Then & Now!". Youtube. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  9. ^Henson, Joaquin. "Salute to a legend". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  10. ^Olivares, Rick (8 July 2025). "Remembering Coach Juan Cutillas". BusinessMirror. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
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