Luis Oscar Fulloné Arce, better known as Oscar Fulloné was an Argentine football coach and player. He played for Independiente Medellín and Real Oviedo before moving to England to play for Aston Villa in 1967. Known as Oscar Arce during his time in England he remained in the country following his retirement from playing and was a coach for both Sheffield United and Sunderland. He became manager of Swiss side FC Sion in 1980 before going on to become one of the most successful African club managers.
Career
Fulloné started his career with Estudiantes in Argentina, Independiente Medellín in Colombia and Real Oviedo in Spain. In 1968, he joined Aston Villa F.C. of England alongside his younger brother, Hector Fulloné Arce. It was reported at the time that "Oscar Arce is a wizard of ball control who was so determined to play for Aston Willa that he completed a two-year residential qualification in this country". Together they played in The Central League for the reserve team during the 1968–69 season. Neither brother played for the first team. In October 1969, Fulloné underwent successful surgery to have cartilage removed from his left leg. Fulloné was released from his contract and Hector returned to Argentina. After retiring as a player, Fulloné became a football coach. He was appointed as youth team manager at Millwallin September 1977, reportedly turning down the opportunity to manage El Salvador at the 1977 CONCACAF Championship. He was on the staff at Sheffield United F.C. between 1978 and 1979 when the club tried to sign Argentine international Diego Maradona but ultimately ended up signing Alejandro Sabella instead. Fulloné was also involved in the transfer of Argentine World Cup winnersRicardo Villa and Osvaldo Ardiles to Spurs. Fulloné's managerial career began in Switzerland where he served as manager of Swiss side FC Sion between 1980 and 1981. Since then he spent most of his career managing African teams, winning league titles in Ivory Coast, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. He won the African Champions League twice in consecutive years with different clubs in ASEC and Raja Casablanca. He would go on to win the African Cup Winners' Cup with Wydad Casablanca in 2002. He was nominated by CAF for Africa-based coach of the year but lost out to Bruno Metsu. Fulloné also had a brief spell as manager of the Burkina Faso national team between September 2001 and January 2002 but left the position ahead of the 2002 Africa Cup of Naitons due to the illness of his wife who was hospitalised in Paris, France. He died in May 2017, at the age of 78, in Morocco.
