A forward, he achieved La Liga totals of 155 games and 14 goals for Real Valladolid, Pontevedra and Valencia, winning the title with the last of those clubs in 1970–71.
As a manager, Fuertes worked mainly in the lower leagues, apart from a brief La Liga spell with Real Murcia and three clubs in the Segunda División.
[4] Fuertes's debut as a La Liga manager on 31 April 1989 was a 2–1 defeat at his former club Real Valladolid, and he said after the game that the opponents must have visited Sanctuary of Fátima weekly to account for their luck.
[5] He won once in nine games as the season ended in relegation, though that came in a 2–0 home victory over Barcelona on 25 May, a result that contributed to Real Madrid winning the title over Johan Cruyff's team.
He signed fellow Mieres native Miguel Ángel Angulo from Sporting de Gijón youth on a free transfer, proposing a pay rise from 30,000 to 500,000 pesetas a month while the player's father was unemployed.