José 'Pep' Balaguer Berga (born 1 December 1950) is a Spanish retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, and is a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He is well known for his long-serving career in

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

, where he amassed 9 seasons in the first team. After retiring in 1981, Balaguer worked as a manager.

Managerial career

Immediately after retiring Balaguer started working as a manager, initially being manager of the youth categories with

. He was appointed head coach of

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

for the last 10 games of the 1997–98 season, failing to avoid relegation, however. He returned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

at his first attempt, being dismissed only in January 2002. In February 2003, he was appointed

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

manager. In April 2004 Balaguer was appointed

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

manager, being relieved from his duties in October. In December 2005 he was appointed

Valencian Community autonomous football team The Valencian National football team is the national football team for the Valencian Community, Spain. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, because it is represented internationally by the Spain national football team. It only plays friendl ...

manager.Pepe Balaguer: «El fútbol valenciano siempre ha dado grandes jugadores» (Pepe Balaguer: «The Valencian football always has created good players»)
Levante-EMV, 12 December 2005

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balaguer, Pepe 1950 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Valencia Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players Spanish football managers Valencia CF Mestalla managers Levante UD managers Gimnàstic de Tarragona managers FC Cartagena managers People from Camp de Túria