Narcís Pèlach Nadal (born 5 September 1988), sometimes known as Chicho, is a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is a first-team coach at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Playing career

Pèlach was born in

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, and joined the youth categories of hometown club

at the age of five. He left the side in August 2007, and signed for

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

newcomers Cassà. On 24 June 2010, after Cassá's

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

, Pèlach moved to fellow fourth tier side

Manlleu Manlleu () is municipality in the comarca of Osona, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, northern Spain. Manlleu is located in a large plain, La Plana de Vic, at around 460 metres above sea level on average. The highest point is Puig Agut ch ...

. He joined

Palamós Palamós () is a town and municipality in the Mediterranean Costa Brava, located in the ''comarca'' of Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Palamós is located at the northern end of a large bay. The town is by-passed by th ...

in the

Primera Catalana The Primera Catalana is the 7th tier of the Spanish football league system and the second highest league in the autonomous community of Catalonia. The league was formed in 1991 to replace Regional Preferent as the first level of Catalonia and was ...

in July of the following year, and helped in their promotion back to the fourth division in his first season. On 29 May 2014, Pèlach and teammate Ritxi signed for

Figueres Figueres (; ) is the capital city of Alt Empordà county, in the Girona region, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Dalí Theatre and Museum, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which att ...

still in the fourth level. He retired in May 2016, aged just 27.

Coaching career

Immediately after joining Figueres, Pèlach started working as a coach of their ''Juvenil B'' team, being named in charge of the ''Juvenil A'' side on 28 July 2015. On 17 May 2016, after retiring, he was presented as manager of the first team. On 4 January 2018, Pèlach was presented as Peralada-Girona B manager, with the

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

playing in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. On 6 June 2018, after leading the side to a ninth place finish, he renewed his contract until 2020. In June 2019, after Peralada's

and their affiliation with Girona ended, Pèlach was named

Juan Carlos Unzué Juan Carlos Unzué Labiano (born 22 April 1967) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. As a player, he represented mostly Sevilla, for which he appeared in nearly 300 official games. He also spent two years ...

's assistant at Girona's first team. In October, after Unzué was sacked and José Luis Martí was named the new manager, he and fellow assistant Juan Carlos Moreno were fired from the club. On 24 July 2020, Pèlach moved abroad for the first time in his career and joined

Carlos Corberán Carlos Corberán Vallet (born 7 April 1983) is a Spanish Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who is currently head coach of La Liga club Valencia CF, Valencia. Previously ...

's staff at English club

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

. He was appointed interim head coach in September 2022, winning his only game in charge, before Mark Fotheringham took over. Pèlach was again named interim manager of Huddersfield in February 2023, replacing Fotheringham. His spell lasted six days, as the club appointed

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player who is currently football advisor at Torquay United. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed ...

. In May 2023, Pèlach joined

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

as a first-team coach. In September 2024, Pèlach was linked in the media to the vacant

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

manager job, and was announced as Stoke's new head coach on 18 September 2024, signing a three-year contract. Pèlach was sacked on 27 December 2024 after only winning three of his 19 games in charge. On 9 January 2025, Pèlach joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

as first-team coach following the appointment of

Graham Potter Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager who is the head coach of Premier League club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. In a 13-year playing ...

as head coach.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelach, Narcis 1988 births Living people Footballers from Girona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Tercera División players Primera Catalana players AEC Manlleu footballers Palamós CF footballers UE Figueres footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Girona FC non-playing staff UE Figueres managers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers Stoke City F.C. managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriates in England Expatriate football managers in England Spanish football coaches Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century Spanish sportsmen