José "Pepe" Bordalás Jiménez (born 5 March 1964) is a Spanish former

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 lea ...

who played as a striker, currently manager of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

. His playing career ended due to injury without a first-team appearance for Hércules, and he made his professional managerial debut for the same team in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

in 2006. He won promotion from that division with Alavés and

in successive seasons, also leading the latter to a best-ever

finish of fifth in 2019.

Playing career

Bordalás was born in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

. During his career, he never played higher than the

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 ...

and the regional championships; he was under contract with

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

for seven years but never appeared officially for the club, being loaned five times which included a three-season spell with neighbouring

Benidorm CF Benidorm Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Benidorm, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1964 and dissolved in 2011 it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor'', which had a capacity of 6,000. ...

. Released in 1988, Bordalás subsequently represented

CD Dénia Club Deportivo Dénia is a Spanish football team based in Dénia, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1953 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Diego Mena Cuesta'', with a capacity of 3,050 seats. History In the 2007� ...

, FC Torrevieja, UD Petrelense CF, and

UD Altea Unión Deportiva Altea is a Spanish football team based in Altea, in the Valencian Community. It was founded in 1962, and plays in , holding home matches at ''Garganes'' stadium, which has a capacity of 2,000 seats. Season to season ---- *1 ...

, retiring from football at only 28 due to injury.

Coaching career

Early years

Bordalás worked exclusively in his region of birth for 19 years, his first job being at

Alicante CF Alicante Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1918, it played its home matches at ''Estadio Alicante CF'', with a 4,000-seat capacity. History ''Alicante Club de Fútbol'', under t ...

's reserves in 1993. The following year, he was appointed at the main squad. After three years with as many teams, Bordalás returned to Alicante in 1998, taking them from the regional leagues to

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 ...

in only three seasons. His first experience in the

arrived with former club Hércules, replacing fired

Juan Carlos Mandiá Juan Carlos Mandiá Lorenzo (born 17 January 1967) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defender, currently assistant manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Qadsiah. Playing career Mandiá was born in Alfoz, Province of Lugo. Over a ...

midway through 2005–06 and being sacked himself only seven games into the following campaign. Bordalás returned to division three in 2007–08 with

CD Alcoyano Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of the Valencian Community. Founded in 1928, it plays in , holding home games in '' Estadio El Collao'', with a capacity of 4,850 seats. Hi ...

, leading the side to the first position in the following season and the subsequent failure in the promotion playoffs. In early October 2009 he terminated his contract amicably, signing with

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

of the second tier.

Alavés

After two spells at

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo Domingo, ...

, Bordalás was named

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

manager on 11 June 2015. He led the team back to

after ten years in his first season, as champions, but was still relieved of his duties on 21 June 2016.

Getafe

Bordalás was hired by

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

in September 2016, replacing the dismissed

Juan Esnáider Juan Eduardo Esnáider Belén (; born 5 March 1973) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. Having spent most of his career in Spain, he was known as a powerful player with an excellent aer ...

on a deal until the end of the campaign. He again won promotion to the top flight, this time by a 3–2 aggregate victory over

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

in the

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

final the following June. Following an eighth-place finish in his first season at that level, he led the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

team to a best-ever fifth position and only missed

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

on the last matchday in May 2019; he earned the

Miguel Muñoz Trophy The Miguel Muñoz Trophy () is a association football, football award for team managers in Spanish football, established by Spanish newspaper Marca (newspaper), Marca in 2006, in memory of the legendary Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid manager Mi ...

for best coach for this feat.

Valencia

Bordalás was appointed head coach of

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

in May 2021, signing a two-year contract. On his debut on 13 August, his team won 1–0 against his previous employer. In his first season, the team

reached ''Reached'' is a 2012 young adult dystopian novel by Allyson Braithwaite Condie and is the final novel in the ''Matched Trilogy,'' preceded by '' Matched'' and '' Crossed''. The novel was published on November 13, 2012, by Dutton Juvenile and ...

the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, where they lost on penalties to

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

. On 3 June 2022, days after the sacking of chairman Anil Murthy, Valencia's owner

Peter Lim Peter Lim Eng Hock (born 21 May 1953) is a Singaporean business magnate who was a stockbroker and an investor in palm oil, and is now a private investor focused on healthcare, property, sports, and education. In 2024, he was ranked 26th on F ...

announced that manager Bordalás would also be released, with Italian

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italians, Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is currently the Manager (association football), head coach of the Italy na ...

being brought in as replacement.

Getafe return

On 29 April 2023, Bordalás returned to Getafe for the final seven games of the season, with the team in the relegation zone and having dismissed

Quique Sánchez Flores Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 games and 16 g ...

. The following day, he oversaw a 1–0 loss at

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

Personal life

Bordalás' cousin,

Juan Ignacio Martínez Juan Ignacio Martínez Jiménez (; born 23 June 1964), commonly known by his initials JIM, is a Spanish football coach and former player, who played as a left back. He last managed Foolad in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Having only played as h ...

, is also a football coach.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Alavés *

: 2015–16 Individual * La Liga Manager of the Month: January 2025 * Segunda División Manager of the Month: May 2016 *

: 2018–19 *

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

La Liga Coach of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bordalas, Jose 1964 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Alicante Men's association football forwards Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Hércules CF players Orihuela Deportiva CF footballers Villajoyosa CF footballers Benidorm CF footballers CD Torrevieja players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Alicante CF managers CD Eldense managers Hércules CF managers CD Alcoyano managers Elche CF managers AD Alcorcón managers Deportivo Alavés managers Getafe CF managers Valencia CF managers