José Rojo Martín (born 23 March 1968), known as Pacheta, is a Spanish former professional

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

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 ...

club

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. He amassed

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 ...

totals of 183 matches and 15 goals over seven seasons, representing in the competition

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 ...

and Numancia. He added 112 games and 17 goals in the

. In 2009, Pacheta became a manager, leading Numancia,

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

and

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

in the top flight while also having brief spells in Poland and Thailand.

Playing career

Born in

Salas de los Infantes Salas de los Infantes is a municipality and city in Burgos province between La Rioja, Soria and Burgos city in Spain. It is hilly with many foothills and mountains. The mountain range Sierra de la Demanda with the black lagoon, La Laguna Negra, ...

Province of Burgos The province of Burgos is a Provinces of Spain, province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia (p ...

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

, Pacheta inherited his nickname as a family tradition of unknown origin. He made his debut as a senior with local

Racing Lermeño Racing Lermeño Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Lerma, Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1984, the club holds home games at '' Estadio Arlanza'', with a capacity of 2,500 seats. Founded in 1 ...

in 1987 while also working as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

. Two years later, he moved to Numancia of

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 ...

. After failing to appear in

with Real Burgos during the 1990–91 season (he only appeared for 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 ...

Atlético Burgalés in 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 ...

), Pacheta signed for third-tier side

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

, being promoted in his debut campaign. On 6 September 1992, he played his first match as a professional, starting in a 1–1

home draw against Castellón. In June 1994, following a short spell at Mérida, Pacheta joined top-division

. His maiden appearance in the competition took place on 17 September, when he came on as a second-half substitute in the 0–0 home draw with

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. He scored his first goal on 16 April of the following year, in a 3–1 victory over

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

also at the

Sarrià Stadium Sarrià Stadium (in Catalan: Estadi de Sarrià ; in Spanish: Estadio de Sarrià) was a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium was the home of RCD Espanyol from 1923 to 1997, and was located in the district of Sarrià. Begi ...

. Pacheta signed with Numancia of the same league in summer 1999, after 134 competitive appearances for the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

. He retired in 2004 at the age of 36, joining the former club's staff shortly after.

Coaching career

In June 2007, Pacheta was appointed Numancia's

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

, switching to manager on 17 February 2009 as a replacement for the fired

Sergije Krešić Sergije Krešić (born 29 November 1946) is a Croatian retired football manager and former player. Krešić coached a number of lower level sides in Spain, where he is known by the name Sergio Kresic. Playing career He joined Hajduk Split you ...

. He remained in charge for 15 matches, as the

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...

team were eventually relegated from the top flight. On 15 February 2011, Pacheta signed for

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

in division three, leading the club to eighth place and renewing his contract for a further year in May. He resigned on 24 May 2012, and joined Cartagena on 10 December. Pacheta was relieved of his duties on 20 May 2013, despite earning runner-up honours in the league with the Murcians, albeit without promotion to the second tier. He moved abroad in August, being appointed at

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

side

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce (, Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish professional football club based in Kielce, competing in Ekstraklasa in the 2025–26 season. From 2002 to ...

. Pacheta left the Polish team in June 2014, and signed with Hércules shortly after. On 25 January of the following year, he was sacked after only managing to win three out of twelve home games. On 27 February 2018, after an experience in Thailand with

Ratchaburi Ratchaburi (, ) or Rajburi, Rat Buri) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in western Thailand, capital of Ratchaburi Province. Ratchaburi town covers the entire ''tambon'' Na Mueang (หน้าเมือง) of Mueang Ratchaburi District. As o ...

, Pacheta replaced the dismissed

Josico José Joaquín Moreno Verdú (born 6 January 1975), known as Josico, is a Spanish former Association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a Manager (association football), manager. His 16-year professional career ...

at the helm of

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

. On 22 May 2019, after achieving promotion to the second division the previous campaign, he renewed his contract for a further season. Just two days after promoting to the top tier in the play-offs, Pacheta left the

Estadio Martínez Valero The Estadio Martínez Valero is a stadium located in the Spanish city of Elche in the province of Alacant, province of Alicante, Valencian Community. It is the home stadium of Elche CF, a team that is currently playing in Segunda División. Its n ...

on 25 August 2020. The following 12 January, he took over for Míchel at

in the same league. After not being able to avoid relegation, he resigned. On 16 June 2021, Pacheta was appointed manager of

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

, also relegated to the second division. He managed another promotion in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, as runners-up, but was dismissed on 3 April 2023 due to poor results, the last being a 6–0 away loss to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

which left his team one point above the relegation zone. Pacheta became the new coach of

on 9 September 2023, taking over from

Quique Setién Enrique "Quique" Setién Solar (; born 27 September 1958) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently manager of Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. As a player, he was nicknamed ''El Maestro'', and was bes ...

. Two months later, after five wins, three draws and four defeats in 12 matches in all competitions, and with the club sitting 13th in the league, just five points away from the relegation zone, he was sacked. On 14 May 2025, Pacheta was appointed at

on a contract with until 2026. He replaced Fran Escribá for the final three fixtures of the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

, with the goal of reaching the top-flight promotion playoffs by finishing in the top six, eventually falling short by four points.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* *
Espanyol archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacheta 1968 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Burgos Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Racing Lermeño players CD Numancia players Real Burgos CF footballers CA Marbella footballers CP Mérida footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers CD Numancia managers Real Oviedo managers FC Cartagena managers Hércules CF managers Elche CF managers SD Huesca managers Real Valladolid managers Villarreal CF managers Granada CF managers Ekstraklasa managers Korona Kielce managers Thai League 1 managers Ratchaburi F.C. managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Poland Expatriate football managers in Thailand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Thailand