 Serra Ferrer in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lorenzo Serra Ferrer | ||
| Date of birth | (1953-03-05)5 March 1953 (age 72) | ||
| Place of birth | Sa Pobla, Spain | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1976 | Poblense | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1980–1983 | Poblense | ||
| 1983–1985 | Mallorca B | ||
| 1983 | Mallorca (interim) | ||
| 1985–1993 | Mallorca | ||
| 1993–1997 | Betis | ||
| 2000–2001 | Barcelona | ||
| 2004–2006 | Betis | ||
| 2006–2008 | AEK Athens | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Lorenzo Serra Ferrer (Spanish pronunciation:[loˈɾenθoˈserafeˈreɾ];Catalan:Llorenç Serra Ferrer[ʎuˈɾɛnsˈsɛrəfəˈre]; born 5 March 1953) is a Spanishfootballmanager.
His career was mainly associated withMallorca andBetis, and he also served the former in various other capacities.
Born inSa Pobla,Mallorca,Balearic Islands, Serra Ferrer played three years with local amateursPoblense, retiring from football at only 22.[1]
After coaching youth team La Salle, Serra Ferrer joined his only club as a player in 1980. He won two national championships, and led them to a first-ever promotion toSegunda División B in his second season.[2]
In 1983, Serra Ferrer signed for another side in the region,Mallorca, spending two years withtheir reserves. In the1983–84 season, he also coached the main squad in one game as aninterim manager.[1]
Serra Ferrer promoted twice toLa Liga during his spell at theLluís Sitjar Stadium, in1986 and1989, also reaching theCopa del Rey final in1991, losing 1–0 toAtlético Madrid.[3]
After eight full seasons with Mallorca, Serra Ferrer joinedReal Betis ofSegunda División, immediatelyearning promotion[4] and subsequentlyachieving a third place the following campaign, only trailing championsReal Madrid andDeportivo de La Coruña whilst posting the best defensive record in the league (25 goals in 38 matches) andqualifying for theUEFA Cup.[5][6]
In1997, Serra Ferrer led his team to the domestic cup final (a 3–2overtime loss againstBarcelona),[7] after once againqualifying theAndalusians for European competitions with afourth-place finish in the league.
Serra Ferrer moved to Barcelona after theSpanish Cup final, but spent three years working in directorial capacities. In2000–01, after being namedLouis van Gaal's successor following the latter's dismissal, he coached the team until the 31st matchday, being fired after a 3–1 defeat atOsasuna with theCatalans in the fifth position, trailing leaders Real Madrid by 17 points;[8] he was replaced by former club legendCarles Rexach.[9]
In 2004, Serra Ferrer returned to Betis, leading it to anothertop-four league finish – with the subsequentqualification for theUEFA Champions League, a first-ever – as well aswinning that season's Spanish Cup.[10][11]The following campaign the team only managed to rank 14th in the league, also being ousted in the Champions League group stage in spite of a 1–0 home win againstChelsea.[12]
Serra Ferrer joinedAEK Athens from Greece in the summer of 2006. In hisfirst season he led thecapital club to the second place inthe domestic league, as the team also achieved their first Champions League wins againstLille andAC Milan, being eventuallyousted in the group phase.
In late May 2007, Serra Ferrer signed a four-year extension to his contract, which was to expire at the end of2007–08.[13] On 13 August, as AEK was drawn againstSevilla in theChampions League third qualifying round, he stated: "The tie (vs Sevilla) will be intensely emotional for me", adding "I will return to a city I love very dearly."[14] The Spaniards eventually won 6–1 on aggregate.[15]
On 12 February 2008, Serra Ferrer was fired after anearly exit in theGreek Cup, and a poor league run that saw the side drop from first to third in the space of a week.[16]
On 29 June 2010, a group headed by Serra Ferrer became the new owner of Mallorca, taking over from main shareholderMateu Alemany for a fee believed to be around€2 million. On 9 July he was named the club'svice president anddirector of football, as it was in the process of going into voluntary administration, trying to sort out debts of up to €85 million.[17]
Poblense
Mallorca
Betis