Pere Gratacós
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pere Gratacós Boix | ||
| Date of birth | 14 February 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Besalú, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Besalú | |||
| 1974–1976 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1976–1978 | Barcelona C | ||
| 1978–1983 | Barcelona B | 138 | (3) |
| 1979–1980 | → Valladolid (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 1983–1985 | Osasuna | 2 | (0) |
| 1985–1993 | Figueres | 206 | (3) |
| Total | 360 | (6) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1995 | Figueres (interim) | ||
| 1995–1997 | AE Roses | ||
| 1997–1999 | Girona | ||
| 2001–2003 | Figueres | ||
| 2003–2005 | Barcelona B | ||
| 2005–2009 | Catalonia | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Pere Gratacós Boix (born 14 February 1958) is a Spanish retired football central defender and coach.
Playing career
Born in Besalú, Girona, Catalonia, Gratacós arrived at FC Barcelona's youth system in 1974 at the age of 16, going to play for several of its youth teams. He made his professional debuts with Real Valladolid in the 1979–80 season, on loan, helping to a Segunda División promotion and returning to play a further three years with Barça's reserves, where he was awarded team captaincy.[1]
Gratacós appeared in five official games with Barcelona's first team, but never in La Liga, leaving the club in 1983 and joining fellow top-divisioner CA Osasuna, playing in only two games in his first year in the main division and none whatsoever in the second. In the 1985 off-season he returned to his native region and signed for UE Figueres in Segunda División B,[2] helping to an immediate promotion to the second level.
Gratacós was an automatic first-choice for Figueres during his eight-year spell, when healthy – he started in all but seven of the league matches he appeared in. After the club's relegation in 1993 he retired from football, aged 35.
Coaching career
Gratacós started coaching one year after retiring, although he had already worked with Figueres in directorial capacities.[3] After a brief spell as an interim manager, he was in charge of two amateur teams – also in Catalonia – during four 1/2 seasons, returning to his main club in 2001 and making history as it became the first team in the third division to reach the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, eventually losing 1–2 on aggregate against Deportivo de La Coruña after previously ousting, amongst others, Barcelona and Osasuna.[4]
In 2003 Gratacós returned to Barcelona's reserves, leading the side to two midtable finishes in level three.[5] Subsequently, he coached the Catalonia national team in six friendly games.[6][7]
In January 2010 Gratacós returned to Barcelona, being appointed director of Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, the club's training ground and academy.
References
- ↑ Gratacós: !A Pamplona hemos de ir! (Gratacós: To Pamplona we must go!); El Mundo Deportivo, 22 June 1983 (Spanish)
- ↑ Figueres: 35 kilos en fichajes (Figueres: 35 kilos in signings); El Mundo Deportivo, 22 July 1985 (Spanish)
- ↑ Pichi Alonso concluye su etapa en el Alt Empordá (Pichi Alonso ends Alt Empordá spell); El Mundo Deportivo, 23 June 1993 (Spanish)
- ↑ El Figueres disfruta y sueña con entrar en la historia (Figueres enjoys and dreams of making history); El Mundo Deportivo, 11 January 2002 (Spanish)
- ↑ Txiki no renueva a Gratacós en el B (Txiki does not renew Gratacós in B's); El Mundo Deportivo, 22 June 2005 (Spanish)
- ↑ Cataluña quiere despedir la etapa Gratacós con un triunfo ante Colombia (Catalonia wants to end Gratacós era with win against Colombia); Soitu, 27 December 2008 (Spanish)
- ↑ Pere Gratacós; Football Dreams
External links
- Pere Gratacós profile at BDFutbol
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