Albert Ferrer

Albert Ferrer Llopis (Rubí, Barcelona, June 6, 1970), known as Chapi Ferrer, is a Spanish former soccer player and coach. He also works as a sports commentator on Spanish radio and television.

Trajectory

As a player

F. C. Barcelona B

He began his time in the lower categories of F. C. Barcelona until he reached F. C. Barcelona B, where he remained for three seasons.

C.D. Tenerife (loan)

In January 1990, he was loaned to C. D. Tenerife, the team with which he made his debut in the first division. There he played half a year starting fifteen times. That season the insular team managed to save the category after beating Deportivo de La Coruña in the relegation promotion, Ferrer being decisive in the second leg at Riazor, giving the assist of his team's goal. That was Chapi's last game with the Tenerife team.

From left to right, Amor, Ferrer, Mussons and Guardiola.

F. C. Barcelona

In the summer of 1990 he returned to Barcelona, where he established himself as a starting right-back, being a fixture in the team known as the Dream Team, led by Johan Cruyff, who won, among other titles, the 1992 European Cup and four consecutive League championships in the early 1990s. Ferrer stood out for his defensive capacity; he was an excellent marker and very fast. At Barcelona he scored two of his only three official goals (one against Espanyol and one against Manchester United.) With the arrival of Louis van Gaal he lost ownership and was declared transferable in May 1998.

Chelsea F.C.

Two weeks later, his transfer to Chelsea F.C. was confirmed. In his first season with the blues, he established himself as the undisputed starter, which earned him the 1998/99 Premier League revelation player award. Ferrer played a total of five seasons with Chelsea, where he scored a goal in the Champions League (against Hertha Berlin) and won the 1998 European Super Cup, the FA Cup and the Community Shield in 2000. In 2003, he announced his retired after playing 17 years; 11 years with F.C Barcelona, 5 years with Chelsea and 1 year with C. D. Tenerife.

As a coach

After his retirement as a footballer, he trained as a coach. Since 2007 he began to participate in the company StarDreams, made up of several prominent athletes such as Julio Salinas, Antonio Maceda, Almudena Cid, Estela Giménez, Gervasio Deferr, Blanca Fernández Ochoa, Martín Fiz, Amaya Valdemoro, Fernando Romay or Xavi Torres and dedicated mainly to Advice to managers and executives on improving work performance.

Vitesse Arnhem

From 2010 he coached the Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem. He arrived at the club when it was going through a bad streak, standing in penultimate place in the championship (in October 2010) and, despite some doubts from the team that arose throughout the season, he managed to keep it in the category at the end of the campaign. He did not renew due to the disagreements he had with the managers at the end.

Cordoba CF

On February 17, 2014, he was hired as the new coach of Córdoba C. F. of the Second Division of Spain, replacing Pablo Villa. Although he initially failed to change the dynamics of the team, he ended up ranking it in 7th position, accessing to the "play-off" of promotion to the First Division, since F. C. Barcelona B had been in 5th place. In the semifinal, they defeated Real Murcia C. F. 1-2; and in the final against Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, they were 0-0 at home and 1-1 away, achieving promotion to First Division thanks to the away goal rule, scoring a goal in the last minute. Córdoba returned to the highest category 42 years later and Chapi renewed his contract for two more years to lead the team in the First Division. On August 25, 2014, he made his debut in the First Division in a match against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabéu (2-0 for the whites). Despite the defeat, Chapi indicated that the team's rhythm was good, but they could have scored. He was dismissed on October 20, 2014, after 8 league games in which he achieved 4 draws (1-1 against Celta de Vigo, UD Almería and Getafe CF, and 0-0 against Espanyol); and lost, as well as against Real Madrid 2-0, 3-1 against Sevilla FC, 3-0 against Valencia CF and 1-2 against Málaga CF.

RCD Mallorca

On June 20, 2015, he was presented as coach of the RCD Mallorca first team. After a good pre-season with the team, he tried to negotiate with the players with whom he was promoted to the First Division during his stay at the Cordoba CF. He made his debut in the league losing 2-0 against AD Alcorcón, although he won the following day 1-0 at home against Ponferradina. In subsequent games, after taking 1 point out of 12 possible, his continuity is questioned and he plays it on matchday 7 against Real Oviedo. A 1-1 is achieved and from there he goes on a good run with which he manages to chain 6 games without knowing defeat (2 wins and 4 draws). He was sacked on November 30, 2015, leaving the Balearic team in relegation places after adding 15 points in the same number of games.

FC Barcelona Legends

After almost two years without training, he is contacted by FC Barcelona to take charge of the team made up of the best Barça players in recent years.

National team

Albert Ferrer made his debut with the Spanish national team in September 1991, in a friendly match against Uruguay in Oviedo. In the summer of 1992, he was part of the Olympic team that won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games. In the following years he would be a fixture in Javier Clemente's scheme, playing in the final phases of the 1994 World Cup in the United States and in France in 1998. He missed the 1996 Euro Cup held in England due to injury (periostitis in the right fibula). He played a total of 39 games with the national team (he won 25, drew 9 and lost only 5).

Clubs

As a player

Club	Country	Year
F. C. Barcelona B	Spain	1986 - 1989
CD Tenerife		1990
F. C. Barcelona		1990 - 1998
Chelsea FC	England	1998 - 2003

As a coach

Club	Country	Year	P	PG	PE	P	% v.
Vitesse Arnhem	Netherlands	2010 - 2011	25	8	6	11	40%
Córdoba C. F.	Spain	2014	28	8	13	7	44.05%
R. C. D. Mallorca		2015	16	3	6	7	31.25%
FC Barcelona Legends		2017 - News	0	0	0	0	0%
Total			69	19	25	25	39.61%

Humours as a player

National Championships

Title	Club	Country	Year
Spanish League	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1991
Supercopa de España	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1991
Spanish League	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1992
Supercopa de España	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1992
Spanish League	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1993
Spanish League	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1994
Supercopa de España	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1994
Supercopa de España	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1996
Copa del Rey	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1997
Spanish League	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1998
Copa del Rey	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1998
FA Cup	Chelsea FC	EnglandEngland	2000
Community Shield	Chelsea FC	EnglandEngland	2000

International Titles

Title	Equipment	Country	Year
European Cup	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1992
Gold in Barcelona '92	Spanish selection	SpainSpain	1992
European Super Cup	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1992
Coup Europe	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1997
European Super Cup	FC Barcelona	SpainSpain	1997
European Super Cup	Chelsea FC	EnglandEngland	1998

Individual awards