Paco Real
Francisco Real Alacreu (1 March 1939 – 27 September 2011) was a Spanish football manager. His career was mostly associated with Valencia in a variety of roles, including managing the reserve team for several seasons and briefly being caretaker manager of the first team in 1993.
Career
[edit]Born in Valencia, Real played in the 1950s for Portuarios, a farm team of Levante. He began managing several lower-league sides in the Valencian Community, including Alzira, Torrent and Burriana, while working at Bancaja.[1]
Real entered Valencia CF in 1970 and served several roles at the club. He was director of their academy, as well as chief of external and institutional relations.[2] Voro, who was managed by him in the reserve team, Mestalla, remembered him as a strict coach known as El Coronel.[1]
In November 1993, the board of Valencia sacked manager Guus Hiddink, putting Real in charge pending the appointment of a permanent replacement.[3] He made his debut in La Liga on 20 November, winning 1–0 away to Sevilla via a goal from Lyuboslav Penev,[4] followed by a goalless draw at home to Real Sociedad and three defeats. Real fielded a different starting line-up in each of his games, scoring two goals and conceding eight over five games, and was replaced on 20 December by Héctor Núñez.[5] In his penultimate game on 11 December, Real labelled Ronald Koeman of visitors Barcelona a "wardrobe" for his perceived lack of pace; Koeman scored in a 4–0 win and the national press caricatured Real as a Pavo Real (peacock).[1] Valencia had not lost at home by that score since 1935, and would not again until 2017.[6]
Real retired from Valencia in October 2004, having suffered a stroke after travelling to a match against Getafe. He lived with the after-effects until his death on 27 September 2011, aged 72.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Fuster, Pau (27 September 2011). "Adiós a Paco Real" [Goodbye to Paco Real]. Super Deporte (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ "Fallece Paco Real, ex entrenador del Valencia" [Paco Real, ex-Valencia manager, dies]. Marca (in Spanish). Europa Press. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ Urrutia, Carlos (16 November 1993). "El Valencia echa a Guus Hiddink" [Valencia oust Guus Hiddink]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ Gómez, Jesús (21 November 1993). "La magia vuela del Pizjuán" [The magic flies away from the Pizjuán]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ "Un Valencia irreal" [An unreal Valencia]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 20 December 1993. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ Oliver, Chente (5 February 2017). ""Podría decir que Ronald Koeman es un armario..."" ["I could say that Ronald Koeman is a wardrobe..."]. Levante-EMV (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
External links
[edit]- Paco Real manager profile at BDFutbol
- Paco Real at CiberChe