Carles Rexach Cerdà (; born 13 January 1947) is a Spanish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

winger and

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 ...

. His career was mainly associated 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 ...

, spending 44 years at the club as a player (youth levels included) and coach. He formed a successful partnership with

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

, both on and off the field, and as a player appeared in 638 games and scored 197 goals, winning the

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

; he totalled eight titles in both capacities, including the

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 ...

championship in the 1973–74 season and the 1979 Cup Winners' Cup. Rexach appeared for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at the 1978 World Cup, earning 15

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

in nine years.

Playing career

Born in

Pedralbes Pedralbes (, Old Catalan for ''white stones'') is a neighborhood in '' Les Corts'' district of Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in No ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Rexach made his senior debut for

on 25 April 1965 after having joined their youth system as a 12-year-old, scoring once in a 4–0 away win against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

in the

Copa del Generalísimo The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

. His first appearance in

took place on 10 September 1967, and he also found the net, but in a 3–2 away loss to

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

. Additionally, he spent two years on loan to Condal, who acted as 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 ...

. In the 1970–71 season, Rexach scored a career-best 17 goals to win the

alongside

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

player

José Eulogio Gárate José Eulogio Gárate Ormaechea (born 20 September 1944) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker for SD Eibar, SD Indautxu and Atlético Madrid. Born in Argentina, he pla ...

. His team finished in second position with the same points as champions

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, adding the domestic cup. On 5 November 1974, Rexach netted a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

to help the hosts to defeat

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

3–0 in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, after three assists from longtime teammate

. In the final of the 1978 Spanish Cup, he was chosen ''

Player of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

'' after scoring twice in a 3–1 victory over

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

; on 16 May of the following year, he contributed one goal to the 4–3

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

defeat of

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

in the decisive match of the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

. Rexach retired in 1981 at the age of 34 and, on 1 September, Barcelona played a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

. He made his debut for the Spain national side on 23 April 1969, playing the second half of the 0–0 friendly draw with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

; selected to the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

squad, he featured once in an eventual group-stage exit.

Coaching career

After retiring, Rexach joined the coaching staff at Barcelona B. In 1984, he co-founded the TARR football school in his native city with fellow ex-players Juan Manuel Asensi, Joaquim Rifé and Antoni Torres. Rexach joined

Luis Aragonés Luis Aragonés Suárez (; 28 July 1938 – 1 February 2014) was a Spanish football player and manager. Aragonés spent the majority of his career as a player and coach at Atlético Madrid. He was a prominent player and then coach of the succes ...

's staff for the 1987–88 season, and briefly became

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

when the latter departed after suffering a bout of depression. When Cruyff was subsequently appointed, he remained an assistant. When

chain smoker Chain smoking is the practice of smoking several cigarettes in succession, sometimes using the ember of a finishing cigarette to light the next. The term chain smoker often also refers to a person who smokes relatively constantly, though not nec ...

Cruyff needed emergency heart surgery during the 1990–91 campaign, Rexach once again stepped up, leading the side to their 11th league title – his first game in charge was on 27 February 1991, in a 6–0 home win against Las Palmas in the domestic cup. He remained in the position throughout the ''Dream Team'' era and, after president Josep Lluís Nuñez sacked the Dutchman in May 1996, once again became head coach, a decision which allegedly cost him the friendship of Cruyff; after new manager

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

replaced him with

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

as his assistant he became a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

, going on to be responsible for discovering

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

. Rexach then had a brief spell in the J.League with

Yokohama Flügels The , also known as the AS Flügels, was a Japanese football club that played in the J.League between 1993 and 1998. The club was an original member ("Original Ten") of the J.League in 1993. In 1999, the club merged with local rivals Yokohama Ma ...

. After Lorenzo Serra Ferrer was sacked by Barcelona towards the end of 2000–01, he was named as his successor. In the last matchday, following a 3–2 home defeat of Valencia and courtesy of a

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (; born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo, is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as ...

87th-minute wonder goal, they managed to qualify for the Champions League; this resulted in him being appointed coach by

Joan Gaspart Joan Gaspart i Solves (; born 11 October 1944) is a Spanish businessman and a former Barcelona president between July 2000 and February 2003. He was born in Barcelona. He was vice president of the club during the presidency of Josep Lluís Nu ...

for the following season, but after being ousted by

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 ...

in the semi-finals of the Champions League, by

Figueres Figueres (; ) is the capital city of Alt Empordà county, in the Girona region, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Dalí Theatre and Museum, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which att ...

in the Spanish Cup and having lost the final of the

Copa Catalunya The Copa Catalunya () is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain. History Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the ''Catalan football championship ...

Balaguer Balaguer () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebro. The municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city ...

, he was fired and replaced by a returning

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...

, continuing to work with the club in directorial capacities. On 8 April 2010, Rexach announced his intention to run for Barcelona's presidency, Nothing came of it eventually, but he was nonetheless chosen by new chairman

Sandro Rosell Alexandre "Sandro" Rosell i Feliu (; born 6 March 1964) is a Spanish businessman. He earned an MBA degree from ESADE. Rosell ran as senior adviser of Joan Laporta during the 2003 Barcelona elections and was the vice-president of sports until J ...

as sporting advisor alongside Josep Maria Fusté and

Migueli Miguel Bernardo Bianquetti (born 19 December 1951), known as Migueli, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender. A player of immense physical power – he was nicknamed ''Tarzan''– he was best known for his ...

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Barcelona *

: 1973–74 *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 1967–68, 1970–71, 1977–78, 1980–81 *

: 1978–79 *

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

Individual

: 1970–71

Manager

Barcelona *La Liga: 1990–91

References

External links

* *
FC Barcelona profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rexach, Carles 1947 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barcelona Men's association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players CD Condal players FC Barcelona players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's amateur international footballers Spain men's international footballers Catalonia men's international footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players Pichichi Trophy winners Spanish football managers La Liga managers FC Barcelona managers J1 League managers Yokohama Flügels managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Japan Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Japan FC Barcelona non-playing staff