César Ferrando

César Ferrando Jiménez (born 25 July 1959) is a Spanish football manager and former player.

Born in Tavernes de la Valldigna, Valencia, Ferrando started his professional career with local giants Valencia CF, first spending nearly four years with the reserves. He made his first-team – and La Liga – debut on 26 April 1981, playing the dying minutes of the 3–1 home win against UD Las Palmas.

After a further three full seasons with the Che, Ferrando left in 1984 and went on to play professionally with UD Salamanca, CE Sabadell FC and UD Alzira, competing almost exclusively in Segunda División but playing seven top division games with the second club in the 1986–87 campaign. He closed out his career in 1991 at the age of 32, retiring at lowly Ontinyent CF in his native region.

Ferrando started coaching at amateur level, with his local club UD Tavernes. In 1997, he moved to Segunda División B, where he spent three years in charge of CF Gandía; in 2001, he led Valencia B to a return to that category.

Ferrando was appointed at division two's Albacete Balompié in the 2002 summer, achieving promotion to the top flight in his first year and leading the team to safety the following season, which prompted his signing for Atlético Madrid.

After the Colchoneros could only rank in 11th place, Ferrando was relieved of his duties in late May 2005. He subsequently returned to his previous club, for a further two second division campaigns.

For the better part of the next years, Ferrando continued to work in the second tier of Spanish football, with Gimnàstic de Tarragona and Elche CF. He moved abroad for the first time in 2013, being appointed coach at Malaysian club Johor Darul Takzim F.C. and switching to director of football afterwards.

On 13 March 2016, Ferrando returned to Albacete, with the team seriously threatened with relegation.

Ferrando's younger brothers, Francisco (1962) and Juan Carlos (1965), were also footballers and midfielders. The former also played for Valencia.