Yannick Ferrera


Yannick Ferrera y Caro is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is currently in charge of Saudi Professional League team Al-Fateh.

Club career

In his early twenties, Ferrera enjoyed a brief career as a professional footballer, playing for Belgian sides Beveren, Tubize, Ternat and Jette.

Managerial career

In 2004, Ferrera was appointed head coach of the Anderlecht youth team, which at that time included Romelu Lukaku and Adnan Januzaj. In 2010, he joined the technical staff of AA Gent, serving under manager Michel Preud'homme, whom Ferrera later followed to Saudi Arabian club Al-Shabab.
In 2012, Ferrera became manager of first league team Charleroi. One year later, he moved to Sint-Truiden that was playing in the Belgian Second Division. Under his leadership, STVV gained promotion to the highest level for the 2015–16 season.
In September 2015, Ferrera was appointed manager at Standard Liège. In spite of winning the domestic cup that season, he was sacked early into the 2016–17 season due to disputes with the board of directors. Ferrera was replaced by Aleksandar Janković. Janković's former club, Mechelen, immediately decided to hire Ferrera for two seasons as a replacement.
On 14 October 2019, Ferrera was appointed as the new manager of Saudi Professional League outfit Al-Fateh.

Personal life

Ferrera was born in Ukkel to a Spanish father and an Italian mother. He remained his Spanish citizenship until 1992, when he was naturalised as a Belgian. His father, Francisco, and his uncles, Manu and Emilio Ferrera are all footballing coaches in Belgium.

Honours

Sint-Truiden
Standard Liège