Juan Ferrando was born in 1981 in Barcelona, although his family tree comes from the Southeastern Spain (Orihuela), from where he keeps great childhood memories.
Academic Field
He got his Bachelor in 'Science of Physical Activity and Sport' at INEFC - University of Barcelona (UB) and specialized in 'Sports Performance' while completing his academic background with training courses on 'Work compensatory high performance athletes' and 'Techniques postural (stretching)', among others.
After obtaining the two National Coach certifications granted by the Catalan Football Federation, he enrolled postgraduate programs such as 'Nutrition and Dietetics Sport' and 'Sports Massage'. These were followed by the 'Diploma of Advanced Studies' (DAS) and the 'Master of High Performance' (DEA) at INEFC and the Physiology Laboratory of the University of Barcelona.
In 2011, at the age of 30, he was named Doctor by the Department of Medicine of the University of Zaragoza, after presenting his doctoral thesis that earned him the title of PhD in Sport Sciences for his work on the 'Effect of body vibration training on the ability to jump (SJ) of professional footballers'.
He has joined in numerous research projects, such as 'Training methodology through mechanical vibrations', 'Inhibition and disinhibition in a handball goalkeeper', 'Factors in the psychological field of human performance . Variability and inhibition' and 'Cinematic sequence on elite sportsman'.
He teaches at the INEFC and collaborates as lecturer at the University of Barcelona (UB), the University of Alicante and the University of Málaga (UMA), being so far the youngest contributor of the renowned 'Journal of Sports Science & Medicine'.
His academic and professional career have earned him awards such as the 'Research Aptitude Award' given by the British Laboratories Moore (2011) and the 'Investigation and Research Recognition of the Institution' of the University of Barcelona (2012) .
Professional Field
Former soccer player, UEFA Pro coach and physical trainer, Juan is passionate about soccer. He started training as soccer coach when he was 18-years-old and has been working with sportsman of different fields. He implemented the RCD Espanyol soccer academy as methodological coordinator (technical and tactical soccer); made his 'Practicum' at FC Barcelona B and coached FC RICOH Premià, Terrassa CF and CE Hospitalet (with that team he reached the Honour Division).
During the season 2012/2013 he was coaching the Málaga CF Youth Team, winning the League Group X when there were still 6 games to the end of the season and as top scoring team and fewest goals against in its category.
Since mid-June 2013 he was part of the technical staff of the FC Sheriff Tiraspol, and in July he became the head coach at the FC Sheriff Tiraspol, winner of the Moldovan League (Divizia Nationala).
With FC Sheriff he raised the Moldovan Supercup and achieved a historic 0-5 against Sutjeska which allowed the Moldovan team to dispute for the first time in its history the third round of the Champions League. Thanks to the victory against FC Vojvodina, FC Sheriff played (for the 2nd time in its history) the UEFA Europa League (Group K).
After some time in Spain as head coach, in 2017 Juan joined Volos NFC in Greece and managed to get 2 back to back promotions with almost the same squad from first season, leading them to the Greek Superleague in season 2019/20. In April 2020 he accepted to coach FC Goa in the Indian SuperLeague and managed to beat the historical record of 12 matches unbeaten ((with 14 matches undefeated up to date).
Juan has been working for years with elite sportsman at the Centre d'Alt Rendiment (CAR) located in Sant Cugat (Barcelona). He is an expert in applying new technology to sports training (SmartCoach , Chronojump , Soccer Playbook & Eric 2.0, among others).
During his professional career he has had the pleasure of working as a coach, analyst and physical trainer in Spain, the UK, Italy and Canada, in soccer clubs like Arsenal and Brighton & Hove, and with players namely Cesc Fàbregas, Robin Van Persie, Angel Rangel, Ilie Sánchez, Sergi Gómez and Vicente Rodriguez, among many others.