Getafe hire Escriba as coach on three-year deal

MADRID (Reuters) - Getafe have hired former Elche coach Fran Escriba to take charge of their first team on a three-year contract, the La Liga club said on Friday.

(Reuters)

Escriba will take over from Pablo Franco, who stepped up from B team coach on a temporary basis after Quique Sanchez Flores quit in February.

Escriba, 50, who previously worked as an assistant coach at Getafe, left Elche this month after they were relegated to the second division because of unpaid debts to the tax authorities.

Madrid-based Getafe typically have to fight for their La Liga survival each season and ended last term a mere two points above the relegation places in 15th.

(Reporting by Iain Rogers, editing by Toby Davis)