Albert Canal Bartrina (born 10 July 1991) is a former

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Born in

Olot Olot () is the capital city of the ''comarca'' of Garrotxa, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The city is known for its natural landscape, including four volcanoes scattered around the city center. The municipality is part of the Zon ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Canal began his senior career with

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Badalona, Province of Barcelona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays ...

in the

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

, helping them to promote to

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

for the first time ever in his only season. In December 2010 he signed with neighbours

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

, being assigned to the reserves in the third tier. Canal made his first-team debut on 13 December 2011, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for fellow youth graduate Víctor Álvarez in a

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

match against

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

( 0–0 away draw, 4–2 aggregate). He continued appearing exclusively for the B team until his release in June 2013, also serving a short loan at his first club, now in division three. Canal continued competing in the lower leagues and amateur football the following years, with

UE Olot Unió Esportiva Olot, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Olot, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1921, it plays in Segunda Federación RFEF – Group 3, holding home games at '' Estadi Municipal d'Olot'', with a capac ...

AEC Manlleu Agrupació Esportiva i Cultural Manlleu is a football team based in Manlleu, Spain. Founded in 1933, it plays in the Tercera División – Group 5. Its stadium is '' Municipal de Manlleu'' with a capacity of 3000 seats. Season to season ---- ...

UE Figueres Unió Esportiva Figueres is a Spanish football team based in Figueres, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1919 and refounded in 2007 it plays in the Primera Catalana league, holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal de Vilateni ...

and CF Peralada; all the sides hailed from his native region.Toni Cunill i Albert Canal no continuaran al Peralada (Toni Cunill and Albert Canal will not remain at Peralada)

L'Esportiu ''L'Esportiu'', previously known as ''El 9 Esportiu'' (), is a Catalan daily sports newspaper, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. History The newspaper was founded on 2 January 2002, being the unique Catalan language daily sports newspaper. I ...

, 20 August 2020 In October 2020, the 29-year-old moved abroad and joined

Resources Capital FC Resources Capital Football Club () is a Hong Kong professional football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. It was known as Tai Chung Football Club for the first 34 years of its existence before rebranding in 2016. Th ...

in the

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural seaso ...

. In May 2023, Canal announced his retirement from professional football.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canal, Albert 1991 births Living people People from Olot Footballers from the Province of Girona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Segunda División B players Tercera División players CF Badalona Futur players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers UE Olot players AEC Manlleu footballers UE Figueres footballers CF Peralada players Hong Kong Premier League players Resources Capital FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong