Francisco Javier Sánchez Broto (born 25 August 1971) is a Spanish retired

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. After eight years in his country where he appeared almost exclusively as a backup, playing for four clubs, he headed to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, where he represented Airdrieonians, Livingston and Celtic.

Club career

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

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 nort ...

, Sánchez Broto joined the

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

academy at 14, where his failure to make an impression as a forward led to his being used as a

. In the 1992–93 edition of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

, he appeared in four games for the Aragonese's first team, and subsequently moved to the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, playing for

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

and Málaga CF and winning a championship medal with the latter (he only played four league matches over two seasons, however). In 2000, Sánchez Broto moved to Scottish club Airdrie on a

Bosman transfer ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of associatio ...

. During his first year, his team won the Scottish Challenge Cup after the player saved three penalties in the

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

against Livingston. When they ran into financial problems he joined Livingston in March 2001, being an important member of the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

-winning side in 2001, while earning himself the SPFA Player of the Season Award. He was cup-tied for Livi's appearance in the semi-finals of the 2000-01 Scottish Cup. In January 2003, Sánchez Broto joined Celtic, who required a goalkeeper following injuries to Rab Douglas and

Magnus Hedman Magnus Carl Hedman (; born 19 March 1973) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Beginning his career with AIK in 1990, he went on play in the English Premier League, Scottish Premier League, and Italian Serie A ...

. Broto was cup-tied for Celtic's run to the

2003 UEFA Cup Final The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and Porto of Portugal. Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei. This was also the first game to use the silver goal rule, although it did ...

. He left the club at the end of the campaign, citing a desire to return home, and signed with

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

in the top division for the following season, appearing rarely in an eventual relegation. Sánchez Broto signed with newly promoted

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

– the club's first ever appearance in the top flight – in 2004–05. Not an undisputed starter for the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

side, he did appear in 20 league matches out of 38, his performances resulting in '' Marca'' rating him the third-best goalkeeper in Spain for that season; during his tenure, after losing a bet, he donated a pair of

goalkeeper gloves In association football, kit (also referred to as a strip or uniform) is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sport's rules specify the minimum kit which a player must use, and also prohibit the use of anything that is dangero ...

to every goalkeeper in Spain's lower divisions. After one sole season, 34-year-old Sánchez Broto signed with Hércules in the second level, but retired from professional football shortly after due to injuries. He expressed regret at having to retire so young, and despite his popularity throughout his career, remained self-effacing when looking back. In a 2006 interview given to ''Diario Equipo'', he remarked that he had "enjoyed soccer as a little person of the game and would like to thank everyone who has made it all possible".

Honours

Málaga * Segunda División: 1998–99 Airdrie * Scottish Challenge Cup: 2000–01 Livingston *

: 2000–01

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez Broto, Javier 1971 births Living people Footballers from Barcelona Spanish footballers Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Zaragoza B players Real Zaragoza players Villarreal CF players CD Castellón footballers Málaga CF players Real Murcia players Getafe CF footballers Hércules CF players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Livingston F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland