Sergi López Segú (6 October 1967 – 4 November 2006) was a Spanish

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 lea ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He played professionally for three clubs during his career, mainly

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

. He appeared in 62

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

matches over eight seasons (two goals), also representing in the competition

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. After some personal problems, López (the older brother of Barcelona and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Gerard López Gerard López Segú (; born 12 March 1979), usually known as just Gerard, is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of the Catalonia national team. An all-around midfielder, he was known for precision passes and ball contro ...

) died by suicide in 2006 at the age of 39.

Club career

Born in

Granollers Granollers (; ) is a city in central Catalonia, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. It is the capital and most densely populated city in the comarca of Vallès Oriental. Granollers is now a bustling business centre, having grown from ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, López was a promising talent in his early years, and both

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

were interested in signing him for its youth squads. The former's

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

, Oriol Tort, whom at that time also followed players like

Sergi Barjuán Sergi Barjuán Esclusa (born 28 December 1971), known simply as Sergi as a player, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back, currently a manager. Best known for his Barcelona stint, he played for the first team for n ...

and

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

, convinced the López family to choose his club. López started out in Barcelona's ''

cantera Cantera, literally meaning "quarry" in Spanish, is a term used in Spain to refer to youth academies and farm teams organized by sports clubs. It is also used to refer to the geographical area that clubs recruit players from. The term is widely ...

'', with younger brothers Juli and

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other Germanic name, early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful ...

following later. He made his first-team debut on 6 November 1988, in a 0–0 away draw against

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

where he came on as a 46th-minute substitute for

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...

. Including

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

and

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

matches, he eventually totalled less than 30 appearances, as ''Barça'' won one

championship, two Spanish Cups and the 1988–89 edition of the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

to which he contributed one hour of play in a 0–0 home draw with

Aarhus Gymnastikforening Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ) is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country where gymnastics and fencing were featured as its main sports. How ...

in the quarter-finals' second leg.Una clasificación muy gris (Quite grey qualification)
Mundo Deportivo, 16 March 1989 In summer 1991, López joined

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

, but signed for fellow top-flight side

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 football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

after only one season. Although he never featured much, he still helped the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese to a

domestic cup A domestic cup (also known as association cup or national cup) is a type of sports tournament, particularly common in association football. This tournament type is notable for its participation by professional and amateur teams from many levels of ...

, being discarded by manager

Víctor Fernández Víctor Fernández Braulio (born 28 November 1960) is a Spanish football manager. He had four spells with his hometown team Zaragoza, winning the Copa del Rey in 1994 and the Cup Winners' Cup a year later. He also led Tenerife, RC Celta de Vi ...

for the final of the following Cup Winners' Cup. After a short spell with modest

CF Gavà Club de Futbol Gavà is a Spanish football team based in Gavà, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1922, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadi La Bòbila'', with a capacity of 2,550 seats. History The club was founded ...

in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

, the 28-year-old López retired due to recurrent knee problems.El jugador que amaba al fútbol más que a sí mismo (The player who loved football more than he loved himself)
; La Información, 4 November 2011

Post-retirement and death

After his football career, López moved to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

where he married, and where his only child was born. The marriage failed eventually and this, in combination with the early end of his playing days, resulted in

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...

. While still in Argentina he was taken to a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

, but was forced to return to Spain due to financial problems; he committed suicide by throwing himself under a train on 4 November 2006, at 39. López's funeral, held on 6 November, was attended by many notable people from within the world of football. Former teammates

Guillermo Amor Guillermo Amor Martínez (; born 4 December 1967) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a versatile midfielder. After spending most of his career with Barcelona, winning several accolades in a ten-year tenure, he ended it in ...

Txiki Begiristain Aitor "Txiki" Begiristain Mujika (born 12 August 1964) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), left winger or forward (association football), forward. He was best known f ...

, Guardiola and Sergi (Barcelona), Xavi Aguado and Santiago Aragón (Zaragoza) and Josep Serer (Mallorca) were all present, alongside Barcelona president

Joan Laporta Joan Laporta i Estruch (; born 29 June 1962) is a Spanish businessman, politician, and current president of FC Barcelona. Laporta is a lawyer (he graduated from the University of Barcelona) with his own firm, Laporta & Arbós, which has a nu ...

and player

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

, former

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

president Pedro Cortés and the full squad and staff of

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

(to support brother Gerard, who represented the Monegasque club).Barça brothers
; FC Barcelona, 29 October 2009

Honours

Barcelona *

: 1988–89 *

Copa Catalunya The Copa Catalunya () is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain. History Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the ''Catalan football championship ...

: 1991 Zaragoza *

: 1993–94

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Sergi 1967 births 2006 deaths 2006 suicides Suicides by train Suicides in Spain 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Granollers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players RCD Mallorca players Real Zaragoza players CF Gavà players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Catalonia men's international footballers