Alejandro "Álex" Castro Martín (born 20 December 1974) is a Spanish former

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 ...

. Mainly a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he could also play as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is the current assistant manager of

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

' ''Juvenil'' squad.

Club career

Born in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

, Castro spent the vast majority of his professional career in his native

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. He made his professional debut with

, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 4–2 home win against

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

on 17 May 1997 in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. His only other appearance of the season was on 15 June, as he played the entirety of the 3–0 away victory over

CD Toledo Club Deportivo Toledo, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Toledo, Spain, Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1928 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Salto del Cab ...

. From 1998 to 2000 Castro contributed 56 league appearances, including 31 in the latter campaign to help his team to promote to

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 ...

as champions. His first and only game in the top flight occurred on 1 October 2000, 27 minutes into a 5–1 away loss to

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 ...

. In January of the following year, he was loaned to neighbouring

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

of the second division, joining in the same situation fellow league club

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

roughly one year later. Castro subsequently returned to Las Palmas, being relegated from the second tier in 2004. He retired in 2014 at the age of 40, after spells 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 ...

with

Castillo CF Castillo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Castillo del Romeral, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1950, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Municipal ...

CD San Isidro Club Deportivo Raqui San Isidro is a Spanish football team based in San Isidro, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1970 it plays in , holding home matches at ''Estadio La Palmera'', with a 2,500-seat capacity. Season to s ...

and UD Villa de Santa Brígida, and in the regional leagues with Acodetti CF, UD Teror Balompié, Ferreras CF and

Arucas CF Arucas Club de Fútbol, is a Spanish football team based in Arucas, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1927, it plays in , holding home games at ''Complejo Antonio Afonso Moreno'', commonly known as ''Tonono'', with a capa ...

Personal life

Castro was one of five brothers, of which

Guillermo Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People * Guillermo Amador (born 1974), American musician * Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Span ...

and Rubén were also footballers. All three came through at their hometown club, with the youngest enjoying his greatest success at

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

.Rubén Castro, otro talento grancanario (Rubén Castro, another talent from Gran Canaria)
Mundo Deportivo, 5 October 2001

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Alex 1974 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Las Palmas Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players UD Las Palmas players CD Tenerife players CD Numancia players