Álvaro Martínez Beltrán (born 30 March 1974), known simply as Álvaro, 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

Club career

Born in

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

, Álvaro began his career with local CD Aurrerá de Vitoria, promoting to the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

in his first season as a senior. In the summer of 1993 he signed with

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

giants

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

, playing his only two years at the professional level with the reserve side in

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 ...

, being second choice. Álvaro returned to his first club in 1995, going on to represent in the following 14 years

Burgos CF Burgos Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The original Burgos CF (1936), Burgos CF was dissolved in 1983 after becoming Insolven ...

SD Lemona Sociedad Deportiva Lemona was a Spanish football team based in Lemoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1923, it last played in Segunda División B – Group 2, holding home matches at '' Estadio Arlonagusia'', with a c ...

UB Conquense Unión Balompédica Conquense is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Cuenca, Spain, Cuenca, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1946, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio La Fuensanta ...

Benidorm CF Benidorm Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Benidorm, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1964 and dissolved in 2011 it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor'', which had a capacity of 6,000. ...

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 ...

Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa (), better known as Cultural Leonesa or La Cultural, is a Spanish football team based in León, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Founded on 5 August 1923, it currently plays in Primera División RFE ...

and

CP Villarrobledo Club Polideportivo Villarrobledo is a Spanish football club based in Villarrobledo, Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1971 as a replacement for folded CD Villarrobledo, it currently plays in , holding home g ...

, in both 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 ...

and the fourth tier. He retired at the end of the 2009–10 campaign, after one year with amateurs AD San José Obrero ( fifth division). During his playing career, Álvaro also served as youth goalkeeper coach in the clubs he played for. After his retirement, he worked as a manager in youth teams.

References

External links

* *
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Alvaro 1974 births Living people Footballers from Vitoria-Gasteiz Spanish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Athletic Bilbao B footballers Burgos CF footballers SD Lemona footballers UB Conquense footballers Benidorm CF footballers Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa players Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers UB Conquense managers CD Aurrerá de Vitoria footballers