Ángel Castellanos Céspedes (15 November 1952 – 2 January 2024) was a Spanish association football

centre-back 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 ...

and

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Sometimes known simply as Castellanos, he was recognized for his career within

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

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 ...

throughout the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, being part of the winning squads for the

1978–79 Copa del Rey The 1978–79 Copa del Rey was the 77th staging of the Spanish Cup. The competition began on 20 September 1978 and concluded on 30 June 1979 with the final. First round ...

, the

1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1979–80 season was the 20th season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup, a association football, football tournament organised by UEFA for the cup winners from each of its member associations. The competition was won by Spa ...

and the

1980 European Super Cup The 1980 European Super Cup was played between Nottingham Forest and Valencia, with Valencia winning on the away goals rule. Forest won the home leg 2–1, with both goals coming from Ian Bowyer. Valencia won the return at the Mestalla 1–0 thus ...

. He would also represent his home country of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1974.

Club career

Castellanos was recognized for his slow and rough style when playing with it undergoing constant evolution as despite starting off 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 ...

, would later convert into playing as a

. Due to this, he was cited as being an exceptional defender as well as sharing great compatibility with the clubs he played for. Castellanos would go into further detail into his unorthodox playstyle: Rising out of the lower ranks within

CD Manchego Club Deportivo Manchego was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Ciudad Real Province of Ciudad Real, in the namesake province, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1929 and dissolved in 2000, ...

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ) is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. It was founded as Villa Real in 1255 as a ro ...

, his first season with the club would occur during the

1969–70 Tercera División The 1969–70 Tercera División season was the 36th edition since its establishment. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8 Playoffs Promotion to Segunda División *Match of Tiebreaker: *Promotio ...

. He would make his official debut on 21 September 1969 at only sixteen years of age against Adra. He was then transferred to play for

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

where he would play in three matches during the

1971–72 La Liga The 1971–72 La Liga was the 41st season since its establishment. The season began on 4 September 1971, and concluded on 14 May 1972. It was played by 18 clubs after the expansion from the previous season. Team locations League table ...

where he would demonstrate his potential to

. His prominence would begin to decline after he would play as a center-back within the Andalusian team, making less appearances as each year went by. Despite this, during the 1976–77 season, he would be transferred to

where he would play as a midfielder throughout his seasons with the club. Throughout his time with the club, he would experience many highlights of his career as he would participate in the winning squads for the

1978–79 Copa del Rey The 1978–79 Copa del Rey was the 77th staging of the Spanish Cup. The competition began on 20 September 1978 and concluded on 30 June 1979 with the final. First round ...

, the

where he would score a goal in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

and the

. This initial success would later stagnate, and the club would experience its only relegation during the

1985–86 La Liga The 1985–86 La Liga season was the 55th since its establishment. It began on 31 August 1985, and concluded on 20 April 1986. Barcelona lost their defence of the title to Real Madrid, who won the title by an 11-point margin. This season marked ...

following financial difficulties. This would lead the club to seek out younger players for the club including

Fernando Gómez Colomer Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

, ,

Quique Sánchez Flores Enrique "Quique" Sánchez Flores (; born 5 February 1965) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He began his professional career with Valencia in 1984, going on to amass La Liga totals of 304 games and 16 g ...

and Fernando Giner and phasing out older players. In total, Castellanos would make 363 appearances for the club throughout his decade with the club. He would return to play for Granada for the

1986–87 Segunda División B The 1986–87 Segunda División B season was the 10th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 30 August 1986, and the season ended on 14 June 1987. Overview before the season 22 teams joined the league, including f ...

before his retirement.

International career

Castellanos would play for the Spain national team in three matches by personal request of manager

László Kubala László Kubala (10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian professional association football, footballer. He played as a forward (association football), forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, ŠK Slovan Bratislava, Slovan Bratislava, F ...

. He would make his international debut against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

during the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifiers on 25 December 1974 which ended in a 1–2 victory for the Spaniards. The other two matches would be friendlies against

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 ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in their home stadiums respectively.

Personal life and death

In July 2017, Castellanos was named Honorary President of Granada CF intribute and homage to his career within the club. During the

2019–20 Copa del Rey The 2019–20 Copa del Rey was the 118th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). In its original format, the winners were assured a place in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage, however th ...

, Castellanos was honored at a match between his two clubs of Granada and Valencia. Castellanos died on 2 January 2024, at the age of 71. He had been suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in the years prior to his death. Former Granada manager

Lucas Alcaraz Luis Lucas Alcaraz González (born 21 June 1966) is a Spanish football manager. In a managerial career of over two decades, he competed in ten La Liga seasons at the helm of Recreativo (with whom he reached the 2003 Copa del Rey final), Racin ...

offered his condolences via social media.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castellanos, Angel 1952 births 2024 deaths Footballers from the Province of Ciudad Real Spanish men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders La Liga players CE Sabadell FC footballers Granada CF footballers Valencia CF players Spain men's international footballers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Spain 20th-century Spanish sportsmen