Ángel Martín González (born 28 April 1964) 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 mostly as a

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. ...

Playing career

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Martín González was brought up in the

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 ...

youth system, and would subsequently represent Spain at two youth levels. Having been almost exclusively associated with the club's reserves during his spell, he was loaned to fellow

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 ...

side

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

in January 1986. He only appeared in five matches in his first season in

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

but was instrumental in helping the team to avoid relegation in the last round at the expense of

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 ...

, following a 1–1 home draw against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. Martín González became an undisputed starter from the 1988–89 campaign onwards. Alongside namesake Martín Domínguez, he helped to a fourth-place finish in 1990–91 – playing all but one of the games – with the subsequent

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. After a final season with Osasuna, filled with injuries and spent 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 ...

, Martín González returned to the capital in summer 1995 with lowly

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

, for a further two top-flight years, being relegated in his second. He retired in June 1997, at age 33.

Post-retirement

Immediately after retiring, Martín González returned to Osasuna as an assistant coach and

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

(accumulating in some seasons). He was briefly fired in October 2003 but later returned, now in only the latter capacity; he occupied that position for several years, leaving the

El Sadar Stadium Estadio El Sadar (; known as ''Estadio Reyno de Navarra'' from 2005 to 2011, ) is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. The stadium holds 23,516 people. It was built in 1967 and is the home of CA Osasuna, Osasuna ...

in August 2013. Martín González was appointed at

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 ...

of the second tier on 30 July 2014, still as a

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

. In December 2015, he left the club. In the following years, in the same role, Martín González worked with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

and

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

.Martín González, director deportivo de la SD Huesca: "Quiero que la grada esté contenta por que corremos y luchamos" (Martín González, SD Huesca sporting director: "I want our faithful to be happy because we run and fight")

Heraldo de Aragón ''Heraldo de Aragón'' is a regional daily newspaper published in Zaragoza, Spain. The paper has been in circulation since 1895. History and profile ''Heraldo de Aragón'' was first published on 20 September 1895. The owner is Heraldo de Aragó ...

, 10 July 2022 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin Gonzalez, Angel 1964 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players CA Osasuna players Rayo Vallecano players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers CA Osasuna non-playing staff Real Oviedo non-playing staff Getafe CF non-playing staff