Alan Baró Calabuig (; born 22 June 1985) is 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 plays for CF Peralada mainly 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 ...

but also 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. ...

. He amassed

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 ...

totals of 177 matches and two goals over six seasons, mainly at the service of Ponferradina (four years). He appeared once in

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 ...

with

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

, and also competed professionally in Australia.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Darnius Darnius () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Alt Empordà in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The first document where is related Darnius was dated in 983, and the written name was ''Darnicibus''. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the m ...

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

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 ...

, Baró began his career with local clubs CF Peralada and UE Figueres, suffering relegation from

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 the latter at the end of 2006–07. On 6 July 2007, he signed for

Alicante CF Alicante Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1918, it played its home matches at ''Estadio Alicante CF'', with a 4,000-seat capacity. History ''Alicante Club de Fútbol'', under t ...

in the same league, playing 39 official games in his first season as the

Valencians Valencians ( ; ) are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Autonomy as a ''nationality'' "within the unity of the Spanish nation". ...

earned promotion and a further 26 in the second as they were relegated.

Osasuna

In summer 2009, Baró moved to

with

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 ...

, initially being registered to their reserves in the third division. On 26 October, he was called up by manager

José Antonio Camacho José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (; born 8 June 1955) is a Spanish former football left-back and a former manager. He spent 15 professional years at Real Madrid, appearing in more than 500 official matches with the team and helping win 19 major ti ...

for a

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 ...

match against

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo S. A. D. is a Spanish association football, football club based in the city of Jerez de la Frontera. It was founded in 1947 and plays in . History Due to the link between Jerez de la Frontera and the United Kingdom created b ...

, but eventually did not feature in the 2–1 away win. The following 24 January, away to the same opponents (same venue and score), he played the final minute in place of Javier Camuñas without touching the ball, handing him the record of the shortest career for the

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. ...

se club.

Albacete

On 8 July 2010, Baró returned to

, signing a two-year deal at

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

. He stayed for only one season at the

Estadio Carlos Belmonte Estadio Carlos Belmonte is a multi-purpose stadium in Albacete, Spain. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Albacete Balompié. History The stadium holds 17,524 and was built in 1960. It replaced the ageing Campo de ...

– ending in relegation – being sent off in the 26th minute of a 4–2 loss at Xerez on 23 April 2011.

Ponferradina

Subsequently, Baró joined another team in the third tier,

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

, totalling 44 appearances in his debut campaign as they won promotion via the play-offs. He was always first choice during his spell at the

Estadio El Toralín Estadio Municipal de Fútbol El Toralín is a football stadium in Ponferrada, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of SD Ponferradina. The stadium holds 8,400 and was built in 2000. History The stad ...

, mainly as a

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 ...

, scoring his first goal on 9 December 2012 in a 3–1 home victory over

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División ...

. Baró started in 34 of his 35 appearances in 2015–16, but the club was relegated from the second division after a four-year stay.

Australia

On 7 July 2016, Baró signed with

Melbourne Victory FC Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under North American professional sports leag ...

as a replacement for the retired Matthieu Delpierre. He was released on 12 May 2017, moving to fellow

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

side

Central Coast Mariners FC Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under Professional sports lea ...

late in that month. On 23 September 2017, Baró was announced as the latter's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. In June of the following year, the 33-year-old mutually terminated his contract despite having a year left on it.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baro, Alan 1985 births Living people People from Alt Empordà Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Girona Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera Federación players CF Peralada players UE Figueres footballers Alicante CF footballers CA Osasuna B players CA Osasuna players Albacete Balompié players SD Ponferradina players UE Olot players A-League Men players Melbourne Victory FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia 21st-century Spanish sportsmen