Isidro Díaz Bernabé (born 15 May 1972) is a Spanish retired

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

right 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. ...

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, Díaz spent his first years as a senior in 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 ...

, with the exception of the 1992–93 season, which ended in 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

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 ...

's reserves. In the summer of 1995, he was part of a group of players dubbed "The Three Amigos" – which also included his compatriots

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...

and

Jesús Seba Jesús Seba Hernández (born 11 April 1974) is a Spanish former football player who played mostly as a forward. Mostly associated to Real Zaragoza, he was also known as one of the ''Three Amigos'', the collective name given to the first three S ...

– who were brought to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

by club chairman

Dave Whelan David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former Association football, footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra F.C., Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is ...

; he helped the team

win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

the Third Division title two years later, with the player contributing six goals in 35 matches. Unable to agree a new deal, Díaz left the club by mutual consent in July 1997 and signed for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. He played one game for the latter, a 3–0 away defeat against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

, before returning to Springfield Park later that year; his second spell with Wigan was not as successful, appearing just three times in the league before moving to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

at the end of the season. Midway through 1998–99, he returned to his home country and joined Cartagonova. Díaz spent the following seven years in Portugal and its Segunda Liga, appearing and scoring regularly for both Leça (one season) and Chaves (six, where former Zaragoza and Wigan teammate Seba had already played). Aged 34, he returned to Spain and spent two years with

Barakaldo Barakaldo (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is pa ...

in the third tier, after which he joined their coaching staff only to return to active shortly after for a brief spell with the reserve side. Díaz retired from football at the age of 40, after playing one and a half seasons with Laredo in division four and one with Castro in the same league.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Isidro 1972 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Valencia Men's association football midfielders Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CD Teruel footballers Deportivo Aragón players CF Balaguer footballers FC Cartagena footballers Barakaldo CF footballers English Football League players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Liga Portugal 2 players Leça F.C. players G.D. Chaves players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal