Francisco Javier Sánchez Broto (born 25 August 1971) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After eight years in his country where he appeared almost exclusively as a backup, playing for four clubs, he headed to Scotland, where he represented

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

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and

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Club career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Sánchez Broto joined the Real Zaragoza academy at 14, where his failure to make an impression as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

led to his being used as a goalkeeper. In the 1992–93 edition of La Liga, he appeared in four games for the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

ese's first team, and subsequently moved to the second division, playing for Villarreal CF and

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

and winning a championship medal with the latter (he only played four league matches over two seasons, however). In 2000, Sánchez Broto moved to

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

club Airdrie on a Bosman transfer. During his first year, his team

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the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in the shootout against

. When they ran into financial problems he joined Livingston in March 2001, being an important member of the Scottish First Division-winning side in

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, while earning himself the SPFA Player of the Season Award. He was cup-tied for Livi's appearance in the semi-finals of the 2000-01 Scottish Cup. In January 2003, Sánchez Broto joined

, who required a goalkeeper following injuries to

Rab Douglas Robert James Douglas (born 24 April 1972) is a Scottish former professional footballer and current coach for Arbroath who played as a goalkeeper. He played for several clubs, including Livingston, Dundee, Celtic, Leicester City and Forfar At ...

and Magnus Hedman. Broto was cup-tied for Celtic's run to the

2003 UEFA Cup Final The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and Porto of Portugal. Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei. This was also the first game to use the silver goal rule, although it did no ...

. He left the club at the end of the campaign, citing a desire to return home, and signed with Real Murcia in the top division for the following season, appearing rarely in an eventual relegation. Sánchez Broto signed with newly promoted Getafe – the club's first ever appearance in the top flight – in 2004–05. Not an undisputed starter for the Madrid side, he did appear in 20 league matches out of 38, his performances resulting in ''

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'' rating him the third-best goalkeeper in Spain for that season; during his tenure, after losing a bet, he donated a pair of

goalkeeper gloves In association football, kit (also referred to as a strip or uniform) is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sport's rules specify the minimum kit which a player must use, and also prohibit the use of anything that is dangero ...

to every goalkeeper in Spain's lower divisions. After one sole season, 34-year-old Sánchez Broto signed with Hércules in the second level, but retired from professional football shortly after due to injuries. He expressed regret at having to retire so young, and despite his popularity throughout his career, remained self-effacing when looking back. In a 2006 interview given to ''Diario Equipo'', he remarked that he had "enjoyed soccer as a little person of the game and would like to thank everyone who has made it all possible".

Honours

Málaga *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

: 1998–99 Airdrie *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Scottish First Division: 2000–01

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez Broto, Javier 1971 births Living people Footballers from Barcelona Spanish footballers Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Zaragoza B players Real Zaragoza players Villarreal CF players CD Castellón footballers Málaga CF players Real Murcia players Getafe CF footballers Hércules CF players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Livingston F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland