Raimon "Rai" Marchán Vidal (born 11 August 1993) is a Spanish professional

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 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 spent most of his career in the

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 ...

, totalling 194 games with six clubs. In 2021, he signed for

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

in the

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

Football career

Spain

Born in

Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca, is the capital of Alt Penedès county in Penedès, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the Penedès Depression on the left bank of the Foix River, and on the main axis of communication from Barcel ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

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 ...

, Marchán was a

Real Madrid CF 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 product and made his senior debut on loan to

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

in the

in 2012. He played the following season with the capital club's C-team in the same division, ending in administrative relegation, and in 2015 he signed for another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

Valencia CF Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in , holding home games at '' Ciud ...

. After a year at

Real Valladolid Promesas Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol Promesas is the reserve team of Real Valladolid, a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1942, currently plays in , ...

, Marchán joined yet another third-tier second team in July 2017, signing for two years at

Celta de Vigo B Real Club Celta de Vigo Fortuna or simply Celta Fortuna is a Spanish football team based in Vigo, Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1927, it is the reserve team of Celta Vigo and competes in the . They play their ho ...

with the option of two more. On 28 August 2019, he signed for

FC Andorra Futbol Club Andorra is a professional football club based in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, that currently competes in , in the Spanish league system. The club was founded in 1942 and currently plays its home fixtures at Estadi Nacional. In spite ...

, again in the same division.

Melbourne Victory

On 27 July 2021, Marchán signed for

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 ...

in the Australian

. He was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

on 5 December in a 3–0 home loss to

Perth Glory FC Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

, for a high challenge on

Jonathan Aspropotamitis Jonathan Aspropotamitis (born 7 June 1996) is an Australian professional footballer who plays for the Pohang Steelers. Career Western Sydney Wanderers Aspropotamitis made his professional debut on 11 March 2015 vs Melbourne City FC in a 3–2 vi ...

in first-half added time. On 25 January 2022, in a game against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

at the

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...

, Marchán clashed heads with teammate Jason Geria and was taken off in a stretcher. His facial fractures caused him to eat less and drop five kilograms in weight from what he already described as a slender frame, requiring him to bulk up in order to be recalled by manager

Tony Popovic Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is currently head coach of the Australia men's national soccer team, Australia national football team. He guided the team to qualify for the 202 ...

. He made his comeback in his continental debut on 15 March, an

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

lost 4–3 away to Japanese club

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently the J1 League champions. The club's home stadium is Noevir Stad ...

. Having made 21 league appearances, Marchán was given a two-year contract extension in June 2022. He earned an interesting statistical oddity as a result of the postponement of a Melbourne Derby game due to a pitch invasion. He had originally started the match before it stopped in the 21st minute, and when it resumed 4 months later both teams were allowed to remake their squads. Marchán was on the bench this time, and as a result he came on as a substitute in the 67th minute of a game he had started & played the first 21 minutes in.

Albacete

After leaving Melbourne, Marchán signed a short-term deal with

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 ...

back in his country's

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 ...

on 1 February 2024.

Personal life

Marchán graduated from

Universidad Camilo José Cela The University Camilo José Cela (UCJC) is a private university established in 2000 and based in Madrid, Spain. Its main campus, located in Madrid-Villafranca, includes undergraduate studies (bachelor's degrees) in five integrated faculties (Com ...

with a degree in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marchan, Rai Living people 1993 births People from Vilafranca del Penedès Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Barcelona Men's association football defenders Segunda División B players A-League Men players CD Leganés players Real Valladolid Promesas players RC Celta Fortuna players FC Andorra players Albacete Balompié players Melbourne Victory FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Andorra Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in Andorra Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia 21st-century Spanish sportsmen