Sergio Álvarez Conde (born 3 August 1986), known simply as Sergio, 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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He spent his entire professional career with

Celta CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL and EFL). It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be ...

, making 197 competitive appearances.

Club career

Born in

Catoira Catoira is a municipality in Galicia, Spain, located in the province of Pontevedra. It's known for the ruins of the ''Torres do Oeste'' (Towers of the West), a fortification built in the Early Middle Ages as a defense against Viking attacks. D ...

Province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain, located in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, the country of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. There is a public insti ...

, Sergio began his career with local

Arosa SC Arosa Sociedad Cultural is a Spanish football team based in Vilagarcía de Arousa, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio A Lomba'', with a capacity of 5,000 seats. Season to sea ...

, joining Galician neighbours

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

in 1999 at the age of 13. He made his senior debut with their reserves in

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 ...

, playing four full seasons in that tier and spending 2008–09 on loan to another club in that league and region,

Racing de Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol, commonly known as Racing de Ferrol, is a Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in , holding home games at '' E ...

. Sergio made his debut for Celta's first team on 4 June 2011, in a 3–0

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 ...

home win against

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at '' Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 sp ...

, the last matchday of the campaign. Shortly after, following the starter

Ismael Falcón Ismael Gómez Falcón (born 24 April 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He appeared in 232 Segunda División games over ten seasons, with Hércules (two spells), Celta, Alcorcón, Córdoba and Tene ...

's departure to

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

, he was definitely promoted to the main squad, being awarded the #1 jersey. Sergio played his first match 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 ...

on 5 October 2012, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in the 2–0 home victory over

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

. He would spend the season as a backup to

Javi Varas Javier 'Javi' Varas Herrera (born 10 September 1982) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 151 La Liga matches over eight seasons, in representation of Sevilla, Celta and Las Palmas. He added 117 appearances in th ...

, however. Varas subsequently returned to Sevilla from his loan but Sergio remained as understudy, behind fellow youth graduate Yoel. After the latter's departure to

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 ...

, he renewed his link until 2016 and was finally chosen as first choice. On 1 November 2014, Sergio made a string of superb saves to deny

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

in a 1–0 win at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

. He was also an important unit of the ''Célticos'' in a 2–0 home defeat of

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 ...

on 15 February of the following year, finishing the season between the posts. In 2016–17, Sergio took part in his first European campaign, playing ten

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

matches as Celta reached the semi-finals and lost 2–1 on aggregate to eventual champions

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. The following campaign, under new manager

Juan Carlos Unzué Juan Carlos Unzué Labiano (born 22 April 1967) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. As a player, he represented mostly Sevilla, for which he appeared in nearly 300 official games. He also spent two years ...

, he battled for the starting position against youngster

Rubén Blanco Rubén Blanco Veiga (born 25 July 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Marseille. He made his professional debut for Celta in La Liga at the age of 17, and went on to play 142 games for the club. ...

. Having made only two league appearances, Sergio suffered a

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

injury to his right knee in May 2020; Celta used the emergency transfer allocation to sign attacker

Nolito Manuel Agudo Durán (; born 15 October 1986), known as Nolito (), is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a winger or a forward. Having begun his career at lower league clubs he signed for Barcelona in 2008, playing predomin ...

rather than another goalkeeper. On 20 May 2021, aged 34, he announced his retirement from professional football.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Sergio 1986 births Living people People from Caldas (comarca) Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Pontevedra Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players RC Celta Fortuna players RC Celta de Vigo players Racing de Ferrol footballers 21st-century Spanish sportsmen