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Eduard 'Edu' Albácar Gallego (born 16 November 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eduard Albácar Gallego | ||
| Date of birth | 16 November 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Tortosa, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–1996 | Sant Jaume d'Enveja | ||
| 1996–1997 | Dertusa | ||
| 1997–1998 | Gimnàstic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2000 | La Sénia | ||
| 2000–2001 | Tortosa | 31 | (0) |
| 2001–2003 | Espanyol B | 29 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Novelda | 32 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | Alicante | 64 | (6) |
| 2006–2008 | Hércules | 52 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Alavés | 28 | (3) |
| 2009–2010 | Rayo Vallecano | 30 | (2) |
| 2010–2015 | Elche | 141 | (24) |
| 2016–2018 | Elche | 37 | (1) |
| Total | 444 | (36) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Born in Tortosa, Tarragona, Catalonia, Albácar only played for Segunda División B and Tercera División teams until well into his 20s. In July 2006 he signed with Hércules CF in the Segunda División, and appeared in his first game as a professional on 27 August when he started in a 0–1 home loss against Málaga CF.[1]
In June 2008, Albácar moved to Deportivo Alavés also in the second division.[2] One year later, he signed with fellow second-tier club Rayo Vallecano.[3]
On 22 July 2010, Albácar joined Elche CF.[4] In his third year, he scored a career-best eight goals – mainly through free kicks and penalties[5][6][7][8]– and also helped the Valencian side to return to La Liga after 24 years of absence.[9]
On 24 August 2013, aged almost 34, Albácar made his debut in the top flight, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Real Sociedad.[10] He scored his first goal in the competition six days later, in a 2–2 draw at UD Almería.[11]
Albácar announced his retirement on 13 August 2015, being immediately included in Rubén Baraja's staff.[12] Roughly a year later, he stepped down from retirement, returning to his last club Elche at the age of 36.[13]
On 2 May 2018, Albácar announced that he would retire at the end of the season,[14] which ended in promotion to the second division.[15]
Elche
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