Ángel Brau

Brau was born in Cartagena in the Region of Murcia,[1] and began his career with the youth wing of local side Cartagena FC, before jumping ship to La Liga outfit Albacete Balompié in 1992. In 1993, he was sent to Albacete's farm team, Hellín Deportivo, and helped them earn promotion to the Tercera División in his first season. He remained at Hellín in 1994–95, and they had another successful season, winning their group and qualifying for the promotion play-off.[2] They finished second in their play-off group, losing to San Pedro.[3]

He was recalled to Albacete for the 1995–96 La Liga campaign, and made his debut in the opening match of the season, a 3–0 away loss to Sporting de Gijón at El Molinón on 2nd September. This was a false dawn, however, and Brau was used sparingly, having to wait until 27th March for his next appearance, in a 3–2 away win over Real Betis at Estadio Benito Villamarín. This marked the start of a short run in the team, and he made his home debut three days later in a 1–0 defeat by Barcelona at Estadio Carlos Belmonte. He finished the season with four appearances, also playing in another 1–0 loss to Valencia at Mestalla Stadium on 7th April.[4] Albacete were relegated at the end of the season, via a play-off with Extremadura.[5]

He played just once in the second tier the following season,[6] being withdrawn after less than half an hour of a 2–2 home draw with Real Madrid B in favour of Manolo Salvador.[7] He was sent back to Hellín in the second half of the season, before leaving the club completely in the summer.[1]

He joined Atlético Madrid in the summer of 1997, playing exclusively with their B team, who were rivals of Albacete in the Segunda División.[1] He made his debut on the first day of the season, in a 1–1 home draw with Las Palmas at Estadio Cerro del Espino on 31st August,[8] coming off the bench in place of Quinton Fortune with 25 minutes to play.[9] He was used primarily as a substitute, and had to wait until 6th December for his first start, which came in a 1–0 defeat at the hands of Rayo Vallecano at Estadio Teresa Rivero.[8]

His solitary home start came against his former employers, Albacete, on 21st December, a match which the hosts won 2–0. He then didn't play again until the final two matches of the season, the first of which was the return fixture against Albacete on 10th May, which ended 1–1. In the final match, at home to Eibar six days later, he played the last 25 minutes of a 2–0 victory.[8] With no realistic prospect of ever being promoted to Atlético's first team, he left the club at the end of the season.[1]

He joined Horadada in the Tercera División at the start of the 1998–99 season, but lasted only half a year before returning to his roots in Cartagena. Cartagena FC, the club he had played with as a youngster, had ceased playing in 1997, and the city's leading club was now Cartagonova FC, which had been founded in 1995, who were playing in Segunda División B. In his first full season with the club, he played 23 matches, and even scored a rare goal. This came in a 3–3 away draw with Gramenet on 4th January.[10] 2000–01 saw only 21 appearances, but the following season was undoubtedly his best with the club.[1]

Brau played 34 times that year, scoring three times. However, he left the club at the end of the season,[1] with his final appearance coming in a 1–0 loss to Mallorca B at Estadio Cartagonova on 10th May.[11]

For 2002–03, Brau joined another Segunda División B side, Figueres.[1] He made his debut in a 1–1 away draw with Castellón at Nou Estadi Castàlia on 29th September, and kept his place for the 3–1 home win over Orihuela five days later. He played 16 times in the league that year, scoring a single goal, which came in a 2–1 home win over Espanyol B on 11th May.[12] Figueres finished the season in 16th place, meaning they would have to play a relegation playoff.[13]

Brau played in both legs against Calahorra as Figueres won 3–0 on aggregate to retain their place in the third tier.[12] The following season, which would be his last for the club, Brau made 15 appearances.[1] Fittingly, his last match for the club, on 16th May, came at the same venue against the same club as his first: away to Castellón.[14] He came on for Miguel Salas with 25 minutes to play in the 2–0 loss.[15] He then rejoined Horadada, with whom he completed two further Tercera División campaigns before retiring in 2006.