Alberto Bernardo Murcia (born 14 September 1960) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He played 42 games 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 ...

for

Real Madrid 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 ...

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *BFA Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Real Sporti ...

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

and

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

, scoring once. In the

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 ...

, he recorded 61 games and 6 goals for

Castilla Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain *Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha *Kingdom of ...

and

Recreativo Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home games at ''Estadio Nuevo Colombi ...

. His career was affected by several long-term injuries.

Early life

Bernardo was born in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

in Belgium, to parents from the Spanish region of

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

. His father was a miner and tailor. His father was born in

Sotrondio Sotrondio is a town in San Martín del Rey Aurelio, Asturias, Spain. In September 2007, by a decree of the Principality of Asturias, it joined the adjacent El Entrego and Blimea to form a single population center, San Martin del Rey, as a homony ...

and his mother in

Laviana Laviana ( Asturian: ''Llaviana'') is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, located in Spain. It is bordered on the north by Bimenes and Nava, on the south by Aller, on the east by Piloña and Sobrescobi ...

, both in the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

'' of Nalón. While Bernardo was a youth player for and

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

, the

Royal Belgian Football Association The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, th ...

sought to naturalise him as a citizen of the country so he could play for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. He did not pursue this, due to his aim of playing for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Having been raised in

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, Bernardo learned French to a native level. He also learned English, Dutch and German in his childhood.

Career

When Bernardo was about to sign for

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

of Scotland,

completed a deal for the 16-year-old. He was loaned to

CD San Fernando de Henares Club Deportivo San Fernando is a Spanish football club based in San Fernando de Henares, in the Community of Madrid. Founded in 1929 it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Santiago del Pino''. History San Fernando de Henares wa ...

in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

and

RSD Alcalá Real Sociedad Deportiva Alcalá is a Spanish football team based in Alcalá de Henares in the Community of Madrid. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 7, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal del Val'', with a capac ...

of 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 ...

, before playing for the

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 ...

in the

. Bernardo made his first-team and

debut on 11 April 1982, under manager

Luis Molowny Luis Molowny Arbelo (12 May 1925 – 12 February 2010) was a Spanish football player and coach. A midfielder, he amassed La Liga totals of 175 matches and 90 goals during 12 seasons, with Real Madrid and Las Palmas. He went on to work as a man ...

. Away to

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Nou E ...

, he came on as a 60th-minute substitute for fellow debutant in a 2–1 win; due to a professionals' strike, Castilla were playing for Real Madrid and the opponents were represented by their youth team. On 14 September 1983, Bernardo made the only European appearance of his career, a 3–2 loss away to

AC Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional association football, football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in cen ...

in the first round of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. His only top-flight goal came on 2 October as a late substitute, concluding a 6–2 home win over

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

for

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond A ...

's team; ten days later he took under two minutes to score in a 2–1 win away to

CD Badajoz Club Deportivo Badajoz is a Spanish football team based in Badajoz, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1905, it currently plays in , and holds home games at '' Estadio Nuevo Vivero'', with a 15,198-seat capacity. History Fo ...

in the second round of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. Bernardo struggled with injuries throughout his career, missing out on an under-21 international game against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and was monitored for a call-up for the senior team at

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

before another setback. He moved to

of his parents' native region, where he was sidelined twice for four months each before being dropped by manager Novoa. Bernardo remained in La Liga with

and

. He then dropped down the divisions to play for

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

UD Melilla Unión Deportiva Melilla is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1976, it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro'', with an 8,000 capac ...

and

CD Mosconia Club Deportivo Mosconia is a football team based in Grado in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1961, it plays in the . Its stadium is '' Marqués de La Vega de Anzo'' with a capacity of 4,100 seats. History The first ''CD Mosconia ...

Personal life

As of 2011, Bernardo was working in packing and delivery for food production company Agromar in

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernardo, Alberto 1960 births Living people Footballers from Liège Footballers from Asturias Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Standard Liège players Real Madrid CF players CD San Fernando de Henares players RSD Alcalá players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Sporting de Gijón players CA Osasuna players Real Valladolid players Recreativo de Huelva players UD Melilla footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen