Markel Bergara Larrañaga (born 5 May 1986) is a Spanish former 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 played 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 the better part of his career with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, appearing in 212 competitive matches and scoring four goals. 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 ...

, he also represented

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

Club career

Real Sociedad

Bergara was born in Elgoibar,

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

. A

youth graduate, he started his professional career on loan, having season-long spells 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 ...

with

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

and

UD Vecindario Unión Deportiva Vecindario is a Spanish football team based in Vecindario, Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1962 and refounded in 2021, they play in , holding home games at '' Esta ...

, both ended in relegation. On 4 September 2007, Bergara made his first-team debut, appearing in a 1–0 away defeat against

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

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 ...

. He only played four times in the league in his first year, also in the second tier. Bergara appeared in 19 games in 2009–10 as the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

returned to

after a three-year absence, as champions. He made his debut in the competition on 13 September 2010, in a 2–2 away draw against

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

(three minutes played). He finished the campaign with exactly the same number of appearances as the club retained its league status, albeit in 491 more minutes of play. In 2012–13, Bergara contributed 28 matches as Real finished fourth and returned to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

after more than a decade. He scored his first goal as a professional on 24 March 2014, but in a 4–3 loss at Almería. Bergara missed the vast majority of the 2016–17 season, due to an ankle injury.

Getafe

On 18 July 2017, Bergara was loaned to fellow top-flight side

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

for one year. He managed to score four times in his first 14 appearances, but in December he suffered another serious physical ailment, this time in the knee. Bergara signed a permanent contract on 27 June 2018. In January 2020, not being able to overcome his injury problems, he announced his retirement at the age of 33.

Honours

Real Sociedad *

: 2009–10 Spain U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

FOTOS CON HISTORIA: 2004, cuando la Sub-19 abrió el camino a la Absoluta (HISTORIC PHOTOS: 2004, when the Under-19s paved the way for the A-team)

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the natio ...

, 25 November 2014 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergara, Markel 1986 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Elgoibar Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Sociedad B footballers Real Sociedad footballers SD Eibar footballers UD Vecindario players Getafe CF footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers