Pablo José Gallardo Zurera (; born 19 February 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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Club career

Born in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Gallardo joined

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 ...

's youth system at the age of 12. He made his senior debut with their reserves, but totalled only 28

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 ...

games in his first three seasons, achieving promotion in 2007. Gallardo first appeared 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 ...

on 30 September 2007, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win against

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 ...

. He was first choice in

that ''That'' is an English language word used for several grammar, grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction (grammar), conjunction, pronoun, adverb and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words li ...

and the following seasons, with the team being relegated in the latter. On 6 July 2009,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Gallardo signed a two-year contract with neighbouring

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 ...

also in the second tier. He played just 11 competitive matches during his stint. Subsequently, Gallardo plied his trade in division three, with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

(where he suffered a serious

hip In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...

injury),

CF Badalona Club de Fútbol Badalona () is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903 it plays in , temporarily holding home games at Estadi Municipal de Badalona, with a capacity of 4,170 seats. Ba ...

and

Burgos CF Burgos Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The original Burgos CF (1936), Burgos CF was dissolved in 1983 after becoming Insolven ...

. On 30 January 2015, after an unassuming spell in the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

with

Sporting Clube de Goa Sporting Clube de Goa (simply known as Sporting Goa and abbreviated as SCG) is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Panaji, Goa. The club competes in the I-League 2, the third tier of the Indian football league s ...

, he returned to his country and its third division, with

Arroyo CP Arroyo Club Polideportivo is a Spanish football club based in Arroyo de la Luz, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1968 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio Municipal'', with a 3,000-seat capacity. History In the ...

. Gallardo spent the 2015–16 campaign in the

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

, with

Metro Gallery FC Metro Gallery Football Club () is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Second Division. History The team began as Fourway Athletics (), it joined Hong Kong First Division in 2008–09 season as a competition mem ...

. In summer 2016 he returned to the Indian top flight, joining three compatriots (including manager

José Francisco Molina José Francisco Molina Jiménez (born 8 August 1970) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan Super Giant. Eleven years of his extensive professional care ...

) at

Atlético de Kolkata ATK Football Club (also known as Atlético de Kolkata in association with Atlético Madrid) was an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competed in the ISL, the top flight of Indian football. They were ...

. On 26 July 2017,

Dreams Sports Club Hong Kong Sapling Football Club () was a Hong Kong football club, which since 2020 does not compete in the Hong Kong football league system. History On 11 August 2011, Mutual withdrew from the Hong Kong First Division League due to financial pr ...

confirmed that they had signed Gallardo. In May 2019, he left the club.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallardo, Pablo 1986 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Seville Men's association football central defenders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players Sevilla Atlético players Recreativo de Huelva players Deportivo Alavés players CF Badalona players Burgos CF footballers Sporting CG players ATK (football club) players Hong Kong Premier League players Hong Kong Sapling players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in India Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong 21st-century Spanish sportsmen