Ángel Pedraza

Born in La Rinconada, Andalusia, Pedraza finished his development at FC Barcelona, and spent two seasons with the reserves in the Segunda División. On 16 September 1980, László Kubala granted him the opportunity to play one UEFA Cup match against Sliema Wanderers F.C. in Malta, and he became the first La Masia youth graduate ever to appear for the main squad. In January 1986, with Terry Venables as a coach, Pedraza made his La Liga debut with the first team, where he remained a further three years, being mostly used as a backup. In the 1986 European Cup final, he was one of four Barça players – the others were José Ramón Alexanko, Pichi Alonso and Marcos – to have their penalty shootout attempts saved by FC Steaua București goalkeeper Helmut Duckadam, as the Catalans lost the decisive match in Seville (0–0 after 120 minutes). Pedraza signed for RCD Mallorca in the 1988 off-season, with the Balearic Islands club being coached by a young Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, who relocated the player from central midfielder to full-back. In his first season, he was an essential defensive player (3,241 minutes, one goal) as they returned to La Liga, and also reached the Copa del Rey final in 1991; in six of his seven years with the team, he did not appear in less than 30 league games, and retired from football in 1997 at the age of 35 following a two-year stint with amateurs CF Sóller, also in Mallorca.

Immediately after retiring, Pedraza started managing, spending five years with several youth sides at former club Barcelona. In 2002, he moved across the city and coached RCD Espanyol's juniors, joining the B team afterwards. Pedraza then spent three seasons in the Segunda División B, first with Benidorm CF then Villarreal CF B. After one year in Greece, split between two teams, he returned to his country and took charge of amateurs CD Atlético Baleares, helping them to promote from Tercera División as champions. In July 2010, despite being already suffering from cancer, Pedraza agreed to take over at CE L'Hospitalet in the third tier. He was however relieved of his duties after only three months. On 8 January 2011, aged only 48, he died from the illness in Barcelona.

Pedraza's son, Marc, was also a professional footballer. A midfielder, he was brought up in Espanyol's youth system, being coached by his father at Hospitalet, with the manager being dismissed precisely after the player's debut.

Player

Barcelona

Copa del Rey: 1987–88 Copa de la Liga: 1986 European Cup runner-up: 1985–86 Mallorca

Copa del Rey runner-up: 1990–91

Manager

Atlético Baleares

Tercera División: 2009–10