Full name Joan Golobart Serra 1979–1980 AE Sarria Years Team Height 1.84 m | 1978–1979 AE Sarria Role Footballer Place of birth Barcelona, Spain Name Joan Golobart Children Roman Golobart | |
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Date of birth (1961-01-12) 12 January 1961 (age 54) | ||
Joan Golobart Serra (born 12 January 1961) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder.
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Football career
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Golobart did not start playing organized football until he was 17, making his senior debut for local CE L'Hospitalet in the fourth division. In 1985, after two seasons with neighbours CE Sabadell FC – helping to promotion to the second level in his first year and scoring five goals in 30 games in his second – he signed for another club in the region, RCD Español, who he supported as a child.
During his five-season spell, Golobart was successfully reconverted from central defender into defensive midfielder, but only had one solid campaign, in 1986–87 – 35 matches and four goals – as the Pericos finished third in La Liga and qualified for the UEFA Cup, reaching and losing the subsequent final to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Golobart scored a rare goal in the 1988–89 promotion/relegation playoffs against RCD Mallorca, but Español went down (1–2 on aggregate). After helping the team gain promotion back immediately (although he only appeared in eight matches), he did not have his contract renewed and chose to retire rather than represent another club than Español; he was only 29.
Post-retirement
After retiring, Golobart worked in dentistry. Additionally, he became a respected sports analyst, writing newspaper columns for La Vanguardia. He also unsuccessfully ran for Espanyol's presidency.
Personal life
Golobart's son, Román, is also a footballer. He spent most of his career with Wigan Athletic, having been brought up at Espanyol.