Óscar Alexander Whalley Guardado (born 29 March 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga MX club Guadalajara.

Óscar Whalley
Whalley with Sporting Gijón in 2017
Personal information
Full name Óscar Alexander Whalley Guardado[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-29) 29 March 1994 (age 30)[1]
Place of birth Zaragoza, Spain
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Guadalajara
Number 30
Youth career
Amistad
2006–2013 Zaragoza
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Zaragoza B 26 (0)
2014–2016 Zaragoza 22 (0)
2015–2016Huesca (loan) 15 (0)
2016–2018 Sporting Gijón 1 (0)
2018–2019 AGF 12 (0)
2019–2020 OFI 10 (0)
2020–2021 Castellón 24 (0)
2021–2023 Lugo 68 (0)
2023– Guadalajara 0 (0)
International career
2014 Spain U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 May 2023

Club career

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Born in Zaragoza, Aragon, to an English father and a Spanish Mexican mother,[2] Whalley spent his first season as a senior with Real Zaragoza's reserves in the Tercera División. On 31 May 2014, as first choice Leo Franco declared his desire to leave the country and understudy Pablo Alcolea was injured, he played his first match as a professional, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Sporting de Gijón in the Segunda División.[3]

The following campaign, Whalley appeared in 19 games as Zaragoza came sixth,[4] and a further one on 11 June 2015 as they lost their play-off semi-final first leg 3–0 at home to Girona.[5] He was subsequently dropped for Bono for the rest of the tournament, as the team won the tie on away goals and lost the final by the same rule to Las Palmas.[6][4]

On 10 July 2015, Whalley was loaned to neighbouring Huesca also in the second tier.[7] On 8 August of the following year he signed with La Liga club Sporting Gijón, as third choice behind Iván Cuéllar and Diego Mariño.[8]

Whalley moved abroad for the first time in his career on 12 June 2018, joining Danish Superliga side Aarhus Gymnastikforening.[9] In August 2019, he left for OFI Crete of the Super League Greece.[10]

Whalley returned to Spain and its second division on 3 September 2020, after agreeing to a two-year contract with newly-promoted club Castellón.[11] On 25 July 2021, after suffering relegation, he joined Lugo in the same league.[12]

On 12 June 2023, Whalley signed for Guadalajara of the Mexican Liga MX.[13]

International career

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Whalley won his only cap for Spain at under-21 level on 12 November 2014, playing the second half of the 4–1 friendly loss to Belgium in Ferrol.[14] He stated he would willingly accept a call up to the England national team if asked, as he was eligible through his father, and previously mentioned he preferred to represent them internationally;[15][16] he was likewise eligible for Mexico through his mother.[17]

Career statistics

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As of match played 7 July 2023[18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Zaragoza 2013–14 Segunda División 2 0 0 0 2 0
2014–15 20 0 0 0 20 0
Total 22 0 0 0 22 0
Huesca (loan) 2015–16 Segunda División 15 0 2 0 17 0
Sporting Gijón 2017–18 Segunda División 1 0 1 0 2 0
AGF 2018–19 Danish Superliga 10 0 1 0 11 0
2019–20 2 0 0 0 2 0
Total 12 0 1 0 13 0
OFI 2019–20 Super League Greece 10 0 4 0 14 0
Castellón 2020–21 Segunda División 24 0 2 0 26 0
Lugo 2021–22 Segunda División 30 0 1 0 31 0
2022–23 38 0 0 0 38 0
Total 68 0 1 0 69 0
Guadalajara 2023–24 Liga MX 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 152 0 11 0 163 0

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Whalley". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  2. ^ "El portero Óscar Whalley se asoma a la titularidad del Real Zaragoza" [Goalkeeper Óscar Whalley eyes Zaragoza's starting spot]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 30 May 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Los de Abelardo salvan un punto pero no aseguran los 'playoffs'" [Abelardo's men rescue a point but can not ensure the playoffs]. Marca (in Spanish). 31 May 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  4. ^ a b "El 'Brexit' posiciona a Whalley en Inglaterra" ['Brexit' puts Whalley in England] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  5. ^ Ferrer, Pedro Luis (11 June 2015). "El Girona sentencia en la noche negra de Óscar Whalley" [Girona sentence in Óscar Whalley's black night]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Yassine Bounou Bono: "Me he sentido como un zaragocista más y me encantaría volver a jugar allí"" [Yassine Bounou Bono: "I felt like another zaragocista and I would love to play there again"]. El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 27 June 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Acuerdo entre Real Zaragoza y S.D. Huesca para la cesión de Óscar Whalley" [Agreement between Real Zaragoza and S.D. Huesca for the loan of Óscar Whalley] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  8. ^ Rivera, Víctor (8 August 2016). "El Sporting cierra la portería con la llegada de Whalley" [Sporting complete their goal with the arrival of Whalley]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  9. ^ "AGF henter målmand i Spanien" [AGF sign goalkeeper in Spain] (in Danish). Aarhus Gymnastikforening. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Bekræftet: AGF sender keeper til Kreta" [Confirmed: AGF send goalkeeper to Crete] (in Danish). Bold. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  11. ^ "FICHAJE: Óscar Whalley, nuevo jugador del CD Castellón" [SIGNING: Óscar Whalley, new player of CD Castellón] (in Spanish). CD Castellón. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Óscar Whalley, nuevo jugador del CD Lugo" [Óscar Whalley, new player of CD Lugo] (in Spanish). CD Lugo. 25 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Óscar Whalley es nuevo arquero del Guadalajara" [Óscar Whalley is a new goalkeeper of Guadalajara] (in Spanish). C.D. Guadalajara. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  14. ^ Cudeiro, Juan Luis (12 November 2014). "Tsunami belga a la nueva ola española" [Belgian tsunami to the new Spanish wave]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  15. ^ "Spain call-up young English goalkeeper Whalley". ITV. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  16. ^ Murray, Andrew (5 May 2016). "Meet Oscar Whalley: the England-eligible Spanish keeper who's keen on the Championship". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  17. ^ Terrazas, Adriana; Esquivel, David (7 November 2014). "Oscar Whalley, otro mexicano que no opta por la selección mexicana" [Oscar Whalley, another Mexican who opts against Mexican national team] (in Spanish). ESPN. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  18. ^ Óscar Whalley at Soccerway
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