Ion Vélez Martínez (born 17 February 1985) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a forward.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ion Vélez Martínez | ||
| Date of birth | 17 February 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Tafalla, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Peña Sport | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2004 | Peña Sport | 31 | (4) |
| 2004–2005 | Basconia | 26 | (7) |
| 2005–2007 | Bilbao Athletic | 20 | (4) |
| 2006–2007 | → Barakaldo (loan) | 32 | (12) |
| 2007–2011 | Athletic Bilbao | 44 | (3) |
| 2008 | → Hércules (loan) | 20 | (5) |
| 2011 | → Numancia (loan) | 18 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Girona | 27 | (2) |
| 2013–2015 | Alavés | 56 | (9) |
| 2015–2016 | Mirandés | 30 | (2) |
| 2016–2019 | Tudelano | 85 | (11) |
| 2019–2020 | Peña Sport | 16 | (2) |
| Total | 405 | (61) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editVélez was born in Tafalla, Navarre. Bought by Athletic Bilbao from lowly Peña Sport FC in 2003, he spent time with the club's B and farm teams, subsequently being loaned to neighbours Barakaldo CF in the Segunda División B.[1] He made his debut for the main squad of the latter on 26 August 2007, in the goalless La Liga home draw against CA Osasuna.[2]
After spending the second part of 2007–08 on loan to Segunda División's Hércules CF,[3] where he featured significantly – after his debut with the Alicante side, he managed to play, in the same season, in the three major levels of Spanish football[4]– Vélez was definitely promoted to Athletic's first team for 2008–09.[1] He was regularly used during the season (28 matches, although only four complete) and, on 9 May 2009, scored the game's only goal as the Basques defeated Real Betis at home.[5]
Vélez made only five official appearances for Athletic during the first part of the 2010–11 campaign, all as a second-half substitute.[6] On 19 January 2011 he moved to CD Numancia from division two on loan, reuniting with former Athletic teammate and namesake Iñigo Vélez.[7][8] In late July, after being deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Marcelo Bielsa, he terminated his contract at the San Mamés Stadium and signed for Girona FC of the same tier, with his former club having a rebuying option at the end of 2011–12.[9]
On 3 October 2011, during an away league fixture against Xerez CD, Velez collided with opponent goalkeeper Toni Doblas, suffering an extremely serious injury to his right knee that sidelined him for several months.[10][11] In July 2013 he signed with Deportivo Alavés, recently promoted to the second division.[12]
Vélez agreed to a one-year deal with fellow second-tier CD Mirandés on 13 July 2015.[13] He returned to the third prior to the start of the 2016–17 season, joining CD Tudelano.[14]
In November 2017, following a match against his former club Mirandés where he was sent off for kicking an opponent, Vélez was banned for four games. Upon appeal, it was later reduced to two.[15]
On 24 June 2019, the 34-year-old Vélez returned to Peña Sport.[16] At the end of the season, he retired.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b Ion Vélez: "Estar aquí es un sueño para mí" (Ion Vélez: "It's a dream for me to be here"); Diario de Navarra, 15 November 2008 (in Spanish)
- ^ Athletic Bilbao 0–0 Osasuna; ESPN Soccernet, 26 August 2007
- ^ Fútbol.– El Athletic Club cede a Ion Vélez al Hércules (Football.– Athletic Club loan Ion Vélez to Hércules); Europa Press, 3 January 2008 (in Spanish)
- ^ a b Ion vélez cuelga las botas (Ion vélez hangs up boots); Noticias de Navarra, 22 June 2020 (in Spanish)
- ^ Athletic Bilbao 1–0 Real Betis Archived 26 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN Soccernet, 9 May 2009
- ^ Ion Vélez ultima su cesión al Numancia (Ion Vélez completing his loan to Numancia); As, 19 January 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ El Numancia se refuerza con los cedidos Ion Vélez y Sunny (Numancia bolster with loaned Ion Vélez and Sunny); Marca, 19 January 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ Breve enciclopedia numantina (Brief numantina encyclopedia); Desde Soria, 29 May 2013 (in Spanish)
- ^ Ion Vélez ficha por el Girona (Ion Vélez signs for Girona) Archived 7 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine; Canal Athletic, 23 July 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ Grave lesión de Ion Velez (Serious injury for Ion Vélez); Marca, 3 October 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ Ion Vélez, seis meses de baja por la lesión de rodilla sufrida en Jerez (Ion Vélez, six months out due to knee injury occurred in Jerez); El Confidencial, 4 October 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ El Alavés ficha al atacante Ion Vélez (Alavés sign forward Ion Vélez); Marca, 4 July 2013 (in Spanish)
- ^ Vélez se convierte en nuevo jugador del C.D. Mirandés (Vélez becomes new player of C.D. Mirandés) Archived 14 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine; CD Mirandés, 13 July 2015 (in Spanish)
- ^ Ion Vélez ficha por el Tudelano (Ion Vélez signs for Tudelano); El Desmarque, 26 July 2016 (in Spanish)
- ^ Apelación reduce de cuatro a dos los partidos de suspensión al delantero del Tudelano Ion Vélez (Appealing committee reduces ban of Tudelano forward Ion Vélez from four matches to two) Archived 14 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine; El Español, 17 November 2017 (in Spanish)
- ^ Renuevan Azpíroz e Ilintxeta en la Peña Sport (Azpíroz and Ilintxeta renew at Peña Sport) Archived 22 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine; Noticias de Navarra, 24 June 2019 (in Spanish)
External links
edit- Ion Vélez at Athletic Bilbao
- Ion Vélez at BDFutbol
- Ion Vélez at Futbolme (in Spanish)
- Ion Vélez at Soccerway