Francisco "Kiko" Femenía Far (; born 2 February 1991) is a Spanish 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, rugb ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

club

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

Club career

Hércules

Born in Sanet y Negrals,

Province of Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province. Likewise, the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alica ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

,¿Qué fue de los héroes del último ascenso a Primera del Hércules? (What happened to the heroes of Hércules' last promotion to ''Primera''?)

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns '' El País'' and '' Cinco Días''. The paper particularly covers news of the Community of ...

, 18 June 2020 (in Spanish) Femenía was a product of

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its ho ...

's youth ranks. He made his first-team debut on 15 June 2008 at just 17, appearing in a

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the L ...

match at

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of ...

, a 1–1 draw which eventually certified the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

ns'

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open league ...

even though they protested against the illegal fielding of an opposing player, specifically the youngster. Femenía played another game with the main squad in the 2008–09 season, again in the last round but against

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and blac ...

(5–1 away win). In the subsequent off-season, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a five-year deal and, the following campaign, still only 18, he would be a much more important midfield unit, being the first substitute for veteran

Francisco Rufete Francisco Joaquín Pérez Rufete (born 20 November 1976) is a Spanish former footballer, and a manager. He played predominantly as a right winger with good dribbling ability, also being a player with a good workrate. During his professional ...

and totalling nearly 1,000 minutes in the league to help the club return to

after an absence of 13 years. On 28 August 2010, Femenía made his debut in the top division, replacing

Abel Aguilar Abel Enrique Aguilar Tapias (born 6 January 1985) is a Colombian retired professional footballer who played as a central or defensive midfielder. Having started his career at Deportivo Cali, Aguilar signed with Italian club Udinese at the age o ...

in the second half of the home fixture against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los L ...

. After only a few minutes on the pitch, however, and a couple of poor decisions, he suffered an

anxiety attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...

from which he later fully recovered, although the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Ba ...

eventually won it 1–0.

Barcelona

Femenía joined

FC Barcelona Atlètic Futbol Club Barcelona Atlètic, commonly referred to as Barça Atlètic or Barça B, is a football team based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in Primera Federación – Group 2, the third tier of the Spanish league system. Found ...

on 6 July 2011, for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

2 million plus €1.5 million in add-ons. He scored his first official goal for his new team on 4 September, opening the score in a 4–0 away victory over

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

. Femenía netted five times in 30 games – 23 starts – in his first season, helping the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

to the eighth position.

Real Madrid

In late August 2013, Femenía was released by Barcelona, stating that he had been "ruined emotionally". Just hours later, he signed for

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, being assigned to the reserves in the second division. Femenía appeared in only five matches during the whole campaign, which ended in relegation, and left the club in December 2014.

Alcorcón

On 7 January 2015, Femenía signed a six-month deal with

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Sant ...

also of the second tier. He totalled 996 minutes of action during the season, helping his team finish 11th.

Alavés

On 2 July 2015, Femenía moved to fellow league side Deportivo Alavés after agreeing to a one-year contract. He contributed 38 appearances and five goals in his debut campaign as they returned to the top flight after ten years, and was eventually reconverted into a

.Deportivo Alavés 2016/2017: Kiko Femenía (2016/2017 Deportivo Alavés: Kiko Femenía)

Vavel Vavel (stylized VAVEL) is a sports news website. It has 16 editions; Spain, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Italy, France, Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), i ...

, 18 August 2016 (in Spanish) Femenía left the

Mendizorrotza Stadium Mendizorrotza or Mendizorroza is a football stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Deportivo Alavés. History Opened on 27 April 1924, it is currently the third oldest football stadium in the Spanish Professional ...

on 6 June 2017, as his contract was due to expire.

Watford

On 1 July 2017, Femenía signed for

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

after agreeing to a four-year deal. He made his debut in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

on 12 August, coming on for injured

Daryl Janmaat Daryl Janmaat (born 22 July 1989) is a Dutch professional football official and a former player who played as a right back. He is the technical director of ADO Den Haag. He began his career at ADO Den Haag, and went on to play for the Eredivisie ...

early into a 3–3 home draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. Femenía scored his first league goal for the English club on 31 March 2018, helping the hosts earn one point after a 2–2 home draw with

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

Villarreal

On 28 July 2022, aged 31, Femenía returned to Spain after five years and joined

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

on a three-year contract, for an undisclosed fee.

Career statistics

Honours

Alavés *

: 2015–16 Watford *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

runner-up: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Femenia, Kiko 1991 births Living people People from Marina Alta Sportspeople from the Province of Alicante Spanish footballers Footballers from the Valencian Community Association football defenders Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Hércules CF B players Hércules CF players FC Barcelona Atlètic players Real Madrid Castilla footballers AD Alcorcón footballers Deportivo Alavés players Villarreal CF players Premier League players English Football League players Watford F.C. players FA Cup Final players Spain youth international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England