Rafael "Rafa" Francisco Muñoz González (born 21 March 1966) is a Spanish retired

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, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, and a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Club career

Born in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Muñoz graduated from

CD Málaga Club Deportivo Málaga was a Spanish football club based in Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It played twenty seasons in La Liga, before being dissolved in 1992. History Origins The first football club in Málaga was establ ...

's youth setup. He made his senior debuts with the reserves, spending several seasons in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. On 9 November 1986, Muñoz played his first match as a professional, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 away draw against

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. His spell was mainly registered with the B-side, however. In the 1989 summer, Muñoz moved to

, being an ever-present figure during his spell at the club. He subsequently returned to Málaga in 199, and resumed his career in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

, but also in the fourth level, representing

Cartagena FC Cartagena Fútbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the autonomous community of Murcia. They were formerly called UD Cartagenera. Founded in 1940, they are focused on youth football, and hold home games at ''Ciudad Deport ...

Benidorm CF Benidorm Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Benidorm, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1964 and dissolved in 2011 it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor'', which had a capacity of 6,000. ...

Lorca Deportiva CF Lorca Deportiva Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. was a Spanish football club in Lorca, in the autonomous community of Murcia. Founded in 2002 it was dissolved ten years later, they held their home matches at ''Estadio Francisco Artés Carrasco'', which ...

and

Ciudad de Murcia Club de Fútbol Ciudad de Murcia, usually abbreviated to Ciudad de Murcia, was a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the namesake autonomous community. They played at the 16,000-seater ''Estadio de La Condomina''. Ciudad Murcia was reloc ...

; he retired with the latter in 2002, aged 35.

Manager career

Shortly after retiring, Muñoz started his managerial career at Ciudad de Murcia's reserve team. After spells in Muleño CF and Mazarrón CF, he joined

in 2006, taking care of the club's youth setup. Muñoz returned to the fourth level in February 2007, being appointed Calasparra CF manager. He subsequently coached fellow league team

CD Baza Club Deportivo Baza was a Spanish football team based in Baza, Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1970, it last played in Primera Andaluza, and held home matches at ''Estadio Constantino Navarro'', with a capacity of 4 ...

before being appointed at

Sangonera Atlético CF Sangonera Atlético Club de Fútbol was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sangonera la Verde (a neighborhood of Murcia), in the Region of Murcia. Founded in 1996, it was dissolved in 2010, and held home matches at ' ...

in the third division. In 2010, Muñoz returned to Baza, but left in the following transfer window, joining

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

; after only six months, he moved to

Club Olímpico de Totana Club Olímpico de Totana is a Spanish football team from Totana, Murcia. It was founded in 1961. The team currently plays in the . History Founded in 1961. In the 1980-1981 season, they debuted in Tercera División. Season to season ---- *27 ...

. On 9 July 2013, Muñoz was appointed at the helm of CD El Palo,Rafa Muñoz. Nuevo entrenador del CD El Palo (Rafa Muñoz. New manager of CD El Palo)
El Palo's official website, 9 July 2013 helping the club to stay afloat the relegation places during the whole campaign.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Rafa 1966 births Living people Footballers from Málaga Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Málaga CF players CD Málaga footballers Hércules CF players Cartagena FC players Benidorm CF footballers Lorca Deportiva CF footballers Ciudad de Murcia footballers Spanish football managers CD El Palo managers CD Leganés managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen