Adrián Colunga Pérez (born 17 November 1984) is a Spanish former

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 ...

who played as a striker. He appeared in 152

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 Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

matches over seven seasons, scoring a total of 36 goals for Recreativo,

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tribut ...

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a fla ...

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

and

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

. He added 54 games and 17 goals in the Segunda División, and also competed professionally in England, Cyprus and India.

Club career

Colunga was born in

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensi ...

. After unsuccessfully emerging through

's youth system he made his professional debut on loan, in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, 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 Fo ...

with

Marino de Luanco Club Marino de Luanco is a Spanish football team based in Luanco, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1931 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio Miramar'', with a capacity of 3,500 seats. ...

– also in his native region – going on to serve several others in the third tier and

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

while also spending the 2004–05 season for Sporting's reserves. In January 2006, Colunga was definitely released by Gijón and, after a spell in the fourth division and another in the third, joined

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

of the Segunda División. He scored 13 league goals (second-best in the squad) in the 2007–08 campaign for a

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

side that was threatened with relegation until the last month of competition. Colunga was then bought by

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

, in a four-year contract worth

€ 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 ...

2.7 million. In his debut for the team, on 31 August 2008, he netted the game's only goal in an away win against

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 ...

neighbours

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vi ...

. Alternating between starts and games from the bench in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ar ...

, Colunga entered the club's history when he scored a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in a 4–1 loss at

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

on 21 December, his fourth consecutive game achieving the feat. Spanish football pundit

Guillem Balagué Guillem Balagué (born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish football journalist, author, and pundit. He was a regular pundit on Sky Sports' show ''Revista de la Liga'' and has also written for some of Britain's newspapers as well as several Spanish ne ...

compared the player, in his weekly report of first division encounters, to

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish retired professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Villa is regarded by pundits as one of the best forwards of his ge ...

; despite a first fruitful year individually, ''Recre'' ranked last. On 23 January 2010, after experiencing personal problems in

the new season ''The New Season'' is a collaboration album by American rappers Brotha Lynch Hung and MC Eiht. It was released January 24, 2006 on Real Talk Entertainment. The album was produced by Big Hollis, Brotha Lynch Hung, MC Eiht and Vince V. It peaked ...

at Recreativo, which included a confrontation with club fans, Colunga was loaned to

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

of the top flight until June. He scored on his debut eight days later, a 3–1 away victory over

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

, and finished

the campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme *Bli ...

as the team's top scorer in only four months of play, with the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to so ...

ese finally escaping relegation. On 5 August 2010, Colunga was sold to

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

Kepa Blanco Kepa Blanco González (born 13 January 1984), sometimes known simply as Kepa, is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker, and a manager. He was best known for his spell with Sevilla, for which he appeared in 58 competi ...

moved in the opposite direction. He was loaned to Sporting Gijón in January 2012, scoring three times in 13 starts during his short spell but suffering top-division relegation. Colunga transferred to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

on 25 August 2014 for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year contract. He scored on his debut the following day, contributing to a 4–2 away defeat of

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

in the second round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. He added a further three in the English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

before the close of the year, with away strikes against

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 ...

(3–2 loss),

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

(3–3) and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

(2–0). Following the appointment of

Chris Hughton Christopher William Gerard Hughton (born 11 December 1958) is a professional football manager and former player. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team. After making his professional debut aged 20, Hughton spe ...

as new manager, Colunga found first-team opportunities difficult and, in the very last day of the 2015 January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer ...

, joined

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021 ...

on a loan deal lasting until the end of the season, with the option of a permanent transfer in June. However, after featuring rarely, he returned to Brighton and eventually had his contract terminated by mutual consent on 7 October. On 2 September 2017, the 32-year-old Colunga switched to the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

with

FC Goa Football Club Goa is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was established on 26 August 2014. Nickname ...

after stints with

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

and Cypriot club

Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English language, English or Anorthosi in Greek language, Greek, is a Cyprus, Cypriot association football, foot ...

. He made his debut on 16 December, scoring in the last minutes of a 5–1 victory against

Delhi Dynamos FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

. Colunga's contract was terminated by mutual agreement on 25 January 2018, after he refused to play second-fiddle to compatriot

Coro Coro or CORO may refer to: Entertainment * ''Coro'' (Berio), a composition by Luciano Berio * Coro (music), Italian for choir * Coro TV, Venezuelan community television channel * Omweso (Coro), mancala game played in the Lango region of Uganda ...

. Four days later, he announced his retirement.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colunga, Adrian 1984 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Oviedo Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Sporting de Gijón B players Marino de Luanco footballers UC Ceares players UD Las Palmas players Recreativo de Huelva players Real Zaragoza players Getafe CF footballers Sporting de Gijón players Granada CF footballers RCD Mallorca players English Football League players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Indian Super League players FC Goa players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India