Alexander Quintanilla Urionabarrenetxea (born 2 July 1990) is a Spanish

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 le ...

. Mainly a

central defender 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 ...

, he can also play as a defensive midfielder.

Club career

Born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, Quintanilla finished his graduation with

Danok Bat CF Danok Bat Club de Fica is a Spanish football team based in Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1972, the club is mainly known for their successful youth setup, which helps players to develop and join other senior clu ...

, on loan from

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

. In the 2009 summer he was loaned to Club Portugalete in

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 ...

, making his senior debut for the club during the campaign. In June 2010 Quintanilla returned to Athletic, being assigned to the reserves in

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 Foot ...

. On 19 July 2011, after featuring regularly, he signed a one-year deal with fellow league team

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

. On 10 July 2012 Quintanilla signed for another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

Valencia CF Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake community. Founded in 1944, an ...

also in the third tier. He was called up to

the first team The First Team were the first players known to have played the sport of basketball, having been taught the game in 1891 by James Naismith, who is recognized as the inventor of the sport. The team comprised 18 players who were studying in Springf ...

by manager

Mauricio Pellegrino Mauricio Andrés Pellegrino Luna (; born 5 October 1971) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, currently the manager of Chilean club Universidad de Chile. After nearly one decade with Vélez Sarsfield, Pe ...

for the pre-season, and was also an unused substitute in a 2–0

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

away win against CA Osasuna on 11 December. On 29 January 2014, Quintanilla signed a six-month contract with Barakaldo CF. He was an undisputed starter for the club during the following two seasons, contributing with three goals in 36 appearances in 2015–16. On 22 July 2016, Quintanilla signed a two-year deal with

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 Lig ...

club UD Almería. He made his professional debut on 6 September, starting in a 0–2

home loss against Rayo Vallecano. Quintanilla's debut in the second level came on 21 September 2016, as he started and was sent off in a 0–4 away loss against UCAM Murcia CF. On 10 January 2017 he rescinded his contract, and moved to fellow league team

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División, holding home matches at ''Esta ...

the following day. Quintanilla returned to the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, 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 ...

ns in June 2017, but still terminated his contract on 1 September. The following 31 January, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

, still in the second division. On 27 June 2019, after suffering relegation, Quintanilla left the ''Blanquiverdes'' after terminating his contract, and signed for third tier side UD Ibiza on 28 August. On 21 September 2020, he signed a one-year contract with Gimnàstic de Tarragona also in division three.

Personal life

Quintanilla's father, Txirri, was also a footballer and a defender. He too was groomed at Athletic.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quintanilla, Alex 1990 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Bilbao Men's association football defenders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Danok Bat CF players Athletic Bilbao B footballers Club Portugalete players Deportivo Alavés players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Barakaldo CF footballers UD Almería players CD Mirandés footballers Córdoba CF players UD Ibiza players Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers