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 lea ...

. Mainly a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he also plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Born in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, 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 (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

. In the 2009 summer he was loaned to

Club Portugalete Club Portugalete is a List of football clubs in Spain, Basque football team based in Portugalete, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it plays in , holding its home games 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 ...

, 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 (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 ...

. 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 known as 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 Basque ...

. On 10 July 2012 Quintanilla signed for another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

Valencia CF Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in , holding home games at '' Ciud ...

also in the third tier. He was called up to the first team 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 manager of Lanús. After nearly one decade with Vélez Sarsfield, he spent the vast majority of his ...

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

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

away win against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

on 11 December. On 29 January 2014, Quintanilla signed a six-month contract with

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Basque football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in , holding home stadium is '' Lasesarre'', with a 7,960 Seat Capacity. History Barakaldo pla ...

. 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, 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 ...

club

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

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

home loss against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. Quintanilla's debut in the second level came on 21 September 2016, as he started and was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in a 0–4 away loss against

UCAM Murcia CF Universidad Católica de Murcia Club de Fútbol, commonly known as UCAM Murcia or simply UCAM, is a Spanish football club based in Murcia. Founded in 1999 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio de La Condomina'', with a capacity of 6,5 ...

. On 10 January 2017 he rescinded his contract, and moved to fellow league team

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, 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 ...

the following day. Quintanilla returned to the

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 ...

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 (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

, 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 Unión Deportiva Ibiza is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in the town of Ibiza (town), Ibiza, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded in 2015, it pla ...

on 28 August. On 21 September 2020, he signed a one-year contract with

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

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 21st-century Spanish sportsmen