José Alberto Cañas Ruiz-Herrera (born 27 May 1987) 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, rugby lea ...

who plays for Gibraltar Football League club Manchester 62 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. ...

. He started his career with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

, joining the first team in 2009 and going on to make 72 official appearances, 51 in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, over three seasons, and spent 2013–14 in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

Career

Betis

A product of

' youth ranks, Cañas was born in Rota,

Province of Cádiz Cádiz is a Provinces of Spain, province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of ...

. He made his first-team – and

– debut on 3 May 2009, playing 83 minutes in a 0–2 home loss against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. 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 were ultimately relegated at the season's end. Cañas was definitely promoted to Betis' main squad for

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. He contributed 15 games during the campaign (only four starts however) as the club returned to the top flight after two years as champions, being a regular the following two seasons.

Swansea City

In April 2013, before the season in Spain was over, Cañas refused to renew his expiring contract with Betis, choosing instead to join

on a three-year deal. He made his debut on 1 August, coming on as a late substitute in a 4–0 home victory over

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

in the first leg of the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Espanyol

On 1 September 2014, Cañas returned to his country and its top division, joining Espanyol on a three-year contract on a free transfer. His first competitive appearance took place 13 days later, as he played the last ten minutes of a 3–1 defeat at

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. During his tenure at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, Cañas appeared in 48 games in all competitions. 2015–16 was marred by injury problems.

PAOK

On 11 July 2016,

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

announced the signing of Cañas until summer 2019, for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal as a professional on 2 April 2017, in a 2–0 home win against Athlitiki Enosi Larissa. Cañas was part of the squad that won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

three times in a row, totaling 16 matches and two goals in these achievements. He also helped to claim the 2018–19 edition of the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, helping with 14 appearances but all but being absent from the lineups in the second part of the season due to a

hip In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...

injury.

Red Star

Cañas joined

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in late June 2019, agreeing to a two-year contract. He made his debut under coach

Vladan Milojević Vladan Milojević (; born 9 March 1970) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Serbian Super League team Red Star Belgrade. Playing career Born in Aranđelovac, Milojević joined the you ...

in a friendly on 1 July with Blau-Weiß Linz, which was won 3–1. When his new team qualified for the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, he was among the players who celebrated riding around

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

in an

armored vehicle Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighti ...

Later career

In March 2021, Cañas returned to his country and signed a short-term deal with Atlético Baleares 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 ...

. He left at the end of the season, even though the club tried hard to convince him to renew his link. In August 2021, the 34-year-old Cañas agreed to a one-year contract with Ionikos in a return to the Greek top tier. Two years later, he remained in the country by joining Super League 2 side

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

. Cañas moved to the Gibraltar Football League on 30 August 2024, signing for Manchester 62.

Personal life

Cañas' uncle, Juan José, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He too spent most of his professional career with Betis.

Career statistics

Honours

PAOK *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2018–19 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 Red Star *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canas, Jose 1987 births Living people People from Rota, Andalusia 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Cádiz Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers Real Betis players RCD Espanyol footballers CD Atlético Baleares footballers Premier League players Swansea City A.F.C. players Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players PAOK FC players Ionikos F.C. players Kalamata F.C. players Serbian SuperLiga players Red Star Belgrade footballers Gibraltar Premier Division players Manchester 62 F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Gibraltar Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Wales Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Gibraltar