Manuel 'Manolo' Lucena Medina (born 18 November 1982) 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 ...

who played as 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 ...

. His professional career was mainly associated with

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 ...

, with which he competed in all four major levels of Spanish football.

Club career

Lucena was born in

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 ...

. In 2002 he joined hometown's

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 ...

, at the time 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 ...

. After two years as a starter he signed for

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. ...

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 ...

, being first-choice in his only season as the

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 ...

club narrowly avoided relegation. In the summer of 2005, Lucena moved to

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 ...

in Segunda División. In January of the following year, after only three league appearances – seven minutes in total – he returned to Granada, being an essential defensive unit and scoring five goals as the team promoted from the fourth level. In the following three division three campaigns, Lucena remained a key player for Granada, never appearing in less than 32 league games and occasionally pitching in at

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. In 2009–10, already as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

, he contributed with 26 matches and one goal ''en route'' to a return to the second division after 22 years. In late June 2011, after a second consecutive promotion for Granada, with him as the club's only player from the region of Granada, Lucena renewed his contract for a further two seasons. He made his

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' ...

debut on 27 August in a 0–1 home loss against

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 ...

(90 minutes played), but featured in only nine official contests over the course of two seasons combined, being released subsequently. Lucena retired at the end of the 2013–14 campaign at the age of 31, after 12 competitive appearances with

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 ''Est ...

in the second level. In February 2015 he returned to Granada, as match delegate.El Granada ficha de nuevo a Lucena (Granada sign Lucena again)
Ideal, 10 February 2015 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucena, Manuel 1982 births Living people Footballers from Granada Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Granada CF footballers Marino de Luanco footballers Sporting de Gijón players CD Mirandés footballers CD Imperio de Albolote players