Manuel Ángel Botubot Pereira (born 23 November 1955) 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 le ...

who played as a defender. He played eight La Liga seasons for Valencia, totalling 274 games and 10 goals across all competitions, and winning the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup in consecutive seasons. He started and ended his career in the

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 ...

, where he played 96 games and scored 4 goals for Cádiz, Castellón and

Xerez Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

. He played one game for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

in 1978.

Club career

Born in

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

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 ...

, Botubot began his career at hometown club

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

. After playing two seasons for the

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 ...

in the regional leagues, he was promoted to the first team by manager

Enrique Mateos Enrique Mateos Mancebo (15 July 1934 – 6 July 2001) was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker. He amassed La Liga totals of 123 games and 48 goals over the course of 13 seasons, representing in the competition Real Madrid, Sevilla and ...

, making his debut on 5 September 1976 on the first day of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

, a 2–1 home win over neighbours

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, 2nd largest city in the country and capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cordoba may ...

. In January 1977, Botubot left the Cádiz team that would win promotion to La Liga that season, joining Valencia of that league. He made his debut on 30 January in a 3–0 loss at

Español Español may refer to: *from or pertaining to Spain * Spanish language * Spanish people *Djudeo-Espanyol or Judaeo-Spanish, a language spoken by Jews *Argant, an ancient variety of red wine grape alternatively named Espagnol * RCD Espanyol * Club ...

, as a half-time substitute for . The report in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

-based ''

Mundo Deportivo ''Mundo Deportivo'' (; meaning ''Sports World'' in English) is a Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona. History and profile ''Mundo Deportivo'' was first published on 1 February 1906, as a weekly newspaper, and since ...

'' noted that he started with energy but contributed little to his team. On 28 October 1978, Botubot scored his first career goal, in a 4–0 home win over

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 ...

; having recovered the ball near his own

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. With ...

, he went on a 50-metre dribble before shooting. In the last game of the season on 2 June, he 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 ...

after 52 minutes for a foul on in a 3–1 loss at

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Her ...

. Twenty-eight days later he played the

1979 Copa del Rey final The 1979 Copa del Rey Final was the 77th final of the Spanish cup competition, the Copa del Rey. The final was played at Vicente Calderón in Madrid on 30 June 1979. The match was won by Valencia CF, who beat Real Madrid 2 – 0. Valencia wo ...

, a 2–0 win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the Spanish capital. In 1979–80, Botubot played nine games as Valencia won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, including the full 120 minutes as they defeated

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * P ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. On 5 November that year, he scored the only goal of a home win over Carl Zeiss Gena of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

in the last-16 second leg of their title defence, though his team were still eliminated. The calendar year ended with victory over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in the UEFA Super Cup, with Botubot playing both games. Botubot joined second-tier Castellón in July 1984, on a one-year deal with the option of a second on condition of playing 25 games. He played two seasons at the club, scoring a late winner on 4 November in a 2–1 home victory over

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitant ...

. He then returned to his home province, signing for one season at

in the same league. In January 2021, 65-year-old Botubot wrote an open letter to , the president of Valencia CF under the ownership of Singaporean

Peter Lim Peter Lim (born 21 May 1953) is a Singaporean business magnate who was a stockbroker, and is now a private investor who has invested in sectors ranging from palm oil to medicine. In 2019, Forbes ranked him as the 10th richest person in Singap ...

. Botubot wrote that the club should be run by its supporters.

International career

Botubot played one game for the Spain under-21 team on 9 October 1976, as they lost 4–1 away to Yugoslavia in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

in the

1978 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January ...

qualifying. On 21 December 1978, Botubot earned his only cap for the senior team, in a 1–0 friendly loss to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

at the

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian N ...

Pichi Alonso Àngel "Pichi" Alonso Herrera (born 17 December 1954) is a Spanish retired football striker and manager. A player with a prolific scoring rate, though he never won the Pichichi Trophy, he represented, amongst others, both Barcelona major clubs ...

, Canito and

Jesús María Zamora Jesús María Zamora Ansorena (born 1 January 1955) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Errenteria, Rentería, Gipuzkoa, Zamora played his entire professional career ...

were also given their debut by manager

László Kubala László Kubala ( sk, Ladislav Kubala, es, Ladislao Kubala, 10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian-Slovak professional footballer who also had Spanish citizenship. He played as a forward for Ferencváros, Slovan Bratislava, Barcelona, ...

in that match.

References

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 190 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botubot, Manuel 1955 births Living people Footballers from Cádiz Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Cádiz CF Mirandilla players Cádiz CF players Valencia CF players CD Castellón footballers Xerez CD footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers

Club career

International career

References

External links