Ignacio 'Nacho' Neira Pedraja (born 16 November 1986) 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 ...

who plays for

Club Portugalete Club Portugalete is a Spanish football team based in Portugalete, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home games at ''Estadio La Florida'', with a capacity of 5, ...

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Santoña Santoña is a town in the eastern coast of the autonomous community of Cantabria, on the north coast of Spain. It is situated by the bay of the same name. It is from the capital Santander. Santoña is divided into two zones, an urban plain, and ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the ea ...

, Neira graduated from local

CD Laredo Club Deportivo Laredo is a Spanish football team based in Laredo, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1927, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home matches at ''Campo de Fútbol San Lorenzo'', which has a ca ...

's youth system, but made his senior debuts with

Santoña CF Santoña Club de Fútbol is a football team based in Santoña in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1917, it plays in the Tercera División – Group 3. Its stadium is '' El Paloma'' with a capacity of 4,500 seats. Season to se ...

in the 2005–06 season, in the

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 ...

. He first arrived in the

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 ...

in 2008 with

Racing de Santander B Rayo Cantabria, formerly known as Real Racing Club de Santander "B" is the reserve team of Racing de Santander, a Spanish football team based in Santander, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1926 as a separate club, affiliated ...

, after a brief stint at

Gimnástica de Torrelavega Real Sociedad Gimnástica de Torrelavega is a Spanish football team based in Torrelavega, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded on 28 September 1907 it is the oldest football club in the region, and currently plays in Tercera Divisió ...

. In July 2009 Neira returned to Gimnástica, now in the third tier. On 31 January 2013, after featuring regularly for the club over the course of three-and-a-half seasons, he moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining

Greek Football League The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

side

Kalloni F.C. Akadimia Podosfairou Lekanopediou Kallonis, commonly referred to Kalloni, was a Greek association football club based in Kalloni, Lesbos. They have competed in the Super League Greece from 2013 to 2016. History The club was established in 1994 af ...

Neira played his first match as a professional on 22 May 2013, starting in a 3–0 away win against Anagennisi Giannitsa F.C., in which was his maiden appearance in the competition. On 21 June he returned to his home country, signing for third-tier

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Lasesarre'', with a capacity o ...

; he subsequently resumed his career in the same division, representing

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

and

Sestao River Sestao River Club is a Spanish football team based in Sestao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1996 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Estadio Las Llanas'', with a capacity of 8,905 s ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neira, Nacho 1986 births Living people People from Santoña Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Cantabria Men's association football defenders Segunda División B players Tercera División players Gimnástica de Torrelavega footballers Rayo Cantabria players Barakaldo CF footballers FC Cartagena footballers Sestao River Club footballers Football League (Greece) players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece 21st-century Spanish sportsmen