Samuel Llorca Ripoll (born 26 April 1985), known simply as Samuel, is a Spanish former 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 ...

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 ...

. He amassed Segunda División totals of 225 games and ten goals over nine seasons, in representation of four teams. He added one appearance in

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' ...

for

Celta Celta is Galician, Portuguese and Spanish for the Celts. It may also refer to: * Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL ...

Club career

Born in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous comm ...

, Samuel started his senior career at local

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its home ...

, with its reserves. In 2005 he moved to amateur neighbours CD Alone de Guardamar, being an important unit as they eventually retained their

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 ...

status. Samuel stayed in the region for the following season, as he signed with

Elche CF Ilicitano Elche Ilicitano Club de Fútbol, known officially as Elche Ilicitano is a Spanish football team based in Elche, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1932 as Club Deportivo Ilicitano, a farm team, it is the reserve team of Elche ...

also in that level. On 9 June 2007, courtesy of manager

David Vidal David Vidal Tomé (born 2 August 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Football career Vidal was born in Porto do Son, A Coruña, Galicia. After an unassuming career (the central defender never pl ...

, he made his debut with

the first team The First Team were the first players known to have played the sport of basketball, having been taught the game in 1891 by James Naismith, who is recognized as the inventor of the sport. The team comprised 18 players who were studying in Spring ...

, starting in a 1–0 home win against

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at '' No ...

; he consolidated his position in the 2007–08 season with the club also in the Segunda División, and received abroad offers from England's

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

, which eventually died down. In July 2011, Samuel joined his former side Hércules on a four-year contract. He scored a career-best five goals in his only season, as his team narrowly missed on top-flight promotion in the play-offs. Samuel moved to

in summer 2012, agreeing to a four-year deal at

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

. He only appeared once in the competition, after coming on as a second-half substitute for

Mario Bermejo Mario Bermejo Castanedo (born 7 October 1978) is a Spanish retired professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. A veteran in the Segunda División, he amassed totals of 267 games ...

– following

Gustavo Cabral Gustavo Daniel Cabral (born 14 October 1985) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga MX club Pachuca. Club career Born in Isidro Casanova, Cabral made his first team debut in 2003 for Racing Club. He pla ...

's second

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conc ...

and subsequent

dismissal Dismissal or dismissed may refer to: Dismissal *In litigation, a dismissal is the result of a successful ''motion to dismiss''. See motion *Termination of employment, the end of employee's duration with an employer **Dismissal (employment), ter ...

– in the

Galician derby The Galician derby ( gl, O derbi galego) is the name given to any association football match contested between Celta Vigo and Deportivo La Coruña, the two biggest clubs in Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a ...

against

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

(1–1 home draw); on 30 June 2015, after dealing with a serious

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inj ...

to his left knee and also having served second-tier loans at

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

and

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

, he left

Balaídos The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos (), known as Abanca-Balaídos for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium located in Vigo, Spain. It is owned by the Vigo's city council, and is the home of La Liga club Celta Vigo. The stadium opened o ...

.Samuel se desvincula del Celta (Samuel cuts ties with Celta)

La Voz de Galicia ''La Voz de Galicia'' ( en, The Voice of Galicia) is a Spanish daily newspaper owned by the Corporación Voz de Galicia. ''La Voz'' is highest circulation newspaper in Galicia and the eighth-highest circulation general-interest daily newspaper ...

, 30 June 2015 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Llorca, Samuel 1985 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Alicante Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Hércules CF B players Elche CF Ilicitano footballers Elche CF players Hércules CF players RC Celta de Vigo players Deportivo Alavés players Real Valladolid players Racing de Santander players