Antonio "Toni" Rodríguez Dovale (born 4 April 1990) 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 lea ...

who played as a

left winger 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. ...

Club career

Celta

Dovale was born in

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

, Galicia, playing youth football with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

amongst other clubs. Aged 19, he made his professional debut with local

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

, starting in a 1–2

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

home loss against

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

on 29 August 2009. He started his career as a winger. In the 2011–12 season, after a brief loan spell with

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

of the same tier, Dovale contributed 30 games (only nine starts, 1.141 minutes of action) and two goals to help his team to return to

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 ...

after an absence of five years. He made his debut in the competition on 18 August 2012, coming on as a late substitute in the 0–1 home defeat to

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

. Even though his future seemed uncertain at Celta following the appointment of coach

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...

in summer 2013, Dovale managed to remain with the club, being successfully reconverted into

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

in the process. However, he eventually became surplus to requirements, with even right-footed

Jonny Jonny is a masculine given name, and pet name, in the English language. A pet form of Jon, the natural diminutive of given name Jonathan, in some cases it can also mean a condom. A variant form of ''Jonny'' is ''Jonnie''. People with the name * ...

being played in his position.

Sporting KC

On 11 March 2014, Dovale signed with

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. He made his debut for his new team on 5 April, playing the last ten minutes of the 0–0 home draw against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

. Dovale scored his first goal in the competition on 27 May 2014, in a 1–1 draw with the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

also at

Children's Mercy Park Children's Mercy Park is a soccer-specific stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, and is the team home for Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer (MLS). The stadium is located near Kansas Speedway, on the far west side of Wyandot ...

. His contract expired on 31 December and was not renewed.

Lugo

On 29 January 2015, Dovale signed a six-month deal with second-tier

CD Lugo Club Deportivo Lugo is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 8 July 1953, it plays in Primera Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio Anxo ...

. He was an ever-present figure during his spell, starting in 16 of his league appearances and scoring his first goal on 22 March to help defeat

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

3–2 at home.

Later years

On 10 July 2015, Dovale moved to

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

in the same league after agreeing to a one-year contract. Roughly two years later, he left

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

and signed a one-year deal with

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು.ಎಫ್.ಸಿ) is an Indian professional football club based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club w ...

. On 9 September 2018, Dovale joined

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

side

Nea Salamis Famagusta FC Nea Salamis Famagusta FC (alternatively Nea Salamina, ) is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Ammochostos (also known by its Romanization of Greek, romanized name, Famagusta). It has been a r ...

. On 10 December, he returned to India after transferring to

East Bengal FC East Bengal Football Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of the Indian football league system. The cl ...

on a loan deal. In July 2019, the 29-year-old Dovale moved clubs and countries again, signing a four-month contract with

Thai League 2 Thai League 2 (), commonly known as the T2, formally called Thai Division 1 League, is the second-tier professional league in the Thai football league system. Seasons typically run from August to May, with each team playing 34 games : two agai ...

club

Royal Thai Navy FC Navy Football Club () is a Thai professional football club under the stewardship of Royal Thai Navy based in Chonburi. They play in the Thai League 3. The club has previously played under the names of Royal Thai Navy, Rajnavi and Rajnavy Rayon ...

. Following a spell in the

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

with

Eastern Sports Club Eastern Athletic Association Football Team Limited, also known as Eastern Sports Club (), is a Hong Kong professional sports club whose football section competes in the Hong Kong Premier League, the top flight of Hong Kong football. History ...

, he returned to both his homeland and his native region in October 2022 after joining

Coruxo FC Coruxo Fútbol Club is a Spanish football club based in the parish of Coruxo, Vigo, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1930 it plays in , holding home matches at '' O Vao'', with a capacity of 1,500 spectators. The association ...

of the

Segunda Federación Segunda Federación, previously called Segunda RFEF, also officially known as Segunda B, is the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system containing 90 teams divided into five groups. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Fede ...

Personal life

Dovale was a trained

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

, and worked at his family's pharmacy in La Coruna during the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

of 2020.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dovale, Toni 1990 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from A Coruña Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Segunda Federación players RC Celta Fortuna players RC Celta de Vigo players SD Huesca footballers CD Lugo players CD Leganés players Rayo Vallecano players CD El Ejido players Coruxo FC players Major League Soccer players Sporting Kansas City players Indian Super League players I-League players Bengaluru FC players East Bengal Club players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players Toni Dovale Toni Dovale Hong Kong Premier League players Eastern Sports Club footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in India Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong