Óscar Montalbán Ramos (born 17 May 1976), known as Rubio, 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

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 ...

, and is a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Club career

Spain

After playing several years in the lower leagues, Rubio signed with

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 1998, spending the vast majority of his spell 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 Foot ...

with the reserves. He made his only appearance for the first team in the 1998–99 edition of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

, against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

: after a 6–0 away loss, he featured in the second leg, an insufficient 2–1 win. Rubio was loaned to

CP Mérida Club Polideportivo Mérida was a Spanish football team based in Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Having played twice in La Liga ( 1995–96 and 1997–98), the club was dissolved in 2000, due to serious economic debts. Its ...

for 1999–2000, failing to appear in a single match. In January 2000, he was released by Madrid and joined

CD Toledo Club Deportivo Toledo, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1928 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 18, holding home games at '' Estadio Salto del Caballo'', ...

also of

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 ...

– both clubs would be relegated at the end of the season, the former due to financial irregularities.

Livingston

Rubio spent his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

in top-flight football with Portugal's

S.C. Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Faro in the district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club will play the 2021–22 season in the Liga Portugal ...

, playing less than half of the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

games as his team finished in 13th position. He signed for

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

in July 2001, going on to make a total of 148 official appearances for them over the next four years and score eight goals. In the 2001–02 campaign, Rubio appeared in 33 matches as the ''Livi Lions'' finished in a best-ever third place, with the subsequent

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. He then made history by becoming the first ever Livingston player to score in a

European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competition ...

, when he netted a header in the club's first game, a 1–1 draw at

FC Vaduz FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

(eventual

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

qualification). He contributed to the team's victorious run in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

in 2003–04, including starting and finishing

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 cont ...

against Hibernian.

Later years

Rubio left Livingston in July 2005 and moved back to his country, spending one season in the third tier with

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

. He retired in 2009 at the age of 33 after three years with amateurs

Galáctico Pegaso Galáctico Pegaso was a Spanish football team based in Tres Cantos, in the autonomous Community of Madrid. Founded in 1962 and dissolved in 2010, it held home games at '' Estadio La Foresta'', with a capacity of 2,000 seats. History In 1962, Pega ...

, also in his native

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubio 1976 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football defenders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players RSD Alcalá players RCD Mallorca B players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players CP Mérida footballers CD Toledo players Rayo Vallecano players Primeira Liga players S.C. Farense players Scottish Premier League players Livingston F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Spanish football managers Tercera División managers