Ander Alaña Puerta (born 20 November 1981) is a Spanish former
footballer who played as a
central defender, currently a
manager.
Playing career
Born in
Bilbao,
Biscay,
Basque Country
Basque Country may refer to:
* Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map)
* French Basque Country o ...
, Alaña graduated from
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
's youth system at
Lezama, and made his senior debut with
the farm team
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
in
1999–2000, in
Tercera División. He was promoted to
the reserves in July 2000, going on to compete in three
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 ...
seasons with the side before being released in June 2003.
In the summer of 2003, Alaña joined neighbouring club
SD Eibar. He appeared in his first game as a professional on 14 September 2003, starting in a 0–0 home draw against
Córdoba CF
Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...
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 ...
.
Alaña scored his first goal in the second tier on 7 February 2004, closing the 1–1 home draw with
Recreativo de Huelva. He played 26 matches during
the campaign, helping to a tenth-place finish.
After an average of roughly 22 appearances per year (he also missed most of
2005–06 due to injury), Alaña was released by the ''Armeros'' on 24 June 2009. He subsequently resumed his career mostly in division three, representing
Polideportivo Ejido
Poli Ejido 2012 Sociedad Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in El Ejido, Province of Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1969 and dissolved in 2012, it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Santo Domingo'', ...
,
Deportivo Alavés,
SD Amorebieta and
SD Leioa
Sociedad Deportiva Leioa is a Spanish football team based in Leioa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1925 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home games at '' Estadio Sarriena'', which has a capacity ...
. He also helped the last club win promotion to that level
in 2014.
Coaching career
In July 2017, one year after working as a coach with
Athletic's youths, Alaña was appointed head coach of their third team Basconia. After a poor season in which they
barely escaped relegation, he was replaced in the role by
Aritz Solabarrieta but remained with the club, taking charge of the under-15 squad.
Managerial statistics
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alana, Ander
1981 births
Living people
Spanish men's footballers
Footballers from Bilbao
Men's association football defenders
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
CD Basconia footballers
Athletic Bilbao B footballers
Athletic Bilbao footballers
SD Eibar footballers
Polideportivo Ejido footballers
Deportivo Alavés players
SD Amorebieta footballers
SD Leioa players
Spanish football managers
Tercera División managers
CD Basconia managers
Athletic Bilbao non-playing staff
Asti Leku Ikastola alumni