Antonio Amaya Carazo (; born 31 May 1983) 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. He spent most of his professional career with Rayo Vallecano, making 254 appearances across three spells in all of the top three divisions.

Club career

Early years and Rayo

Born in the capital of Madrid, Amaya began his career at local San Cristóbal de los Ángeles. He joined another team in the community, Rayo Vallecano, in 2002, also serving a six-month loan spell at lowly

UD San Sebastián de los Reyes Unión Deportiva San Sebastián de los Reyes, also known as Sanse is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in San Sebastián de los Reyes, in the autonomous community of Community of Madrid, Madrid. Founded in 1971 it pla ...

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 ...

. Eventually, Amaya returned to Rayo, becoming an important defensive unit for a side that returned to

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 ...

at the end of the 2007–08 season and comfortably retained their league status the following campaign, with the player appearing in less than half of the games (18 out of 42).

Wigan Athletic

Amaya signed for Premier League club

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on a three-year contract on 14 August 2009, being joined by Rayo teammate

Mohamed Diamé Mohamed Diamé (born 14 June 1987), also known as Momo Diamé, is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Though born in France, Diamé represented Senegal at international level and made 31 appearances before retiring from nationa ...

a week later. He made his debut in a 4–1 defeat at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in that campaign's

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

on the 26th, scoring his team's goal with a header in

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. After failing to make a single league appearance in 2009–10, Amaya returned to former club Rayo in a season-long loan. He was regularly used, as they returned to La Liga after an eight-year absence.

Betis

On 18 July 2011, Wigan announced the departure of Amaya, who signed a three-year contract with Real Betis. He scored his first goal for the team on 1 December 2013, in a 2–2 home draw against former side Rayo.

Return to Rayo

In early June 2014, following Betis' top-flight relegation, Amaya once again returned to Rayo Vallecano. He finished the first season in his second spell with 19 games and one goal, helping them to easily avoid relegation. On 20 December 2015, Amaya was on target at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, but his team had to play with nine players for more than 60 minutes and were eventually crushed 10–2 by hosts

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 ...

. The veteran contributed 17 matches and one goal in the 2017–18 campaign, helping to promotion to the top tier as champions.

UCAM Murcia

On 31 July 2018, Amaya signed with third division club UCAM Murcia CF.

Personal life

Amaya's older brother, Iván, was also a footballer and a central defender. Both represented local Rayo. Their family were Romani people.

Honours

Rayo Vallecano *

: 2017–18 *

: 2007–08

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaya, Antonio 1983 births Living people Spanish Romani people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Romani footballers Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Rayo Vallecano B players Rayo Vallecano players UD San Sebastián de los Reyes players Real Betis players UCAM Murcia CF players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England