Francisco 'Fran' de Paula Pablo Cruz Torres (born 22 June 1991) is a Spanish

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 plays as a central defender for Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa.

Club career

Born in Córdoba, Andalusia, Cruz finished his development with local

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 ...

, making his senior debut with the reserves in 2008–09. His first competitive appearance with the first team took place on 6 January 2013, in a 0–0 away draw against

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División, holding home matches at ''Esta ...

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 ...

. Cruz played 32 matches during the 2013–14 season, in a promotion to La Liga after a 42-year absence. On 15 July 2014 he renewed his contract with the club for three seasons, and was immediately loaned to AD Alcorcón also in the second division. In late August 2015, Cruz cut ties with Córdoba and moved to fellow league team

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Badalona, Province of Barcelona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays ...

. He spent the following years in the same tier, representing Mirandés,

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lorca, Spain, Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Region of ...

and Extremadura UD, aside from a six-month spell at Miedź Legnica in the Polish Ekstraklasa and an even shorter stint with Romania's

FC Rapid București Fotbal Club Rapid 1923, commonly known as Rapid București () or simply as Rapid, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1923 by employees of the Grivița workshops as ''Asoc ...

Personal life

Cruz's younger brother,

Bernardo Bernardo is a given name and less frequently an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. Possibly from the Germanic "Bernhard". Given name People * Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Fra ...

, was also a footballer and a defender. Both were groomed at Córdoba.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Fran 1991 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Córdoba, Spain Men's association football defenders Segunda División players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Córdoba CF B players Córdoba CF players AD Alcorcón footballers CF Badalona Futur players CD Mirandés footballers Lorca FC players Extremadura UD footballers Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa players Liga II players FC Rapid București players Ekstraklasa players Miedź Legnica players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Romania Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland