Ion Vélez Martínez (born 17 February 1985) is a Spanish 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 le ...

who plays for

Peña Sport FC Peña Sport Fútbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Tafalla, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1925 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Campo de San Francisco'', with a capacity of ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Vélez was born in

Tafalla Tafalla is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. The Postal code is 31300. Tafalla is an industrial and agricultural town. It produces beef, mutton, pork and chicken. History Pr ...

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

. Bought by

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 ...

from lowly

in 2003, he spent time with the club's B and feeder teams, subsequently being loaned to neighbours

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Lasesarre'', with a capacity ...

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 ...

. He made his debut for the main squad of the latter on 26 August 2007, in the goalless

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

home draw against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El Sa ...

. After spending the second part of the 2007–08 season on loan 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 ...

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

, where he appeared significantly – after his debut with the

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

side, he managed to play, in the same season, in the three major levels of Spanish football – Vélez was definitely promoted to Athletic's first team for 2008–09. He was regularly played during the league campaign (28 matches, although only four complete) and, on 9 May 2009, scored the game's only goal as the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

defeated

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

at home. Vélez made only five official appearances for Athletic during the first part of

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, all as a second-half substitute. On 19 January 2011 he moved to

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 Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

from division two on loan, reuniting with former Athletic teammate – and namesake –

Iñigo Vélez Iñigo Vélez de Mendizábal Fernández de Garaialde (born 15 March 1982), known as Iñigo or Vélez, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a forward, currently a manager. Playing career Born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Vélez began h ...

. In late July, after being deemed surplus to requirements by new manager

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning "The Crazy Bielsa"; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of Premier League club Leeds United. He is a forme ...

, he terminated his contract at the San Mamés Stadium and signed for

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

of the same tier, with his former club having a rebuying option at the end of the 2011–12 season. On 3 October 2011, during an away league fixture against

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

, Velez collided with opponent

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Toni Doblas Antonio "Toni" Doblas Santana (born 5 August 1980) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the better part of his professional career with Betis, appearing in 95 competitive matches and winning one Copa del Rey. He ...

, suffering an extremely serious injury to his right knee which sidelined him for the rest of the campaign. In July 2013 he signed with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to 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 ...

, recently promoted to the second division. Vélez agreed to a one-year deal with fellow league team

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 ...

on 13 July 2015. He returned to the third tier prior to the start of 2016–17, joining

CD Tudelano Club Deportivo Tudelano is a Spanish football team based in Tudela, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1935 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at '' Estadio Ciudad de Tudela'', with a capacity o ...

. In November 2017, following a match against his former club Mirandés where he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for kicking an opponent, Vélez was banned for four games. Upon appeal, it was later reduced to two. On 24 June 2019, the 34-year-old Vélez returned to Peña Sport.Renuevan Azpíroz e Ilintxeta en la Peña Sport (Azpíroz and Ilintxeta renew at Peña Sport)
Noticias de Navarra, 24 June 2019 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velez, Ion 1985 births Living people People from Tafalla (comarca) Spanish footballers Footballers from Navarre Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Basconia footballers Bilbao Athletic footballers Barakaldo CF footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Hércules CF players CD Numancia players Girona FC players Deportivo Alavés players CD Mirandés footballers CD Tudelano footballers Peña Sport FC footballers