Kepa Blanco González (born 13 January 1984), sometimes known simply as Kepa, is a Spanish retired 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 ...

who played as a striker, and 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 ...

. He was best known for his spell with

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

, for which he appeared in 58 competitive games and scored 14 goals, winning four major titles including two UEFA Cups. In

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 ...

he also represented

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

, amassing totals of 61 matches and 11 goals over six seasons.

Club career

Kepa was born in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

Province of Málaga The province of Málaga ( es, Provincia de Málaga ) is located in Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and by the provinces of Cádiz to the west, Seville to the northwest, Córdoba to the north, and Granada to ...

. His forename was of Basque origin, as his mother hailed from

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

. Brought up through the ranks of

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

, he played two

matches with the first team in the 2004–05 season, and established himself as an important attacking player with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

n club in the following two years, but almost exclusively as a substitute. In 2006–07, even after having scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

in the league opener, and another three goals in the victorious campaign in 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 ...

, Kepa fell out of favour, and on 22 January 2007 he went on loan to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

until the end of the campaign, with the option of a permanent transfer available; on his debut for the Hammers, eight days later, he netted in the 77th minute after only being on for 70 seconds with his first touch of the game against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. In July 2007, Kepa agreed to a four-year deal with top-flight club Getafe CF, with Sevilla retaining the option of repurchasing the player the next season or the one after that. During his first year he appeared sparingly for the UEFA Cup quarter-finalists, scoring in a 2–0 home win over

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

after coming from the bench on 21 October but also being

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 ...

after kicking an opponent; from that moment onwards he rarely had a match, not even in 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 ...

(nine league matches in two full seasons combined). On 5 August 2010, Kepa was sold to

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

of 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 ...

Adrián Colunga Adrián Colunga Pérez (born 17 November 1984) is a Spanish former Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He appeared in 152 La Liga matches over seven seasons, scoring a total of 36 go ...

moved in the opposite direction. He made only 19 appearances out of a possible 42 in his first year, being released from contract in April 2012 after no competitive minutes during the campaign whatsoever. In 2014, after one season in the second tier with

CD Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divisi ...

, where he was also sparingly played and also suffered team relegation, and one year of inactivity, 30-year-old Kepa retired from football, being appointed assistant coach at amateurs

UD San Pedro Unión Deportiva San Pedro is a Spanish football team based in San Pedro Alcántara, Marbella, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1974, it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 9, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal ...

in his native region shortly after.

Honours

Club

Sevilla *

: 2006–07 *

: 2005–06, 2006–07

International

Spain U23 * Mediterranean Games:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco, Kepa 1984 births Living people People from Marbella Sportspeople from the Province of Málaga Spanish people of Basque descent Spanish footballers Footballers from Andalusia Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Sevilla Atlético players Sevilla FC players UEFA Cup winning players Getafe CF footballers Recreativo de Huelva players CD Guadalajara (Spain) footballers Premier League players West Ham United F.C. players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in football Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish football managers