Miguel Ángel Ruiz García (born 5 January 1955) is a Spanish retired

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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Ruiz was born in Toledo, Castile-La Mancha. He made his professional debut with Atlético Madrid, in 1977. From the 1979–80 season onwards he was an essential defensive unit for the Spanish capital club, rarely missing a

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' ...

fixture when healthy and helping the side to two major titles; he was part of the team that reached the final of the 1986

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

, appearing in the decisive match against FC Dynamo Kyiv (0–3 loss). In the summer of 1987, Ruiz joined CD Málaga of the second level alongside Atlético teammate

Clemente Clemente is both an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese surname and a given name. Notable people with the surname include: Surname * Aldo Di Clemente (born 1948), Italian amateur astronomer * Anna Clemente (born 1994), Italian racewalker * Ari Cleme ...

, going on to experience both one

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost 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 "historical nationality". The t ...

ns. He retired in 1991 at the age of 36, after contributing with only one game to

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

's first-ever promotion to the top flight. Subsequently, Ruiz worked as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

with Atlético Madrid,

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

and Albacete. In late November 2009 he left his post at the latter club, who was facing severe economic difficulties.

Honours

Atlético Madrid *

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 footb ...

: 1984–85 * Supercopa de España:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

runner-up: 1985–86 Málaga * Segunda División: 1987–88 Albacete *Segunda División:

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Miguel Angel 1955 births Living people Sportspeople from Toledo, Spain Spanish footballers Footballers from Castilla–La Mancha Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Atlético Madrid B players Atlético Madrid footballers CD Málaga footballers Albacete Balompié players