Ricardo Molina Miras (born 31 January 1984) 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 le ...

who played as a

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 ...

, and is the current

goalkeeping coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hun ...

of UD Almería.

Playing career

Molina was born in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

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 ...

. He made his senior debuts for

Los Molinos CF Los Molinos Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1973, it plays in ''Primera Andaluza Almería'', holding home matches at '' Complejo Deportivo Municipal de Los Molinos ...

, and represented UD Almería's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

for several seasons in the

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

. Molina played his first match as a professional on 13 March 2005, starting in a 0–3 away loss against

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 ...

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 ...

. He only appeared in his second match for the main squad on 17 June 2007, being sent off in the fifth minute of a 3–0 home success against

UD Vecindario Unión Deportiva Vecindario is a Spanish football team based in Vecindario, Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1962, it helds home games at ''Estadio Municipal de Vecindario'', with a ...

. On 25 July 2007 Molina moved to

Alicante CF Alicante Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1918, it played its home matches at ''Estadio Alicante CF'', with a 4,000-seat capacity. History ''Alicante Club de Fútbol'', under t ...

of the third-tier

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 renewed his link on 28 June of the following year, as his side were promoted to the second division, but acted mainly as a backup to

Jesús Unanua Jesús Unanua Becerril (born 23 June 1969) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 204 Segunda División matches over ten seasons, in representation of six teams. In La Liga he was almost exclusively a b ...

; he rescinded his link on 30 December 2008, and signed for Orihuela CF three days later. On 12 July 2011 Molina joined third-tier club

CF Badalona Club de Fútbol Badalona () is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903 it plays in Tercera Federación – Group 5, temporarily holding home games at Estadi Municipal de Badalona, with ...

. A backup to longtime incumbent Marcos, he moved to another Segunda B team, UCAM Murcia CF, in June of the following year. On 1 August 2013,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Molina moved to CD Español del Alquián of the fourth tier.

Coaching career

Molina retired in 2014, and joined his first club Almería's B-team as a goalkeeping coach the following year. In 2016, he was appointed

Fran Fernández Francisco Javier "Fran" Fernández Díaz (born 20 March 1980) is a Spanish football manager. Career Fernández started his career at Polideportivo Aguadulce, as a director of football and manager. He subsequently acted as an assistant manager at ...

's assistant while also keeping his previous role.

References

External links

*
Futbolme profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Molina, Ricardo 1984 births Living people Footballers from Almería Spanish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players UD Almería B players UD Almería players Alicante CF footballers Orihuela CF players CF Badalona players