Óscar Montalbán Ramos (born 17 May 1976), known as Rubio, is a Spanish former

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 ...

, and is 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 ...

Club career

Spain

After playing several years in the lower leagues, Rubio signed with Real Madrid in 1998, spending the vast majority of his spell in the Segunda División B with the reserves. He made his only appearance for the first team in the 1998–99 edition of 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 footb ...

, against

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 ...

: after a 6–0 away loss, he featured in the second leg, an insufficient 2–1 win. Rubio was loaned to CP Mérida for 1999–2000, failing to appear in a single match. In January 2000, he was released by Madrid and joined

CD Toledo Club Deportivo Toledo, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded in 1928 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 18, holding home games at ''Estadio Salto del Caballo'', w ...

also of Segunda División– both clubs would be relegated at the end of the season, the former due to financial irregularities.

Livingston

Rubio spent his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ar ...

in top-flight football with Portugal's S.C. Farense, playing less than half of the Primeira Liga games as his team finished in 13th position. He signed for Scottish Premier League side Livingston in July 2001, going on to make a total of 148 official appearances for them over the next four years and score eight goals. In the 2001–02 campaign, Rubio appeared in 33 matches as the ''Livi Lions'' finished in a best-ever third place, with the subsequent

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for 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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. He then made history by becoming the first ever Livingston player to score in a

European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competition ...

, when he netted a header in the club's first game, a 1–1 draw at

FC Vaduz FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

(eventual away goals rule qualification). He contributed to the team's victorious run in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

in 2003–04, including starting and finishing

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against Hibernian.

Later years

Rubio left Livingston in July 2005 and moved back to his country, spending one season in the third tier with

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

. He retired in 2009 at the age of 33 after three years with amateurs

Galáctico Pegaso Galáctico Pegaso was a Spanish football team based in Tres Cantos, in the autonomous Community of Madrid. Founded in 1962 and dissolved in 2010, it held home games at '' Estadio La Foresta'', with a capacity of 2,000 seats. History In 1962, Pega ...

, also in his native

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubio 1976 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football defenders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players RSD Alcalá players RCD Mallorca B players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players CP Mérida footballers CD Toledo players Rayo Vallecano players Primeira Liga players S.C. Farense players Scottish Premier League players Livingston F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Spanish football managers Tercera División managers