Javier López Vallejo (born 22 September 1975) 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

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

, López Vallejo began his career at hometown's

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 S ...

, making his first appearance for the main squad not yet 19 in a 3–0 home win over

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

on 15 May 1994, although the Navarrese had already been relegated from

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' ...

. He became an undisputed starter from the 1995–96 season onwards. Vallejo signed for

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

in 1999 alongside teammate

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 ...

(also a goalkeeper), appearing in all the games during the 1999–2000 campaign as the club returned to the top flight after a one-year absence. He retained first-choice status the following two years. With the signing of

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ...

in 2002 and the subsequent arrival of imports

Sebastián Viera Mario Sebastián Viera Galaín (born 7 March 1983) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for and captains Colombian club Atlético Junior. Club career Born in Florida, Florida Department, Viera started his professional ...

and Mariano Barbosa, however, López Vallejo was consecutively demoted to backup and third-choice. In order to search more playing opportunities he joined fellow league team

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 ...

on loan for the 2006–07 season, where he played the majority of 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' matches in that competition. In 2007–08, Vallejo signed for

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

on a free transfer, where he backed up former Real Madrid player César (two games played). As the latter moved to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in August 2008 he became the starter, with the side now playing in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, and was instrumental as they immediately returned to the top level. López Vallejo started the 2009–10 season on the bench, then became first-choice over

Juan Pablo Carrizo Juan Pablo Carrizo (born 6 May 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his professional career with River Plate, where he played until 2008, winning the 2008 Clausura. His performances earne ...

. However, he lost his position in January 2010 with the arrival of new coach

José Aurelio Gay José Aurelio Gay López (born 10 December 1965) is a Spanish retired Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder, and the Manager (association football), manager of Bolivian club C.D. Vaca Díez, CD Vaca Díez. He was associate ...

and, during that month, was released by mutual consent; he immediately found a new team, joining Levadiakos F.C. in Greece alongside compatriot

Enrique Sola Enrique "Kike" Sola Clemente (; born 25 February 1986) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker. During a 13-year professional career, he amassed La Liga totals of 106 matches and 22 goals over nine seasons, representing Osasu ...

, from former club Osasuna.

Honours

Club

;Villarreal * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2003, 2004

Country

;Spain U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

;Spain U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

: Runner-up

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Vallejo, Javier 1975 births Living people Footballers from Pamplona Spanish footballers Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CA Osasuna B players CA Osasuna players Villarreal CF players Recreativo de Huelva players Real Zaragoza players Super League Greece players Levadiakos F.C. players Kavala F.C. players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Basque Country international footballers