Álvaro Peña Herrero (born 24 October 1991) is a Spanish 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 lea ...

who plays mainly as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Having been brought up at

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

(two competitive appearances), he scored 17

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

goals in 246 games over seven seasons, playing for

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

Alcorcón Alcorcón () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. As of 2022, it had a population of 170,296. Geography The municipality, largely flat, lies at an average altitude of 711 metres above sea level, with the hi ...

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

, Mirandés and

Amorebieta Amorebieta-Etxano, also known as Zornotza ( Spanish, ''Amorebieta-Echano''), is a town and municipality located in Biscay in the Basque Country, an Autonomous Community in northern Spain. At the time of the 2019 census, the population of the mun ...

Club career

Born in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, Peña joined local

's youth system in 2006, aged 15. After appearing for farm team

CD Basconia Club Deportivo Basconia is a Spanish football club based in Basauri, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded on 14 March 1913, it currently plays in , holding home games at the ''Artunduaga Sports Centre'', in the town o ...

, he went on to spend two full seasons with the B side in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

. Peña made his debut with the main squad on 28 November 2012, starting in a 2–0 away win against

Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Football Club () known as Ironi Kiryat Shmona is a professional Association football, football club based in Kiryat Shmona, in the northern district of Israel. The club is a current member of the Israeli Premier League, ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. He scored two goals in 34 matches for the reserves in his last year,

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

included. On 3 July 2013, Peña signed a two-year contract with

club

CD Lugo Club Deportivo Lugo is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 8 July 1953, it plays in Primera Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio Anxo ...

. He made his league debut on 17 August, playing 65 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

, and scored his first goal as a professional on 19 October by netting his team's second in a 3–3 draw at

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

. Peña joined

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

of division three in August 2015, on a two-year deal. On 5 July 2017, he returned to the second tier after agreeing to a two-year contract at

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo Domingo, ...

. On 17 January 2019, Peña signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

, still in the second division. On 2 September, he moved to

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División ...

of the same league on loan for the season. Upon returning, Peña was a regular starter for ''Alba'' as they suffered relegation. On 21 July 2021, he joined second-division newcomers

SD Amorebieta Sociedad Deportiva Amorebieta is a Spanish football team based in Amorebieta-Etxano, in the Basque Country. Founded in 1925, it currently plays in , holding home games temporarily at the Lezama Facilities outside Bilbao (its own ground '' Campo ...

. On 25 August 2022, Peña signed a one-year contract (with an option to extend) with

Almere City FC Almere City Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Netherlands. Founded in 2001, the club currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, following relegation from the Eredivisie in 2024–25 Eredivisie, 20 ...

in the Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

. He won promotion to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

in his debut campaign via the play-offs, a first-ever for the club in its 22-year history to which he contributed five goals from 31 appearances. Peña scored his only goal in the Dutch top tier on 17 December 2023, in a 5–0 home victory over

SBV Vitesse SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

. His side managed to easily avoid relegation, finishing with 34 points. On 17 July 2024, Peña joined

FC Andorra Futbol Club Andorra is a professional football club based in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, that currently competes in , in the Spanish league system. The club was founded in 1942 and currently plays its home fixtures at Estadi Nacional. In spite ...

on a one-year deal with an option to extend. On 24 July of the following year, after helping the side to return to the second division at first attempt, he terminated his link.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Alvaro 1991 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Bilbao Men's association football midfielders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers CD Lugo players Racing de Santander players AD Alcorcón footballers Albacete Balompié players CD Mirandés footballers SD Amorebieta footballers FC Andorra players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Almere City FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Andorra Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Andorra