Óscar Vales Varela (born 13 September 1974) 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 lea ...

who played as a utility defender, and sometimes as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

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 ...

, Vales appeared in one

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 ...

game for

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 ...

as the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

club still not acted as

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 ...

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

, which only took place in 1997. Aged 17, he was purchased by the latter and finished his football development there. After a handful of matches for the reserves, Vales made his first-team debut on 6 April 1994, playing as a

in a 0–3 away loss against

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

. In the following decade he would almost never be an automatic first-choice for Athletic, but managed to appear regularly in various defensive positions; on 6 December 1994 he scored a rare goal, at

Parma F.C. Parma Calcio 1913 () is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, which competes in the Serie A, the top tier of Italian league system, following promotion from Serie B in the 2023–24 season. ''Parma Football Cl ...

for the campaign's

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, but his side lost 2–4 and 3–4 on aggregate. Vales was loaned for two years to fellow

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, playing UEFA Cup in his second season. In the summer of 1999 he returned to the San Mamés Stadium, managing to be regularly used during his second spell; however, after only two appearances combined from

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he decided to retire from the game at the age of 30. In 2008–09, after three years out of football, Vales joined longtime Athletic Bilbao teammate

Aitor Larrazábal Aitor Larrazábal Bilbao (born 21 June 1971) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played solely for Athletic Bilbao, currently a manager. A left-back of attacking penchant, he appeared in 445 competitive matches for his only club and ...

at regional side Gatika, the latter acting as manager. After one season he retired for good, having appeared in 236 matches in Spain's top division.

References

External links

* *
Celta de Vigo biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vales, Oscar 1974 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Bilbao Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers RC Celta de Vigo players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers