Benjamín Martínez Martínez (born 23 August 1987) known as Benja 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 as a forward for

CF Intercity Club de Fútbol Intercity is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. The club plays in , holding home matches at the ''Estadio Antonio Solana'', with a capacity of 2,000 spectators. ...

. He played 142 games and scored 24 goals in the

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 ...

for Barcelona B,

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

Llagostera Llagostera () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Gironès in Catalonia, Spain. During the 20th century, it was known for the production of cork and derived articles. It is located 20 km south of Girona and 15 km west from the ...

and

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

, adding 159 matches and 56 goals 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 ...

for four clubs.

Club career

Born in

Sant Cugat del Vallès Sant Cugat del Vallès () is a town and municipality north of Barcelona, Catalonia. Known as ''Castrum Octavianum'' in antiquity (which means ''the castle of Octavianus'') and as ''Pins del Vallès'' during the Second Spanish Republic, it is nam ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Benja concluded his youth development at

CF Damm Club de Futbol Damm is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1954, it is dedicated to youth football. Their ''Juvenil A'' squad play in the Group III of t ...

before joining RCD Espanyol B in 2006, spending his tenure on loan at CE Europa. Two years later, he joined another reserve team,

FC Barcelona B 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 ...

, and after a loan at

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before ...

he scored eight goals in 26 games in his first season as they won promotion from

, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 3–3 away draw against

Polideportivo Ejido Poli Ejido 2012 Sociedad Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in El Ejido, Province of Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1969 and dissolved in 2012, it held home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Santo Domingo'' ...

in the first leg of the

play-off 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 eith ...

first round. On 14 July 2011, Benja transferred to

side

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

, totalling 14 goals in 53 competitive matches over the next two campaigns, two of those coming in the first 11 minutes of a 3–1 home win over

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

on 29 September 2012. The following 24 February he suffered a serious left knee injury against

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

, but he nonetheless agreed to sign for this club on 27 June; the deal was frozen until his recovery. After terminating his contract in January 2014, Benja joined another second-division team,

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

, on the anniversary of his injury. The following 7 January he returned to his native region once more, after being loaned to

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a historical List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sabadell ( Catalonia) Founded in 1903, its first men's team plays in the . Its first CE Sabadell (women), women's tea ...

for the rest of the campaign, which ended in relegation. On 27 July 2016, after suffering the same fate with

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Badalona, Province of Barcelona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays ...

, Benja dropped into division three for the first time in six years, moving to

Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa (), better known as Cultural Leonesa or La Cultural, is a Spanish football team based in León, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Founded on 5 August 1923, it currently plays in Primera División RFE ...

. Roughly one year later, after scoring a career-best 25 goals – 26 overall – to help them to return to the second tier after 42 years, the 30-year-old joined

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

. In his first season at the

Estadio Martínez Valero The Estadio Martínez Valero is a stadium located in the Spanish city of Elche in the province of Alacant, province of Alicante, Valencian Community. It is the home stadium of Elche CF, a team that is currently playing in Segunda División. Its n ...

, Benja scored 14 times in all competitions, including the crucial goal in a 3–2 aggregate victory over

Villarreal CF B Villarreal Club de Fútbol "B" is a Spanish football team based in Villarreal, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1999, it is the reserve team of Villarreal CF and plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio de la Cerámica'', wit ...

in the playoff final to reach the second division on 23 June 2018. Having not added another goal, he joined neighbouring

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

in February 2019 on a short-term loan to cover the long-term injury of Stephane Emaná; in July, following a playoff final defeat to

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

, he signed a two-year deal.

Honours

Cultural Leonesa *

: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benja 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Sant Cugat del Vallès Footballers from the Province of Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Segunda Federación players CF Damm players RCD Espanyol B footballers CE Europa footballers FC Barcelona Atlètic players CF Reus Deportiu players Girona FC players Córdoba CF players UD Las Palmas players CE Sabadell FC footballers CF Badalona Futur players Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa players Elche CF players Hércules CF players CF Intercity players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen