David García de la Cruz (; born 16 January 1981) is a Spanish former 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 played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He spent most of his career with

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, appearing in 243 competitive matches over 12

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 ...

seasons and winning two

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

trophies.

Club career

Born in

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...

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 ...

, García was a product of

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

's academy, and made his

debut on 8 January 2000 in a 0–0 home draw against

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

, becoming a regular fixture in the 2001–02 season and also being named second team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

after

Raúl Tamudo Raúl Tamudo Montero (born 19 October 1977) is a Spanish retired 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 footbal ...

, the only player to have been on the club's books for longer; on 23 March 2003, he scored the first of only two competitive goals during his career, helping to a 1–1 draw at

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

. García renewed his link for a further two seasons in February 2007, stating about the deal: "I want to finish my career here. I can't imagine myself wearing any other shirt." During that campaign, however, he only totalled 16 games (nine in the league, adding seven in the club's runner-up run in the

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 ...

) mainly due to a knee injury. In 2008–09, García played just 14 matches as he again dealt with physical ailments, but was instrumental in the final stretch, appearing in seven complete fixtures out of the last ten – of which Espanyol won eight. On 12 June 2009 he extended his contract for two additional years, going on to make 38 league appearances during that timeframe. On 4 August 2011, García moved to

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 ...

club

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 ...

. He was first-choice for the vast majority of his tenure, retiring at the age of 34 and returning to Espanyol to act as

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for the youth system.

Honours

Espanyol *

: 1999–2000, 2005–06 *

runner-up: 2006–07

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, David 1981 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Manresa Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Girona FC players Kings League players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Catalonia men's international footballers