Esteban José Navarro Navarro (born 22 March 1976) is a retired Spanish

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

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 ...

, and is a current manager. Most of his 17-year professional career was spent at

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

, where he amassed

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 ...

totals of 82 games and two goals (adding 71/1 in

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 ...

Playing career

Esteban was born in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

. After beginning to play as a senior for

CD Roquetas Club Deportivo Roquetas, also known as Roquetas, was a Spanish football team based in Roquetas de Mar, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1970, it was dissolved in 2016. The club's home ground is '' Estadio Antonio Peroles'', w ...

, he moved to his hometown's

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

, where he became a regular starter as the team climbed up from

the fourth ''The Fourth'' () is a 1972 Soviet drama film directed by Aleksandr Stolper. The film tells the story of an American journalist who has to make a difficult choice: publicize the plans of supporters of the war after having lost all his life's ben ...

to 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 ...

. Esteban played his first match as a professional on 31 August 2002, starting in a 1–2 home loss against

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...

. He only scored his first goal in the second level on 27 September 2003, netting a last-minute equalizer in a 2–2 home draw to

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 ...

. On 12 January 2006, after struggling with injuries during the season, Esteban moved to

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 ...

from

division three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

. After being an ever-present figure during his spell, he moved back to first club Roquetas and retired in 2010, aged 34.

Managerial career

Shortly after retiring, Esteban became assistant manager at his last club. He was appointed head coach on 17 May 2012, leaving in the following summer. In July 2013, Esteban returned to Almería, where he worked with the youth teams. On 25 April 2018, after

Fran Fernández Francisco Javier "Fran" Fernández Díaz (born 20 March 1980) is a Spanish association football, football Coach (sport), manager, who is in charge of Real Murcia CF, Real Murcia. Career Fernández started his career at Polideportivo Aguadulce, a ...

's promotion to the first team, he was appointed manager of the reserves in the fourth tier. On 16 October 2019, Esteban was sacked by the ''Rojiblancos'', being replaced by Nandinho.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro, Esteban 1976 births Living people Footballers from Almería Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players UD Almería players Córdoba CF players Spanish football managers Segunda División B managers UD Almería B managers