Francisco 'Fran' Manuel Vélez Jiménez (born 23 June 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 played for
Super League Greece
The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...
club
Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect
* ...
as a
central defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
or a
right-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
.
Club career
Gimnà stic
Born in
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...
,
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 ...
, Vélez began playing football for Club Esportiu La Floresta. In late 2009 he signed a contract with
Gimnà stic de Tarragona
Club Gimnà stic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnà stic Tarragona or sometimes just Nà stic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in .
The club was founded in 1886 an ...
, where he spent his last year as a junior.
On 10 April 2010, Vélez made his official ''Nà stic'' debut, starting against
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 ...
in a 1–1 away draw. He made three more appearances during
the season in
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 ...
, against
Real Betis
Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...
,
Cádiz CF
Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia.
Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724.
Salvadoran ...
(where he was
sent off
In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
) and
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 ...
. In
the following campaign he represented
CF Pobla de Mafumet, the
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 ...
.
Vélez was loaned to
UD Logroñés
Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''Estad ...
of
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 ...
in August 2011. He scored his only goal of
the season against
Real Sociedad B
Real Sociedad de Fútbol "B" (also known as Sanse) is a Spanish football team based in San Sebastián, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1955, it is the reserve team of Real Sociedad and plays in Primera Federación � ...
, contributing to a 3–1 home win.
On 14 July 2012, Vélez returned to ''Nà stic'' and its main squad. On 26 August he played his first game in his second stint, against
Valencia CF Mestalla
Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in , holding home games at '' Ciud ...
. He netted his first goal with the club on 7 October, opening the 2–0 home victory over
CD Binissalem
Club Deportivo Binissalem is a Spanish football team based in Binissalem, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded in 1914 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Miquel Pons'', which holds 2,000 spectators.
Season to ...
.
AlmerÃa
On 2 September 2013, Vélez signed with
UD AlmerÃa
Unión Deportiva AlmerÃa, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in AlmerÃa, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''AlmerÃa Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...
, initially being assigned to
the reserves also in the third division. He made his first-team debut on 14 January of the following year, starting as a
right-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
in a 2–0 home loss to
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 ...
in the
round of 16
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
of the
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 GeneralÃsimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...
(3–1 loss on aggregate).
Vélez's maiden appearance in
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 ...
took place on 27 April 2014: he started and scored in a 2–1 win at
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 ...
, where he featured 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. ...
before being replaced by
Jonathan Zongo in the 71st minute. He played a further three matches with the main squad, only contributing four minutes in the last fixture, a 0–0 home draw against
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 ...
.
On 7 June 2014, Vélez was definitely promoted to the first team. On 31 March 2015, he was ruled out for the remainder of
the season after suffering a
shoulder
The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons.
The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...
injury; the season also ended in relegation.
Vélez was regularly used during the following second-tier campaigns, and cut ties with the club on 28 June 2017.
Wisła Kraków
On 1 July 2017, Vélez signed with Polish club
Wisła Kraków
Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...
. He scored his only goal in the
Ekstraklasa
(; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...
on 18 March 2018, helping to a 2–0 away victory over
Legia Warsaw
Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...
.
Aris
On 25 July 2018, after the player successfully passed his medicals,
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris FC () , commonly known as Aris Thessaloniki or simply Aris, is a Greek professional football club and the most successful and prestigious of the city Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. The team competes in the top-tier Super League Greece an ...
announced the signing of Vélez on a two-year contract. He scored his first goal for the team the following 24 February, heading home in a 1–1 draw at
Super League Greece
The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...
leaders
PAOK FC
PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athletic Club of Constantinople, Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional Association football, football cl ...
.
Later career
Vélez agreed to join
Panathinaikos F.C.
Panathinaikos Football Club ( ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', ), is a Greek professional football club based in Athen ...
on 20 February 2020, with the three-year deal being made effective on 1 July. In September 2023, after
one season in the
Saudi Pro League
The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...
with
Al Fateh SC
Al Fateh Sports Club () is a Saudi Arabian multi-sports club based in Al-Mubarraz, Al-Ahsa. It is mainly known for its professional football club. The club derives its nickname from the fact that almost all of its sections play in the nationa ...
, the 32-year-old returned to Aris on a two-year contract.
Personal life
Vélez's older brother,
José Antonio, was also a footballer. Both played for Gimnà stic and Pobla.
Fran Vélez pide irse (Fran Vélez asks to leave)
Diari de Tarragona
''Diari de Tarragona'' is a Spanish language newspaper, with some articles in Catalan language, Catalan. Based in the province of Tarragona, they are focused on proving the area with local and provincial news. They were originally founded in 1939 ...
, 22 June 2013 (in Spanish)
Career statistics
Honours
Panathinaikos
*Greek Cup
The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation.
The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...
: 2021–22[
]
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velez, Fran
1991 births
Living people
21st-century Spanish sportsmen
Spanish men's footballers
Footballers from Tarragona
Men's association football defenders
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
Gimnà stic de Tarragona footballers
CF Pobla de Mafumet footballers
UD Logroñés players
UD AlmerÃa B players
UD AlmerÃa players
Ekstraklasa players
Wisła Kraków players
Super League Greece players
Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players
Panathinaikos F.C. players
Saudi Pro League players
Al Fateh SC players
Spanish expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Poland
Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia