Javier 'Javi' López Rodríguez (; born 21 January 1986) 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 mainly as a full-back. He spent the vast majority of his professional 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 ...

, signing in 2007 and appearing in 283 competitive matches during his spell. In November 2020, he moved to the Australian

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

with

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

Club career

Espanyol

Born in

Osuna Osuna () is a town and municipality in the province of Seville, southern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. , it has a population of c. 17,800. It is the location of the Andalusian Social Economy School. Osuna is built on a hill, o ...

Province of Seville The Province of Seville () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It borders the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz in the south, Huelva in the west, Badajoz in the north and Córdoba in the ...

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 ...

, and a product of

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 ...

' youth ranks, López signed with

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 ...

in 2007. On 4 October 2009, he made his debut for the first team of the latter club in a

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 ...

match against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

, taking the pitch with less than ten minutes to go as the ten-man side eventually held off the hosts to a 0–0 draw. The vast majority of his first season was spent, however, with the reserves, which suffered relegation from

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 ...

. López was promoted to the main squad for the 2010–11 campaign, being used by manager

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (born 2 March 1972), also known mononymously by his nickname Poch, is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the United States men's national team. Pochettin ...

in various

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

and defender positions. He recorded a combined 27 matches across the league and 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 Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

as his side finished eighth on the table – their highest position since 2004–05. López scored his first goal as a professional on 18 September 2011, but in a 2–1 away loss to

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

where he was also

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 ...

for two bookable offences; one of them resulted in a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

. On 29 March 2014, after

Kiko Casilla Francisco "Kiko" Casilla Cortés (; born 2 October 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He started playing for Real Madrid, but only represented the reserve teams in the early stage of his career. He went on to ...

was sent off late in the home fixture against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

and his team had no replacements left, López played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

; he conceded no goals in the 1–0 defeat. He extended his contract for two more years in March 2017, and earned an automatic extension to that deal due to playing the majority of games at the age of 33. López took over the

captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

at the beginning of 2015–16 from

Sergio García Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He turned professional in 1999 and played on the European Tour and PGA Tour prior to joining LIV Golf in 2022. García has won 36 international tournaments as ...

, following the forward's departure. On 21 July 2020, he signed a new deal after Espanyol's relegation; a month later, however, he terminated it citing the need for a new challenge, leaving with 283 appearances to his credit.

Adelaide United

López joined

Adelaide United FC Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's Association football, soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently ...

on 25 November 2020, on a one-year deal. He was persuaded to join by his compatriot

Isaías Isaías is the Spanish and Portuguese language form of the biblical name Isaiah. Notable people with the name include: * Isaias of Constantinople (died 1332), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1323 to 1332 * Isaias Afwerki (born 1942), ...

, becoming in the process the sixth Spaniard to play for the

club. In June 2021, López and fellow Spaniard

Juande Juan de Dios Prados López (born 12 August 1986), known as Juande, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Formed at Betis, he totalled 80 games and three goals for the team including three seasons in La Liga ...

signed new deals to stay in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

for the following season. He scored his first goal for Adelaide on 1 January in a 4–0 win over

Wellington Phoenix FC Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under Professional sports league organization#Systems around the world, licenc ...

Hindmarsh Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium (also known as Coopers Brewery, Coopers Stadium under naming rights) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, South Australia, Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Australian ...

. After contributing to a fourth-place finish and post-season semi-final, he was named as a substitute in the league's team of the year at the

PFA Footballer of the Year Awards The PFA Footballer of the Year Awards (or the Professional Football Association Footballer of the Year Awards) is an annual award ceremony created to formally recognise the most outstanding Australian soccer players playing abroad or in the A-L ...

, and his contract was extended for another year. At the end of the 2023–24 campaign, López agreed to a new contract alongside Isaías, one that would see out his playing career as he also completed a coaching badge with the club. Both announced their retirement on 13 May 2025, with López having played exactly 100 matches during his tenure.

Honours

Individual * PFA A-League Men Team of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

Espanyol official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Javi 1986 births Living people People from Osuna 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Seville Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers A-League Men players Adelaide United FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia