Javier López Vallejo (born 22 September 1975) is a Spanish former

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

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

, López Vallejo began his career at hometown's

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

, making his first appearance for the main squad not yet 19 in a 3–0 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 15 May 1994, although the

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

se had already been relegated from

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 ...

. He became an undisputed starter from the 1995–96 season onwards.López Vallejo, en la órbita del Mallorca (López Vallejo, tracked by Mallorca)
Última Hora, 5 April 2007 (in Spanish) López Vallejo signed for

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 ...

in 1999 alongside teammate

Jesús Unanua Jesús Unanua Becerril (born 23 June 1969) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 204 Segunda División matches over ten seasons, in representation of six teams. In La Liga he was almost exclusively a ...

(also a goalkeeper), appearing in all the games during the 1999–2000 campaign as the club returned to the top flight after a one-year absence. He retained first-choice status the following two years. With the signing of

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his career with the Barce ...

in 2002 and the subsequent arrival of imports

Sebastián Viera Mario Sebastián Viera Galaín (born 7 March 1983) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently a manager. During his 20-year senior career, he represented mainly Colombian club Atlético Junior. He also p ...

and

Mariano Barbosa Mariano Damián Barbosa (born 27 July 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Lanús, Buenos Aires, Barbosa started his career with Club Atlético Banfield in 2002. In June 2005, he wa ...

, however, López Vallejo was consecutively demoted to backup and third-choice. In order to search more playing opportunities he joined

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 ...

in the same league on loan for the 2006–07 season, where he played the majority of 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 ...

ns' matches. In 2007–08, López Vallejo signed for

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 ...

on a free transfer, where he backed up former

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

player César (two games). As the latter moved to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in August 2008 he became the starter, with the side now 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 ...

, and was instrumental as they immediately returned to the top tier. López Vallejo started the 2009–10 season on the bench, then became first-choice over

Juan Pablo Carrizo Juan Pablo Carrizo (born 6 May 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his professional career with River Plate, where he played until 2008, winning the 2008 Clausura. His performances earne ...

. However, he lost his position in January 2010 with the arrival of new coach

José Aurelio Gay José Aurelio Gay López (born 10 December 1965) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, currently a manager. He was associated with Zaragoza throughout his career, serving the club as both a player and manager. He amassed L ...

and, later that month, was released by mutual consent; he immediately found a new team, joining

Levadiakos F.C. Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional Association football, football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Super League Greece, Alp ...

in Greece alongside his compatriot Kike Sola, from former club Osasuna.

International career

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, López Vallejo helped the Spain under-17s to win the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

in Switzerland (then named under-16). Later that year, in the FIFA World Cup equivalent, he was the starter in a final runner-up position in Italy.¿Qué fue de los finalistas del Mundial sub17 de España? (What happened to the Spanish under17 World Cup finalists?)

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

, 26 October 2017 (in Spanish) López Vallejo also won

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the unofficial

and Basque Country regional sides.

Honours

Villarreal *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Spain U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

European U-16 Championship 1991
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

Spain U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

runner-up:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Vallejo, Javier 1975 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Pamplona Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CA Osasuna B players CA Osasuna players Villarreal CF players Recreativo de Huelva players Real Zaragoza players Super League Greece players Levadiakos F.C. players Kavala F.C. players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece