Francisco "Kiko" Femenía Far (; born 2 February 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 plays 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 ...

for

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 ...

club

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

Club career

Hércules

Born in Sanet y Negrals,

Province of Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: / ) is a province located in eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province, containing the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Co ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

,¿Qué fue de los héroes del último ascenso a Primera del Hércules? (What happened to the heroes of Hércules' last promotion to ''Primera''?)

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () (sometime stylized as ''AS'' or ''As''; ) is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on association football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns ''El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The ...

, 18 June 2020 (in Spanish) Femenía was a product of

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

's youth ranks. He made his first-team debut on 15 June 2008 at just 17, appearing in a

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 ...

match at

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 ...

, a 1–1 draw which eventually certified 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'

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

even though they protested against the illegal fielding of an opposing player, specifically the youngster. Femenía played another game with the main squad in the 2008–09 season, again in the last round but 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 ...

(5–1 away win). In the subsequent off-season, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a five-year deal and, the following campaign, still only 18, he would be a much more important midfield unit, being the first substitute for veteran Francisco Rufete and totalling nearly 1,000 minutes in the league to help the club return to

after an absence of 13 years. On 28 August 2010, Femenía made his debut in the top division, replacing Abel Aguilar in the second half of the home fixture 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 ...

. After only a few minutes on the pitch, however, and a couple of poor decisions, he suffered an

anxiety attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a rapid, irregular heartbeat, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confus ...

from which he later fully recovered, although the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

eventually won 1–0. Femenía scored his only goal in the competition on 12 December 2010, closing the 4–1 home win over

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

Barcelona

Femenía joined

FC Barcelona Atlètic Futbol Club Barcelona Atlètic, commonly referred to as Barça Atlètic or Barça B, is a football team based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that will compete in Segunda Federación, the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system onward ...

on 6 July 2011, for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

2 million plus €1.5 million in add-ons. He scored his first official goal for his new team on 4 September, opening the score in a 4–0 away victory over

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at '' Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 sp ...

. Femenía netted five times in 30 games – 23 starts – in his first season, helping the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

to the eighth position.

Real Madrid

In late August 2013, Femenía was released by Barcelona, stating that he had been "ruined emotionally". He signed for

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 ...

shortly after, being assigned to the reserve side in the second division. Femenía appeared in only five matches during the whole campaign, which ended in relegation, and left the club in December 2014.

Alcorcón

On 7 January 2015, Femenía signed a six-month deal with AD Alcorcón also of the second tier. He totalled 996 minutes of action during the season, helping his team finish 11th.

Alavés

On 2 July 2015, Femenía moved to

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

after agreeing to a one-year contract. He contributed 38 appearances and five goals in his debut campaign as they returned to the top flight after ten years, and was eventually reconverted into a

.Deportivo Alavés 2016/2017: Kiko Femenía (2016/2017 Deportivo Alavés: Kiko Femenía)

Vavel Vavel (stylized VAVEL) is a Spain-based sports news website. It has 8 editions; Spain, United States, United Kingdom, France, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Mexico, and Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country p ...

, 18 August 2016 (in Spanish) Femenía left the

Mendizorrotza Stadium Mendizorrotza or Mendizorroza is a football (soccer), football stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Deportivo Alavés. History Opened on 27 April 1924, just one day before of Saint Prudence's Day (the day of the ...

on 6 June 2017, as his contract was due to expire.

Watford

On 1 July 2017, Femenía signed for

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

after agreeing to a four-year deal. He made his debut in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

on 12 August, coming on for injured Daryl Janmaat early into a 3–3 home draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Femenía scored his first league goal for the English club on 31 March 2018, helping the hosts earn one point after a 2–2 home draw with

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Villarreal

On 28 July 2022, aged 31, Femenía returned to Spain after five years and joined

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 ...

on a three-year contract, for an undisclosed fee.

Career statistics

Honours

Alavés *

: 2015–16 Watford *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Femenia, Kiko 1991 births Living people People from Marina Alta 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Alicante Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Hércules CF B players Hércules CF players FC Barcelona Atlètic players Real Madrid Castilla footballers AD Alcorcón footballers Deportivo Alavés players Villarreal CF players Premier League players English Football League players Watford F.C. players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England