Pablo Hernández Domínguez (; born 11 April 1985) 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 as an

attacking 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. ...

or winger. In a spell which also included two loans, he spent the early part of his career with

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, appearing in 158 official matches and scoring 25 goals. He also competed in Wales for two years with Swansea City, and several seasons in England with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. Hernández represented

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at the 2009 Confederations Cup.

Club career

Valencia

Born in

Castellón de la Plana Castellón de la Plana (in ), or simply Castellón (), is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea. Th ...

Province of Castellón Castellón (); co-officially in ) is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east. T ...

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 ...

, Hernández was a product of

's youth system (operating as striker in the B team). He made his debut with the main squad on the last matchday of 2005–06, playing 20 minutes in a 2–1 away loss against

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

. Midway through the following season, he was loaned to

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 ...

side

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

. In July 2007, Valencia included Hernández in the transfer that brought Alexis from

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

to the Mestalla Stadium, but would re-buy him 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 ...

1 million in July 2008. The player was subsequently signed to a six-year contract. Hernández scored his first goal for Valencia on 27 November 2008, in a 4–0 win over Rosenborg in the group stage of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, after an individual effort. After having subbed in for Rubén Baraja in the second half of a home fixture with

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 ...

, he netted his second and first in the league, in a 1–1 draw in March 2009. The following month, also as a replacement but now for Joaquín, he added his third, in a 3–1 home defeat of

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

– deep into injury time, against ten men. On 25 April 2009, this time as a starter, Hernández fired the hosts into the 2–1 lead against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, following a run between four players and a one-two with

Juan Mata Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League Men club Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Western Sydney Wanderers. He primarily plays as an attacking ...

; the match ended 2–2. He scored the second goal in 2009–10's opener, against Sevilla in a 2–0 home victory. Fully established in the starting XI now over Joaquín, he continued to produce fine displays during the campaign, including a 40-meter lob to help defeat

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 ...

3–0 away. Hernández scored twice against

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

round-of-32 second leg game played at the Mestalla on 25 February 2010, for a 3–0 win (3–1 on aggregate). In 2010–11, he continued battling with Joaquín for first-choice status. On 7 December 2010, he netted at

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, putting his team 1–0 up at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

in a 1–1 group stage draw.

Swansea City

On 31 August 2012, Hernández moved to

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 ...

side Swansea City for three years and a fee of £5.55 million. He scored his first official goal on 20 October, helping to a 2–1 home victory over

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. Hernández scored his second goal for the Swans on 3 November 2012, a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Chelsea at the

Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium (; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated multi-use sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales, hosting both rugby union and football. The stadium opened in 2005 and was name ...

. He was named to the team of the week published on 3 September by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

, and started in the final of the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

on 24 February 2013, helping to a 5–0 rout of Bradford City.

Al-Arabi

On 15 July 2014, Hernández joined Al-Arabi on a three-year deal, having started talks with the Qatari club the previous week. The fee was unknown, but it was speculated that the fee would be lower than the amount paid by Swansea to Valencia for his services two years before. Hernández returned to Spain and its top tier on 31 August 2015 after a loan spell at Al-Nasr, agreeing to a one-year loan deal with

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. He started regularly for the team from the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

outskirts, who ended the campaign with relegation.

Leeds United

On 2 August 2016, Hernández signed with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

on a six-month loan deal, with the option of a permanent move in January 2017, linking up with former Swansea manager Garry Monk and being given the number 19 shirt. After the former failed to receive his paperwork in time from the

Qatar Football Association The Qatar Football Association () is the governing body of football in Qatar. The QFA was founded in 1960 and is based in Doha, Qatar. It became a member of FIFA in 1963 and of AFC in 1967. The Qatar Football Association organizes the main leag ...

for the opening fixture against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

(which ended in a 3–0 defeat), he made his debut on 10 August in a 3–2 win at Fleetwood Town in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. Hernández's league debut for Leeds came in a 1–2 home loss to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, on 13 August 2016. On 17 September he scored his first goal, with a curling effort in a 2–0 victory over Cardiff City. On 5 November, he picked up a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury late on in a 3–2 win against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

, returning to action after almost two months; he celebrated his return on 26 December with a goal after replacing Hadi Sacko, helping defeat hosts Preston North End 4–1. Hernández signed a permanent six-month contract on 9 January 2017, with the option to extend the link by 12 months at the end of the season. He appeared in his first match after the new agreement four days later, helping the side climb to third in the table after beating Derby County 1–0 at home and being named Player of the match in the process. On 17 May 2017, the 32-year-old Hernández agreed to a new one-year deal. On 16 April 2018, he was nominated as one of four players for the Leeds Player of The Year award. Ten days later, he ended speculation about his future (with his contract close to expiry) by signing a new two-year extension until June 2020, and on 5 May, he won both its Player of the Year and Players Player Of The Year awards at the annual ceremony. On 25 August 2018, after Hernández had scored his third goal in five league games, manager

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning 'The Madman Bielsa'; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional Association football, football manager who is the current manager of the Uruguay national football team ...

hailed him as "a complete player from every point of view", adding that he had only rarely in his career seen a wide player exert such influence over the whole pitch. On 5 September, he won the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...

Championship Player Of The Month award for August. After helping Leeds to a third-place finish in the 2018–19 campaign, Hernández was voted into the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

on 24 April. Four days later, he again won his team's Player of the Year and Players Player Of The Year awards. On 19 November 2019, Hernández put pen to paper to an extension until 2022. His two crucial match-winning goals at home in early 2020 against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

were key to maintaining sustained pressure on

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

at the top of the table. He finished with nine for the eventual champions by the end of the season, in a return to the Premier League after 16 years. On 21 May 2021, the club announced that Hernández would leave on 30 June alongside Gaetano Berardi.

Castellón

Hernández returned to Spain after five years on 20 July 2021, joining hometown club Castellón who had been recently relegated to the newly created

Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

; a three-year contract was signed. In July 2023, Hernández retired aged 38.

International career

After close observation by Spain national team manager Luis Aragonés during his time at Getafe, Hernández was picked for the 32-man provisional squad for

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, but did not make the final cut. On 5 June 2009, he was called to represent the country at the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

in South Africa as a replacement for injured Andrés Iniesta, by new boss Vicente del Bosque. He earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

on the 20th, coming on as a substitute for club teammate

David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Villa is th ...

in the 60th minute of the last group stage match, a 2–0 defeat of the hosts. Hernández scored his only international goal on 18 November 2009, playing the entire second half of the 5–1 friendly win in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and closing the scoresheet.

Playing style

In 2016, the ''

Yorkshire Evening Post The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' (''YEP'') is a regional daily newspaper covering the City of Leeds. Founded in 1890 it is published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, National World. Despite being having coverage and being sold across West Yorkshire ...

'' described Hernández as the "most creative player in the Championship," due largely to his runs behind the defence, skill at picking out dangerous passes in open play and aptitude at taking corners and other free kicks.

Club ownership

In June 2017, Hernández became co-owner of Spanish club Castellón (alongside former Valencia teammate Ángel Dealbert and others), where he had started playing 20 years ago. Under his first season of ownership, it won promotion from

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

; they both left due to disagreements regarding the team in April 2019, but kept their position as shareholders.

Personal life

Hernández' wife, Mar García, is the sister of

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Sergio García, who competes on both the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

and the

PGA European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

. He has two sons, Eric and Luca. He is often seen kissing his arms after scoring a goal, where he has tattoos of

The Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loret ...

and his sons’ names.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first.''

Honours

Getafe *

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 ...

runner-up: 2007–08 Swansea City *

: 2012–13 Leeds United *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

: 2019–20 Al-Nasr * UAE President's Cup: 2014–15 * UAE League Cup: 2014–15 Spain *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

third place:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Individual *

Player of the Year/Players Player of the Year: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

Player Of The Month: August 2018 *

: 2018–19 Championship

References

External links

*
CiberChe biography and stats
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Pablo 1985 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Castellón de la Plana Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players Cádiz CF players Getafe CF footballers Rayo Vallecano players CD Castellón footballers Premier League players English Football League players Swansea City A.F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Qatar Stars League players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players UAE Pro League players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players Kings League players Spain men's international footballers 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Wales Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England