Rafael Fernández Martínez (born 5 May 1989), commonly known as Chumbi, is a Spanish

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 forward.

Club career

Born in Águilas,

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a popul ...

, Chumbi started playing as a senior with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

's C-team. In summer 2009 he joined Caravaca CF 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 ...

but, in the following

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, returned to

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 ...

by signing with Lorca Deportiva CF. In July 2010, Chumbi moved to CF Reus Deportiu still in the fourth division. In his first season he scored 12 goals (three of them in the play-offs), 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 ...

return to the third level after five years. In January 2012, Chumbi was linked with a move to

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

, but the deal could not be completed. On 20 June he signed a contract with

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

, being assigned to the reserves in division three. Chumbi made his debut with Almería's first team on 17 October 2012, coming off the bench for Jonathan in the 83rd minute of a 3–0 home win against AD Alcorcón for the campaign's

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 ...

. He made his first appearance 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 ...

two months later, replacing Ángel Trujillo in a 0–1 defeat at

; he netted his first goal as a professional on 6 January of the following year, being pivotal 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 ...

ns' 1–0 away win against

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

after only six minutes on the field. On 8 July 2013, Chumbi was released by Almería. Late in the same month, he joined Valencia CF Mestalla in the third tier. On 10 July 2014, Chumbi signed a two-year deal with

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 ...

, recently promoted to the second division. On 20 July of the following year, he moved to fellow league club

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Badalona, Province of Barcelona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays ...

. Following 19 goalless appearances and team relegation, he returned to his native region and the third level after joining Lorca FC. After being sidelined for 15 months with a serious

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury, Chumbi signed for Real Murcia of the third tier on 13 July 2018.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chumbi 1989 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Region of Murcia Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Segunda Federación players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players Atlético Madrid C players Caravaca CF players Lorca Deportiva CF footballers CF Reus Deportiu players UD Almería B players UD Almería players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Albacete Balompié players CF Badalona Futur players Lorca FC players Real Murcia CF players Marbella FC players Águilas FC players UCAM Murcia CF players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen