Rubén Palazuelos García (born 11 April 1983) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Tercera Federación club Vimenor as a defensive midfielder. After only playing lower league football in his country, he spent most of his career in Scotland, mainly with Hearts for which he appeared in 125 official matches. He also competed professionally in Greece, Bulgaria, Finland, England and Cyprus.

Club career

Born in Santander, Palazuelos began his career with hometown club Racing de Santander, but never made it past the reserves. Released in 2004, he spent his first professional seasons in the

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 ...

with UD Lanzarote and CF Palencia, before moving to Gimnástica de Torrelavega in 2006 (also in that level). However, Palazuelos did not represent the

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

n neighbours in one single official game, and joined Greek side Aris Thessaloniki F.C. on loan for the 2006–07 campaign. In the following summer, on 31 July, he signed for Heart of Midlothian after a protracted process, as the player reportedly paid for his release from his Gimnástica contract. Palazuelos made his debut for his new team in the 1–1 draw with

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

at Pittodrie on 12 August 2007, and scored his first goal on 29 December of that year against

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, but in a 1–2 away loss. He added another two in 2008–09, against

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in a 2–1 home win and at Rangers in which he netted the final 2–2 equaliser. Palazuelos signed for

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n club PFC Botev Plovdiv in July 2012, leaving 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 ...

. On 5 April 2013, he switched teams and countries again, joining

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

FC Honka FC Honka is a Finland, Finnish Association football, football club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club will play in Kakkonen in the 2024 season, after Esport Honka filed for ...

; he made an immediate impact with the latter, being selected to the Team of the Month in the Veikkausliiga for the months of July and August. On 18 February 2014, after being linked with a move back to Scotland with Partick Thistle, Palazuelos signed with

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

side Yeovil Town until the end of the season. He was hampered by injury during his spell, his team suffered relegation and he was released in May. On 30 January 2015, following a brief spell in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, Palazuelos joined Ross County. He was one of 14 players released by the club at the end of the season.

References

External links

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London Hearts profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palazuelos, Ruben 1983 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Santander, Spain Men's association football midfielders Segunda División B players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players Rayo Cantabria players CF Palencia footballers Gimnástica de Torrelavega footballers Deportivo Alavés players CD Guijuelo footballers Real Avilés Industrial CF footballers Super League Greece players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Ross County F.C. players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Botev Plovdiv players Veikkausliiga players FC Honka players English Football League players Yeovil Town F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Ermis Aradippou FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Finland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus