Diego León
![]() León with Nea Salamina in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Diego León Ayarza | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 16 January 1984 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Palencia, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
2001–2003 | Real Madrid | ||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
2002–2004 | Real Madrid B | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2004–2006 | Real Madrid | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2005–2006 | → Arminia Bielefeld II (loan) | 18 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
2005 | → Arminia Bielefeld (loan) | 14 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
2006–2007 | Grasshoppers | 30 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
2007 | Grasshoppers II | 8 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
2008–2009 | Barnsley | 37 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
2009–2010 | Las Palmas | 22 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
2010–2011 | Wacker Burghausen | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2011–2012 | Nea Salamina | 17 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
2012–2013 | Kerkyra | 26 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2013–2015 | Nea Salamina | 57 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
2015 | Olympiacos Volou | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
2015–2016 | Doxa | 15 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
2016–2017 | Al-Mesaimeer | ||||||||||||||||
International career | |||||||||||||||||
2000–2001 | Spain U16 | 16 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
2001 | Spain U17 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:00, 9 May 2016 (UTC) |
Diego León Ayarza (born 16 January 1984) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a midfielder .
Club career
[edit]Real Madrid / Grasshoppers
[edit]León was born in Palencia, Castile and León. A youth product of Real Madrid, León could never appear for more than its B-team. He was initially given a number with the main squad for the 2004–05 season, but moved to Arminia Bielefeld in Germany (first on loan) in January 2005 before he could make his official debut for the Spanish giants.
León stayed at Arminia until the end of the 2005–06 campaign, after which he joined Grasshopper Club Zürich in the Swiss Super League.
Barnsley
[edit]On 21 December 2007, it was announced that León had signed a pre-contract agreement with Barnsley, with the transfer due to go through at the opening of the transfer window. The Yorkshire club had hoped to make the move official in time for him to play in the FA Cup third-round tie against Blackpool on 5 January 2008, but had to wait until the 9th:[1] he made his first appearance that evening, playing in a reserve team match against Sheffield United.
León put in a great performance to earn himself his first match ball as a Barnsley player, with a Man of the match award against Colchester United on 29 January 2008. He went on to play in the memorable away victory over Premier League's Liverpool in the FA Cup,[2] and also played a key role in the Reds 3–0 win at Watford on 9 April, being involved in all three goals, including a sumptuous flick for Jon Macken to square to Kayode Odejayi to score: his corner allowed Stephen Foster to head home and his throughball enabled Odejayi to score his second.
In the following game against Preston North End, León netted a key goal in Barnsley's Championship survival in the 2007–08 campaign, scoring from a 35-yard free kick for the 2–1 triumph.[3] His second and final goal for the Tykes came in a 3–2 win over Burnley on 24 November 2008[4] and, on 7 May of the following year, he was told, along with Dennis Souza, Kyle Letheren and Marciano van Homoet he was free to look for a new club in the summer; shortly after he returned to his country, agreeing a deal with Segunda División side UD Las Palmas.[5]
Later years
[edit]On 13 December 2010, León moved teams – and countries – again, signing with lowly SV Wacker Burghausen in Germany.[6] In June of the following year, after a failed move to HNK Hajduk Split, he joined Nea Salamis Famagusta FC in Cyprus.
Club statistics
[edit]Club | Season | League | Cup[9] | Continental[10] | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Real Madrid B | 2002–03 | Segunda División B | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
2003–04 | Segunda División B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
Real Madrid | 2004–05 | La Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Arminia Bielefeld | 2004–05 | Bundesliga | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
2005–06 | Bundesliga | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
Total | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
Grasshoppers | 2006–07 | Swiss Super League | 26 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 37 | 6 |
2007–08 | Swiss Super League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
Total | 30 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 41 | 6 | ||
Barnsley | 2007–08 | Championship | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
2008–09 | Championship | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | |
Total | 37 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 2 | ||
Las Palmas | 2009–10 | Segunda División | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
Total | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | ||
Wacker Burghausen | 2010–11 | 3. Liga | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Total | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
Nea Salamina | 2011–12 | Cypriot First Division | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
Total | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
Kerkyra | 2012–13 | Superleague Greece | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
Total | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||
Nea Salamina | 2013–14 | Cypriot First Division | 31 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 8 |
2014–15 | Cypriot First Division | 26 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 4 | |
Total | 57 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 12 | ||
Career total | 217 | 19 | 15 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 240 | 22 |
Honours
[edit]Spain U16
References
[edit]- ^ "Diego free to play!!!". Barnsley F.C. 9 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ^ "Liverpool 1–2 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ "Preston 1–2 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 12 April 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
- ^ "Barnsley 3–2 Burnley". BBC Sport. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ "Diego León rescinde contrato y Francis Suárez, cedido a la Ponferradina" [Diego León has contract terminated and Francis Suárez, loaned to Ponferradina]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 24 August 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ "Wacker Burghausen verstärkt Offensive" [Wacker Burghausen strengthen offense] (in German). Fussball 24. 13 December 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
- ^ "Diego León: Diego León Ayarza". BDFutbol. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ "Diego León". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ Includes DFB-Pokal, Swiss Super Cup, FA Cup, Football League Cup and Greek Football Cup
- ^ Includes UEFA Europa League and UEFA Intertoto Cup
External links
[edit]- Diego León at BDFutbol
- Diego León at fussballdaten.de (in German)
- Diego León at Soccerbase
- Diego León – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Official website (in Spanish)
- 1984 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Palencia
- Spanish men's footballers
- Footballers from Castile and León
- Men's association football midfielders
- Segunda División players
- Segunda División B players
- Real Madrid Castilla footballers
- Real Madrid CF players
- UD Las Palmas players
- Bundesliga players
- 3. Liga players
- Arminia Bielefeld players
- SV Wacker Burghausen players
- Swiss Super League players
- Grasshopper Club Zurich players
- English Football League players
- Barnsley F.C. players
- Cypriot First Division players
- Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players
- Doxa Katokopias FC players
- Super League Greece players
- Football League (Greece) players
- A.O. Kerkyra players
- Olympiacos Volos F.C. players
- Mesaimeer SC players
- Spain men's youth international footballers
- Spanish expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
- Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland
- Expatriate men's footballers in England
- Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
- Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
- Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Germany
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
- Qatari Second Division players