Jony (footballer, born 1985)

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ñíguez and the second or maternal family name is Esclápez.

Jony
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Ñíguez Esclápez
Date of birth (1985-04-02) 2 April 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth Elche, Spain
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Athletic Torrellano
Youth career
Valencia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Valencia C
2004–2005 Valencia B 27 (2)
2005–2007 Real Madrid C
2006 Real Madrid B 1 (0)
2007–2008 Villarreal B 25 (2)
2008–2010 Ontinyent 71 (2)
2010–2011 Las Palmas 0 (0)
2010–2011 → Mirandés (loan) 37 (2)
2011–2013 Guadalajara 72 (2)
2013–2014 Alcorcón 19 (0)
2014–2015 Rio Ave 1 (0)
2015–2016 Feirense 0 (0)
2016 Koper 5 (0)
2016–2017 Alcoyano 37 (11)
2017 Mallorca 0 (0)
2017–2018 UCAM Murcia 15 (3)
2018–2020 Elche 19 (1)
2019–2020 → Alcoyano (loan) 27 (5)
2020–2021 Alcoyano 22 (1)
2021– Athletic Torrellano 89 (10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:43, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Jonathan Ñíguez Esclápez (born 2 April 1985), commonly known as Jony, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Athletic Club Torrellano.

Having begun his career in the reserve teams of Valencia, Real Madrid and Villarreal, he later became a journeyman.

Career

Jony was born in Elche, Valencian Community. With the exception of one Segunda División game with Real Madrid Castilla, he played until the age of 26 in lower league football, representing mainly Real Madrid C and Ontinyent CF.

In the summer of 2011, Jony returned to the second division with CD Guadalajara,[1] playing 33 games (26 starts) as his new team went on to retain their newly acquired league status. He scored his first goal during the following season, but in a 5–1 home loss against Girona FC on 25 August 2012.[2]

On 2 August 2013, following Guadalajara's relegation due to financial irregularities, Jony stayed in division two by signing for two years with AD Alcorcón.[3] He made 25 competitive appearances over the campaign, being sent off in the penultimate fixture on 3 May 2014, a 1–0 win over Sporting de Gijón at the Estadio Santo Domingo.[4]

Jony moved abroad for the first time on 4 July 2014, signing a two-year deal at Portuguese club Rio Ave FC.[5] He was not included in their squad for that year's Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, nor did he feature at all in the UEFA Europa League, his input eventually consisting of three official matches; his sole Primeira Liga appearance came on 17 May 2015 in the penultimate game of the season, coming on as a substitute for Diego Lopes for the final two minutes of a 4–0 defeat at C.S. Marítimo.[6]

Jony then joined C.D. Feirense,[7] making one Taça da Liga appearance and two unused substitute roles in the Segunda Liga before he and Otávio Guariente had the contracts cancelled.[8] He resumed his career on 10 February 2016 in Slovenia at FC Koper,[9] and turned down an approach by CD Alcoyano in June.[10]

On 8 June 2016, Jony's contract with Koper was mutually terminated.[11] Later that month, he made the move to Alcoyano,[12] and scored a career-best 11 goals over the campaign to reach the playoffs;[13] this included two in a 3–2 home defeat of FC Barcelona B on 11 September.[14]

Jony signed for RCD Mallorca in June 2017.[15] Before playing a game, he rescinded his contract and moved to UCAM Murcia CF in the same league on 31 August.[16] On 26 December, he left the latter side by the same manner,[17] and joined Elche CF from his hometown the next day.[18]

Jony scored his first Elche goal on 6 May 2018 to open a 1–1 draw against provincial rivals Hércules CF in the penultimate round of a season that ended with promotion by the playoffs.[19] After making just one substitute appearance in 2018–19 in the second tier, he was loaned back to Alcoyano in July 2019, this time in the Tercera División;[20] the move was extended for a further year on 8 September 2020.[21]

Personal life

Jony comes from a football family: his father José Antonio played several years with Elche CF – including the 1984–85 season in La Liga – as a striker.

His younger brother, Aarón (another midfielder), was also brought up at Valencia, spending most of his senior career in the second tier. The youngest, Saúl, was developed at Atlético Madrid.[22][23][24]

References

  1. ^ "Jony, nuevo fichaje del Dépor" [Jony, new Dépor signing] (in Spanish). CD Guadalajara. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Jandro reescribe la historia ante el Guadalajara" [Jandro rewrites history against Guadalajara]. Marca (in Spanish). 25 August 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  3. ^ Del Mar Cortezón, Julia (2 August 2013). "El Alcorcón ficha a Jony Ñíguez" [Alcorcón sign Jony Ñíguez]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  4. ^ "El Alcorcón se acerca a la salvación y ahonda en la crisis del Sporting" [Alcorcón near safety and deepen Sporting's crisis]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 4 May 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Jony reforça o plantel" [Jony bolsters the squad] (in Portuguese). Rio Ave F.C. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Marítimo-Rio Ave, 4–0 (resultado final)" [Marítimo-Rio Ave, 4–0 (final score)] (in Portuguese). TVI 24. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Dele Alampasu e Jonathan Ñíguez, são os novos reforços do CDFeirense [sic]" [Dele Alampasu and Jonathan Ñíguez, are the new reinforcements at CD Feirense] (in Portuguese). C.D. Feirense. 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  8. ^ "CD Feirense revoga contrato com Jonathan Ñíguez e Otávio Guariente" [CD Feirense revoke contracts of Jonathan Ñíguez and Otávio Guariente] (in Portuguese). C.D. Feirense. 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Jony Ñiguez deixa o Feirense e muda-se para a Eslovénia" [Jony Ñiguez leaves Feirense and moves to Slovenia] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  10. ^ Seserino, Pedro (1 June 2016). "Devesa medita la renovación con el Alcoyano tras recibir una oferta a la baja" [Devesa ponders renewing with Alcoyano after receiving subpar offer]. Diario Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Dediću pogodba, peterici slovo" [Contracts end, goodbye to five] (in Slovenian). Slovenian PrvaLiga. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  12. ^ "El Alcoyano ficha al mayor de los hermanos Ñíguez" [Alcoyano sign the eldest of the Ñíguez brothers] (in Spanish). Be Soccer. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  13. ^ Hernández, Monserrate (22 January 2019). "El Alcoyano se interesa por el mediocentro ilicitano Jony Ñíguez" [Alcoyano take interest in ilicitano midfielder Jony Ñíguez] (in Spanish). Onda Cero. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Victoria trepidante" [Frenetic victory] (in Spanish). Radio Alcoy. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  15. ^ Palomar, Julián (27 June 2017). "Jony Ñíguez ficha por el Mallorca y Aarón apunta al Oviedo" [Jony Ñíguez signs for Mallorca and Aarón poised for Oviedo]. Diario Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Jony Ñíguez, más veteranía para el UCAM Murcia" [Jony Ñíguez, more experience for UCAM Murcia]. La Opinión de Murcia (in Spanish). 31 August 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Jony Ñíguez abandona el UCAM Murcia a petición propia" [Jony Ñíguez leaves UCAM Murcia by his own request]. La Opinión de Murcia (in Spanish). 26 December 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Jony Ñíguez ya es jugador del Elche" [Jony Ñíguez is already an Elche player]. Diario Información (in Spanish). 26 December 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  19. ^ Morago, José (6 May 2018). "El Elche C.F. se sitúa segundo tras empatar a uno con el Hércules" [Elche C.F. sit in second after drawing one-each with Hércules] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  20. ^ Marín, David (24 July 2019). "Jony se va cedido al Alcoyano" [Jony goes out on loan to Alcoyano]. Diario Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  21. ^ Hernández, Monserrate (8 September 2020). "Elche: Jony Ñíguez se marcha cedido otra vez al Alcoyano" [Elche: Jony Ñíguez moves out on loan to Alcoyano again]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  22. ^ Sandoval, Koldo (8 December 2013). "Los Ñiguez, familia de futbolistas" [The Ñiguezes, footballing family] (in Spanish). Colgados por el Fútbol. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  23. ^ Gil, Víctor (18 December 2016). "Saúl, Aarón y Jony, los hermanos Ñíguez marcan un 'triplete' histórico" [Saúl, Aarón and Jony, the Ñíguez brothers score historic 'triple']. La Información (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  24. ^ Fra, Amalia (21 December 2016). "Los hermanos Ñíguez, unidos y luchando contra la esclerosis" [The Ñíguez brothers, united and fighting against sclerosis]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2017.
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