Francisco Molinero

Francisco José Molinero Calderón (born 26 July 1985) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

Club career Molinero was born in Ontígola, Province of Toledo, Castilla–La Mancha. After spending two La Liga seasons at Atlético Madrid (his first game being on 25 September 2004, featuring the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 home win over Villarreal CF), in whose youth system he grew, he served a Segunda División loan stint at Málaga CF.

In July 2007, the free agent Molinero joined RCD Mallorca on a two-year deal. He appeared sparingly throughout the season, moving the following campaign to Levante UD, recently relegated to the second division.

Molinero signed with Romania's FC Dinamo București on 21 July 2009, leaving Spain for the first time in his career. On 27 August, he took the field for the second leg of the play-off round in the UEFA Europa League against FC Slovan Liberec, winning 3–0 away and advancing on penalties. He spent only one year in Liga I, however, cancelling his three-year contract in the summer and returning to his country with second-tier club SD Huesca.

In the 2011 off-season, Molinero joined Real Murcia CF for three years. On 26 June 2014, having never appeared in less than 37 league matches, he moved to Real Betis also in division two; he achieved promotion in 2015, contributing one goal to the feat. He returned to the second tier in July 2018, with the 33-year-old agreeing to a deal at Sporting de Gijón.

Career statistics

Honours Betis Segunda División: 2014–15