José Luis Santamaría

José Luis Santamaría Buitrago (born 14 January 1973) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a central defender.

Club career After unsuccessfully rising through the ranks of Real Madrid, Madrid-born Santamaría joined Real Valladolid for the 1995–96 campaign, appearing in 41 La Liga matches in his second season and subsequently becoming an essential defensive player. For three years, he often partnered another Real Madrid youth product in the back-four, José García Calvo.

From 2000 to 2004, however, a bad run with injuries and subsequent loss of form limited Santamaría to just 18 games (none in his last year), and he retired in June 2004 with 185 competitive appearances for the Castile and León club.

Personal life Santamaría was nicknamed "Funny One" during his playing career, due to his love for books.