José María Cases

José María Cases Hernández (born 23 November 1986) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Club career Born in Orihuela, Valencian Community, Cases finished his development at Villarreal CF and started competing as a senior with the reserves in Tercera División. He made his professional debut at 16 on 22 June 2003, playing 28 minutes as a substitute for Héctor Font in a 4–1 La Liga home loss to Real Betis; over the next two seasons, he played only three more times for the Yellow Submarine, all off the bench, including once in the 2004–05 edition of the UEFA Cup.

Cases spent the following campaign at Terrassa FC in Segunda División B, before joining his hometown club Orihuela CF also in that level. On 15 June 2008, he signed a two-year deal at Segunda División's SD Eibar on the expiration of his contract, despite having a previous agreement to join UD Salamanca when free. He started in 13 of his appearances for the Basques, who suffered relegation.

Cases subsequently had a year at Valencia CF Mestalla, who fell into the fourth division, before returning to Orihuela. He was bought by Granada CF in summer 2012, being successively loaned to Cádiz CF, CD Mirandés, and CD Alcoyano.

On 22 June 2013, Cases moved abroad for the first time, signing for Panthrakikos in the Super League Greece. He switched countries again on 2 August 2015, when he agreed to a two-year deal with K.A.S. Eupen of the Belgian Second Division. On 13 September, four minutes after replacing countryman Víctor Curto, he received a straight red card in an eventual 4–1 home loss to Lierse SK, but his two-match suspension was rescinded on appeal.

On 22 September 2017, 30-year-old Cases joined Doxa Drama F.C. in the Greek second level.

Personal life Cases' older brother, Manuel, played in the same position for five teams including Orihuela, never any higher than the third tier.