Kiko Femenía

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

Kiko Femenía
Femenía with Barcelona B in 2012
Personal information
Full name Francisco Femenía Far[1]
Date of birth (1991-02-02) 2 February 1991 (age 32)[2]
Place of birth Sanet y Negrals, Spain
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Villarreal
Number 17
Youth career
2000–2001 Beniarbeig
2001–2004 FB Dénia
2004–2008 Hércules
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Hércules B 10 (0)
2008–2011 Hércules 71 (4)
2011–2013 Barcelona B 62 (6)
2013–2014 Real Madrid B 5 (0)
2015 Alcorcón 17 (0)
2015–2017 Alavés 69 (5)
2017–2022 Watford 144 (2)
2022– Villarreal 26 (0)
International career
2009 Spain U18 2 (1)
2009–2010 Spain U19 6 (0)
2011 Spain U20 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:48, 7 December 2023 (UTC)

Francisco "Kiko" Femenía Far (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko femeˈni.a ˈfaɾ]; born 2 February 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for La Liga club Villarreal.

Club career

Hércules

Femenía playing for Hércules in 2011

Born in Sanet y Negrals, Province of Alicante, Valencian Community,[3] Femenía was a product of Hércules CF's youth ranks. He made his first-team debut on 15 June 2008 at just 17, appearing in a Segunda División match at Cádiz CF, a 1–1 draw which eventually certified the Andalusians' relegation even though they protested against the illegal fielding of an opposing player, specifically the youngster.[4]

Femenía played another game with the main squad in the 2008–09 season, again in the last round but against UD Salamanca (5–1 away win).[5] In the subsequent off-season, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a five-year deal[6] and, the following campaign, still only 18, he would be a much more important midfield unit, being the first substitute for veteran Francisco Rufete and totalling nearly 1,000 minutes in the league to help the club return to La Liga after an absence of 13 years.[3]

On 28 August 2010, Femenía made his debut in the top division, replacing Abel Aguilar in the second half of the home fixture against Athletic Bilbao. After only a few minutes on the pitch, however, and a couple of poor decisions, he suffered an anxiety attack from which he later fully recovered, although the Basques eventually won 1–0.[7]

Barcelona

Femenía joined FC Barcelona Atlètic on 6 July 2011, for €2 million plus €1.5 million in add-ons.[8] He scored his first official goal for his new team on 4 September, opening the score in a 4–0 away victory over FC Cartagena.[9]

Femenía netted five times in 30 games – 23 starts – in his first season, helping the Catalans to the eighth position.[10]

Real Madrid

In late August 2013, Femenía was released by Barcelona, stating that he had been "ruined emotionally".[11] Just hours later, he signed for Real Madrid, being assigned to the reserves in the second division.[12]

Femenía appeared in only five matches during the whole campaign, which ended in relegation, and left the club in December 2014.[13][14]

Alcorcón

On 7 January 2015, Femenía signed a six-month deal with AD Alcorcón also of the second tier.[15] He totalled 996 minutes of action during the season, helping his team finish 11th.[16]

Alavés

On 2 July 2015, Femenía moved to fellow league side Deportivo Alavés after agreeing to a one-year contract.[17] He contributed 38 appearances and five goals in his debut campaign as they returned to the top flight after ten years, and was eventually reconverted into a right-back.[18][19]

Femenía left the Mendizorrotza Stadium on 6 June 2017, as his contract was due to expire.[20]

Watford

On 1 July 2017, Femenía signed for Watford after agreeing to a four-year deal.[21] He made his debut in the Premier League on 12 August, coming on for injured Daryl Janmaat early into a 3–3 home draw against Liverpool.[22]

Femenía scored his first league goal for the English club on 31 March 2018, helping the hosts earn one point after a 2–2 home draw with Bournemouth.[23]

Villarreal

On 28 July 2022, aged 31, Femenía returned to Spain after five years and joined Villarreal CF on a three-year contract, for an undisclosed fee.[24][25]

Career statistics

As of match played 4 June 2023[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hércules B 2007–08 Regional Preferente 1 0 — — — 1 0
2008–09 9 0 — — — 9 0
Total 10 0 — — — 10 0
Hércules 2007–08 Segunda División 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
2008–09 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
2009–10 35 3 5 0 — — 40 3
2010–11 La Liga 34 1 1 0 — — 35 1
Total 71 4 6 0 — — 77 4
Barcelona B 2011–12 Segunda División 30 5 — — — 30 5
2012–13 32 1 — — — 32 1
Total 62 6 — — — 62 6
Real Madrid B 2013–14 Segunda División 5 0 — — — 5 0
Alcorcón 2014–15 Segunda División 17 0 0 0 — — 17 0
Alavés 2015–16 Segunda División 38 5 2 0 — — 40 5
2016–17 La Liga 31 0 6 0 — — 37 0
Total 69 5 8 0 — — 77 5
Watford 2017–18 Premier League 23 1 0 0 0 0 — 23 1
2018–19 29 1 3 0 2 0 — 34 1
2019–20 28 0 0 0 1 0 — 29 0
2020–21 Championship 37 0 0 0 0 0 — 37 0
2021–22 Premier League 27 0 0 0 1 0 — 28 0
Total 144 2 3 0 4 0 0 0 151 2
Villarreal 2022–23 La Liga 20 0 2 0 — 6[a] 0 28 0
Career total 398 17 19 0 4 0 6 0 427 17
  1. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Alavés

Watford

References

  1. ^ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Kiko". Eurosport. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b ¿Qué fue de los héroes del último ascenso a Primera del Hércules? (What happened to the heroes of Hércules' last promotion to Primera?); Diario AS, 18 June 2020 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Confirmado el descenso del Cádiz a Segunda B (Cádiz's relegation to Segunda B confirmed); Sport, 4 July 2008 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ El Hércules se despide a lo grande (Hércules say goodbye in style); Marca, 20 June 2009 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Kiko firmará un contrato profesional por cinco temporadas con el Hércules (Kiko will sign five-year professional contract with Hércules); La Verdad, 12 August 2009 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Kiko Femenía derrota a la anxiedad (Kiko Femenía defeats anxiety) Archived 7 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine; El Hércules, 31 August 2010 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ Kiko Femenía se incorpora al Barça B (Kiko Femenía joins Barça B); FC Barcelona, 6 July 2011 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ Un gran Rafinha lidera al Barça B en la goleada al Cartagena (Great Rafinha leads Barça B in rout of Cartagena); Diario de Almería, 5 September 2011 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ La venganza de Kiko Femenía en el Camp Nou (The revenge of Kiko Femenía at the Camp Nou); Marca, 11 September 2016 (in Spanish)
  11. ^ Madrid-bound Femenia slams Barcelona; ESPN FC, 29 August 2013
  12. ^ Kiko Femenia, new Castilla player; Real Madrid CF, 28 August 2013
  13. ^ La caída a segunda B del Castilla pone a ‘La Fábrica’ en apuros (Castilla drop to Segunda B leaves 'The Factory' in trouble); Diario AS, 9 June 2014 (in Spanish)
  14. ^ Arturo Rodríguez rescinde contrato y su vacante la ocupa Kiko Femenía (Arturo Rodríguez terminates contract and his roster spot will be taken by Kiko Femenía); La Información, 7 January 2015 (in Spanish)
  15. ^ Kiko Femenía, nuevo futbolista de la A.D. Alcorcón (Kiko Femenía, new footballer of A.D. Alcorcón); AD Alcorcón, 7 January 2015 (in Spanish)
  16. ^ Roland Duchatelet pone fin a su silenciosa etapa en el Alcorcón (Roland Duchatelet puts an end to his quiet spell at Alcorcón); La Vanguardia, 11 June 2019 (in Spanish)
  17. ^ El Deportivo Alavés cierra el fichaje de Kiko Femenía (Deportivo Alavés complete the signing of Kiko Femenía); Deportivo Alavés, 2 July 2015 (in Spanish)
  18. ^ El Alavés vuelve a Primera (Alavés return to Primera); El País, 29 May 2016 (in Spanish)
  19. ^ a b Deportivo Alavés 2016/2017: Kiko Femenía (2016/2017 Deportivo Alavés: Kiko Femenía); Vavel, 18 August 2016 (in Spanish)
  20. ^ Gracias Kiko por estas 2 temporadas Gloriosas (Thanks Kiko for these 2 Glorious seasons); Deportivo Alavés, 6 June 2017 (in Spanish)
  21. ^ Official: Femenía joins Hornets Archived 15 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine; Watford FC, 1 July 2017
  22. ^ Watford 3 Liverpool 3: Miguel Britos scrambles home controversial injury-time equaliser in six-goal thriller; The Daily Telegraph, 12 August 2017
  23. ^ Jermain Defoe rescues late point for Bournemouth at Watford; The Guardian, 31 March 2018
  24. ^ "Official: Femenía completes Spain move". Watford F.C. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Kiko Femenía ya es groguet" [Kiko Femenía is already yellow] (in Spanish). Villarreal CF. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Kiko Femenía". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  27. ^ McNulty, Phil (18 May 2019). "Manchester City 6–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.

External links

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