Diego León

Diego León Ayarza (born 16 January 1984) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a midfielder .

Diego León

León with Nea Salamina in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Diego León Ayarza
Date of birth	16 January 1984
Place of birth	Palencia, Spain
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
2001–2003	Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2004	Real Madrid B	10	(0)
2004–2006	Real Madrid	0	(0)
2005–2006	→ Arminia Bielefeld II (loan)	18	(7)
2005	→ Arminia Bielefeld (loan)	14	(1)
2006–2007	Grasshoppers	30	(3)
2007	Grasshoppers II	8	(8)
2008–2009	Barnsley	37	(2)
2009–2010	Las Palmas	22	(1)
2010–2011	Wacker Burghausen	11	(0)
2011–2012	Nea Salamina	17	(1)
2012–2013	Kerkyra	26	(0)
2013–2015	Nea Salamina	57	(12)
2015	Olympiacos Volou	5	(1)
2015–2016	Doxa	15	(1)
2016–2017	Al-Mesaimeer
National team
2000–2001	Spain U16	16	(6)
2001	Spain U17	4	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Club career

Real Madrid / Grasshoppers

León was born in Palencia, Castile and León. A youth product of Real Madrid, León could never appear for more than its B-team. He was initially given a number with the main squad for the 2004–05 season, but moved to Arminia Bielefeld in Germany (first on loan) in January 2005 before he could make his official debut for the Spanish giants.

León stayed at Arminia until the end of the 2005–06 campaign, after which he joined Grasshopper Club Zürich in the Swiss Super League.

Barnsley

On 21 December 2007, it was announced that León had signed a pre-contract agreement with Barnsley, with the transfer due to go through at the opening of the transfer window. The Yorkshire club had hoped to make the move official in time for him to play in the FA Cup third-round tie against Blackpool on 5 January 2008, but had to wait until the 9th:[1] he made his first appearance that evening, playing in a reserve team match against Sheffield United.

León put in a great performance to earn himself his first match ball as a Barnsley player, with a Man of the match award against Colchester United on 29 January 2008. He went on to play in the memorable away victory over Premier League's Liverpool in the FA Cup,[2] and also played a key role in the Reds 3–0 win at Watford on 9 April, being involved in all three goals, including a sumptuous flick for Jon Macken to square to Kayode Odejayi to score: his corner allowed Stephen Foster to head home and his throughball enabled Odejayi to score his second.

In the following game against Preston North End, León netted a key goal in Barnsley's Championship survival in the 2007–08 campaign, scoring from a 35-yard free kick for the 2–1 triumph.[3] His second and final goal for the Tykes came in a 3–2 win over Burnley on 24 November 2008[4] and, on 7 May of the following year, he was told, along with Dennis Souza, Kyle Letheren and Marciano van Homoet he was free to look for a new club in the summer; shortly after he returned to his country, agreeing a deal with Segunda División side UD Las Palmas.[5]

Later years

On 13 December 2010, León moved teams – and countries – again, signing with lowly SV Wacker Burghausen in Germany.[6] In June of the following year, after a failed move to HNK Hajduk Split, he joined Nea Salamis Famagusta FC in Cyprus.

Club statistics

As of 17 May 2015[7][8]

Club	Season	League			Cup[9]		Continental[10]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Real Madrid B	2002–03	Segunda División B	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	2003–04	Segunda División B	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
Real Madrid	2004–05	La Liga	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Arminia Bielefeld	2004–05	Bundesliga	10	0	2	0	0	0	12	0
	2005–06	Bundesliga	4	1	1	0	0	0	5	1
	Total		14	1	3	0	0	0	17	1
Grasshoppers	2006–07	Swiss Super League	26	3	3	2	8	1	37	6
	2007–08	Swiss Super League	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		30	3	3	2	8	1	41	6
Barnsley	2007–08	Championship	18	1	2	0	0	0	20	1
	2008–09	Championship	19	1	2	0	0	0	21	1
	Total		37	2	4	0	0	0	41	2
Las Palmas	2009–10	Segunda División	22	1	0	0	0	0	22	1
	Total		22	1	0	0	0	0	22	1
Wacker Burghausen	2010–11	3. Liga	11	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
	Total		11	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Nea Salamina	2011–12	Cypriot First Division	17	1	0	0	0	0	17	1
	Total		17	1	0	0	0	0	17	1
Kerkyra	2012–13	Superleague Greece	26	0	2	0	0	0	28	0
	Total		26	0	2	0	0	0	28	0
Nea Salamina	2013–14	Cypriot First Division	31	8	1	0	0	0	32	8
	2014–15	Cypriot First Division	26	4	2	0	0	0	28	4
	Total		57	12	3	0	0	0	60	12
Career total			217	19	15	2	8	1	240	22

Honours

Spain U16

• UEFA European Under-16 Championship: 2001

References

1. "Diego free to play!!!". Barnsley F.C. 9 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
2. "Liverpool 1–2 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
3. "Preston 1–2 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 12 April 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
4. "Barnsley 3–2 Burnley". BBC Sport. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
5. "Diego León rescinde contrato y Francis Suárez, cedido a la Ponferradina" [Diego León has contract terminated and Francis Suárez, loaned to Ponferradina]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 24 August 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
6. "Wacker Burghausen verstärkt Offensive" [Wacker Burghausen strengthen offense] (in German). Fussball 24. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
7. "Diego León: Diego León Ayarza". BDFutbol. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
8. "Diego León". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
9. Includes DFB-Pokal, Swiss Super Cup, FA Cup, Football League Cup and Greek Football Cup
10. Includes UEFA Europa League and UEFA Intertoto Cup

External links

• Diego León at BDFutbol
• Diego León at fussballdaten.de (in German)
• Diego León at Soccerbase
• Diego León – FIFA competition record
• Official website (in Spanish)