| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jesús García Sanjuán | ||
| Date of birth | August 22, 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Zaragoza, Spain | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1989–1991 | Zaragoza B | ||
| 1991–1998 | Zaragoza | 180 | (5) |
| 1997 | → Wolverhampton (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Villarreal | 22 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | Córdoba | 26 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Airdrie | 22 | (5) |
| 2001–2003 | Kilmarnock | 31 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1989 | Spain U18 | 5 | (0) |
| 1991 | Spain U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 1992–1994 | Spain U21 | 13 | (0) |
| 1991–1992 | Spain U23 | 7 | (1) |
| 1998–2002 | Aragon | 2 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Jesús García Sanjuán (born August 22, 1971 in Zaragoza, Aragon) is a former Spanish footballer, who played mostly as a central midfielder.
Best known for his spell with hometown's Real Zaragoza, he helped it win the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup, then finished his professional career in Scotland, where he represented two clubs.
A youth product of Real Zaragoza, Sanjuán made his debuts for the first team on April 24, 1991, in a 1–0 defeat at Sporting de Gijón. Almost never an undisputed starter with the Aragonese, he featured heavily during his seven 1/2 professional seasons with the club, most notably amassing 93 matches and four goals in the first division from 1991–94.
The peak of Sanjuán's time with Zaragoza was winning the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup, in a 2–1 extra time win against Arsenal, with a dramatic last gasp goal in Paris. He played 24 minutes in the final, as a substitute. The previous season, he had also won the Spanish Cup with the club, beating Celta de Vigo on penalties, having also featured here from the bench.
Sanjuán had a brief loan spell at English First Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers during Autumn 1997, making four league appearances. He also featured three times in that season's League Cup campaign, scoring the winning goal at Fulham.
Being definitely released by Zaragoza in June 1998, the midfielder also played, in Spain, with Villarreal CF and Córdoba CF; with the former, he faced relegation after losing the play-offs to Sevilla FC.
Sanjuán returned to the United Kingdom in 2000, with Scottish club Airdrieonians, as one of a series of Spanish players recruited by club manager Steve Archibald. After eight months, amid spiralling financial problems, the club sold him to Kilmarnock,[1] where he played two Scottish Premier League seasons, now mostly in a sweeper position, before retiring in 2003.