Quick Facts
Biography
Pablo Pinillos Caro (born 9 July 1974) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right back.
In a 15-year old professional career he appeared in 213 La Liga games over the course of eight seasons (three goals), mainly representing Racing de Santander.
Football career
Early years
Born in Murillo de Río Leza, La Rioja, Pinillos played professionally for modest clubs in his early years, working as a bricklayer before arriving at third division team Pontevedra CF in 1996, eight hours a day.
After an uneventful two-year stint with Deportivo de La Coruña, he moved to second level sides CD Toledo, SD Compostela and Levante UD, achieving La Liga promotion at the end of the 2003–04 season with the latter.
Racing Santander
Upon Levante's 2005 relegation, Pinillos joined Cantabria's Racing de Santander, where he coincided with former Levante coach Manuel Preciado. There, he was an undisputed defensive starter and one of the team's captains, being instrumental in their 2007–08 historical qualification to the UEFA Cup – 32 matches, 2,716 minutes.
In the following campaign, 34-year-old Pinillos played 29 league games plus three in the continental competition, as Racing finished in 12th position. On 26 April 2009, he scored his first goal in the top flight, but in a 1–2 away loss against Athletic Bilbao.
In early July 2011, after 189 official contests with Racing (and 20 during the season as they again retained their division status), Pinillos retired from football at the age of 37, having appeared in 354 matches both major levels of Spanish football combined. He immediately joined the club's coaching staff.
However, after the dismissal of manager Juanjo González on 7 March 2012, Pinillos was promoted to caretaker manager along with Fede Castaños, until the end of the campaign. The pair only lasted one game in that predicament however, after the appointment of Álvaro Cervera.
Honours
- Calahorra
- Tercera División: 1995–96
- Levante
- Segunda División: 2003–04