José Antonio Rivas Espada was born in Málaga on 23rd April 1963. A very technical midfielder, he debuted with CD Málaga at a very young age at the hand of Antonio Benítez. He was 19, in the Second Division, in a Málaga-Recreativo de Huelva (5-1) corresponding to the penultimate match of the 81/82 campaign held at La Rosaleda. That same season the Malaguista team achieved a great promotion to the First Division.
Raised in Atlético Malagueño (1980-82), after his aforementioned debut with the first team, Rivas was loaned out to CD Antequerano (1982-84) and returned to the Blue and Whites alternating between the reserve team and the ‘A’ team in 84/85. From then, until 90/91, he remained at the Martiricos Club, forming part of the historic Málaga who managed to ascend to the First Division in the 87/88 season. This was the midfielder’s highest-scoring season, with 10 goals in 23 games.
Rivas, due to several important injuries, soon ended his career in the ranks of Sabadell in the silver division, in the 91/92 season, playing his last professional match four days before his 29th birthday.
161 official matches and 27 goals with CD Málaga are the stats of a player who will always remain in the memory of the faithful Malaguista fans.
