Jorge Molina · Biography

On 29 June 2010 Real Betis paid Elche €1.6 million for Jorge Molina Vidal (Alcoy, Alicante, 22 April 1982), a centre-forward who had just won the Pichichi Trophy as top scorer in the Spanish second division with 26 goals. The move lifted out of the second tier a striker who had spent most of the previous decade in the Spanish fourth and third tiers, and who would not make his La Liga debut until 2011. Twelve professional seasons followed with Betis, Getafe and Granada, along with three second-division titles before he retired in 2023.

The lower-league years

Molina made his debut in 2001 with CD Alcoyano, his hometown club, in Tercera División, scoring 12 goals in 28 league games in 2001-02. He then moved to Benidorm (2002-2004) and Gandía (2004-05), both in the same division. He returned to Benidorm in 2005, by then in Segunda División B, and scored 34 league goals over two campaigns, 22 of them in 2006-07. That output earned him a move to Polideportivo Ejido, with whom he made his second-division debut in 2007-08. With the Almería club back in Segunda B he played the 2008-09 season, scoring 26 goals in 44 competitive matches, including a hat-trick against Villarreal in the Copa del Rey.

Elche and the Pichichi

He joined Elche in 2009. In his only season at the Martínez Valero he scored 26 goals in 38 league games and finished as top scorer in the 2009-10 Spanish second division. On 6 June 2010 he scored all four goals in a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad. Three weeks later his transfer to Betis was completed, on a four-year contract with a clause entitling Elche to a further €500,000 if the Seville club won promotion.

Six seasons at Real Betis

Promotion came at the first attempt: Betis won the second division in 2010-11, with Molina scoring 22 goals in 41 competitive matches. In that season’s Copa del Rey he scored twice in a 3-1 win over FC Barcelona at the Benito Villamarín. His first top-flight goal came on 15 October 2011 against Real Madrid, in a 4-1 defeat. He scored 14 goals in 2012-13, and his strike on 1 June 2013 secured qualification for the Europa League, where he played seven matches and scored twice in 2013-14. Betis went down that season, and Molina carried the attack in the second tier again, with 19 league goals in 2014-15 and a second division title with Betis. He left in 2016 with 77 goals in 213 appearances.

Getafe: back to La Liga and into Europe

On 24 June 2016 he signed a two-year deal with Getafe, who had just been relegated. He scored 20 league goals in 2016-17 and the Madrid side returned to the top flight in June 2017. Back in La Liga he added 7 goals in 2017-18 and 16 in 2018-19. On 31 August 2019, against Deportivo Alavés, he became Getafe’s oldest scorer in the Spanish top flight. In 2019-20 he played six Europa League matches for the club and scored once. He terminated his contract on 24 August 2020 with 52 goals in 163 games, Getafe’s leading scorer of the 21st century.

Granada and the veteran records

The following day, 25 August 2020, Granada announced his signing on a two-year deal. In 2020-21 he played 51 matches and scored 15 goals, three of them in the Europa League, and on 29 April 2021 he came off the bench to head the winner that gave the club its first ever victory at Camp Nou. In December 2021 he scored three times in a 4-1 win over RCD Mallorca, becoming the oldest player to score a hat-trick in La Liga, a mark previously held by Joaquín. Three days later he scored against Atlético de Madrid in a 2-1 win, his third consecutive league game with a goal. The 2021-22 season ended in relegation after he missed a penalty on matchday 38 against Espanyol (0-0). On 13 November 2022 he scored against Yeclano in the Copa del Rey (3-2), becoming the oldest goalscorer in the competition. A ruptured cruciate ligament against Ponferradina on 12 March 2023 ruled him out of the closing stretch of a campaign Granada finished as 2022-23 second division champions. He left the club with 31 goals in 115 appearances.

Retirement and the dugout

He announced his departure from Granada on 10 July 2023 and his retirement as a player a few days later. He stayed at the club as an assistant to Paco López on the coaching staff during the 2023-24 season, until Granada released him in July 2024 following the arrival of a new head coach. In May 2025 he took charge of Arenas de Armilla, in Group 9 of the Tercera Federación.