Piti · Biography

In 2008 Francisco Medina Luna, known as Piti, celebrated promotion with Rayo Vallecano from the Spanish third tier, Segunda División B, to the Spanish second division. It was the first major collective achievement of a career that would later take him to La Liga with the same club. Born on 26 May 1981 in Reus, in the province of Tarragona, he was a forward who could also play out wide. His name is linked above all with Rayo, where he spent six straight seasons, and with Real Zaragoza, the club with which he made his top-flight debut. He also played for Granada, for clubs in Cyprus and Greece, and in the Indian Super League.

Youth football and early years in Catalonia

Piti came through Catalan grassroots football and started his senior career in the lower divisions. In 2002-03 he played for UE Tàrrega. In 2003-04 he wore the shirt of CF Reus Deportiu, his hometown club, scoring 22 goals in 36 league games. That return earned him a move to Real Zaragoza, who placed him in their reserve side. With Zaragoza B he scored 11 goals in 27 league matches during the 2004-05 season.

La Liga debut with Real Zaragoza

From the reserves he stepped up to the first team and made his La Liga debut in a match against RCD Espanyol. He played three top-flight league games for Zaragoza. In 2005-06 the club loaned him to CF Ciudad de Murcia in the Spanish second division, where he found the regular football he lacked at La Romareda: he was a regular starter and scored 8 league goals. In the summer of 2006 he joined Hércules CF, also in the second tier, making 21 league appearances and scoring twice.

Rayo Vallecano: two promotions in four years

In the winter transfer window of 2007 Hércules loaned him to Rayo Vallecano, then in Segunda División B. It was the start of the longest spell of his career. In 2007-08 he was part of the side that won promotion to the Spanish second division. Three years later, in 2010-11, he was in the squad that took Rayo back to La Liga. His bond with the Vallecas stands became visible in 2011, when a group of supporters founded a fan club bearing his name. Between 2007 and 2013 he made 197 league appearances for Rayo and scored 52 goals.

The 2012-13 season

His most prolific campaign was 2012-13. Piti scored 18 goals in 35 La Liga matches and finished as Rayo's top scorer, with the team ending the league in eighth place. It was his second consecutive top-flight season with the Madrid club and the last of his first spell in Vallecas.

Granada and a return to Vallecas

In June 2013 he signed a three-year deal with Granada CF. At the Andalusian club he played 67 La Liga matches and scored 8 goals before his contract was terminated in January 2016. That same month he returned to Rayo Vallecano, playing 15 league games without scoring. His second spell in Vallecas lasted until early 2017.

Cyprus, Greece and India

In 2017 he moved to Cypriot side AEL Limassol, scoring 5 goals in 17 league games. Later that year he joined PAS Lamia in Greece, where he played 27 matches and scored 5 goals in 2017-18. In 2018-19 he played for AEL Larissa, and in January 2019 he went back to Lamia. He began the 2019-20 season with Jamshedpur FC in the Indian Super League, making 6 appearances and scoring once. In October 2020 he joined Atlético Pinto in the Spanish fourth tier, a club he also part-owned. In January 2021 he returned to Lamia for a third time, his last club as a player.

Catalonia and the technical director's office

Piti was never capped by Spain at any level, but he did play for the Catalonia national team: 6 matches and 1 goal between 2003 and 2015. That goal came on 24 May 2006 in Terrassa, in a 2-0 win over Costa Rica. After hanging up his boots he became Lamia's technical director, a post he left on 21 February 2022. In January 2023 he returned to the Greek club in the same role.