Nacho Novo

Ignacio Javier Gómez Novo (born 26 March 1979 in Ferrol, Galicia), simply known as Nacho Novo, is a Spanish professional association football player who currently plays for Rangers in the Scottish Premier League.

Novo formerly played for Huesca in Spain then moved to Scotland with Raith Rovers and Dundee. In July 2004, he moved to Rangers for £450,000. During his first season at the club he scored 25 goals and won a league and League Cup double. He had to wait four years before lifting the league championship again in the 2008-09 season, where he also scored the winning goal in the 2009 Scottish Cup Final which won him his second double. Novo stated his desire to play for Rangers for the rest of his career.^[1]

Club career

Raith Rovers

Novo joined Raith Rovers from SD Huesca in July 2001.^[2] He made a scoring debut against Airdrieonians on 4 August, and netted the winner during a Challenge Cup match verse Alloa Athletic three days later.^[3] Novo saw himself sent off in only his third match match for Raith, whilst playing against Partick Thistle.

Despite this setback he went on to score consistently in the Scottish First Division, netting doubles against St Mirren and twice verse Falkirk. Novo accumulated a total of 22 goals in 38 appearances during his first season in Scotland.

Dundee

His goalscoring record attracted the attention of then Scottish Premier League club Dundee who signed him for £100,000 in July 2002.^[4] He made his Scottish Premier League debut on 3 August 2002 in a 1-1 draw with Hearts. Novo his first and second goals for the club against Dunfermline Athletic on 17 August but was sent-off in the dying moments of the match for raising his foot at Pars defender Scott Wilson.^[5] He went on to score a further seven goals to end the season with a tally of nine.

His second season saw Novo return to his prolific best. Four goals in the UEFA Cup, including a double against Albanian side KS Vllaznia Shkodër^[6] and one against then Serie A outfit Perugia^[7], helped him to an end of season tally of 25. This form attracted the interest of several clubs including Celtic and Rangers^[8]. Celtic had a £500,000 bid accepted but decided against signing Novo after contract talks, citing Novo's apparent lack of enthusiasm, leaving him free to sign for Rangers.^[9]

Rangers

Novo signed for Rangers on 6 July 2004 for a reported fee of £450,000.^[10] He was allocated the number 10 shirt that had been vacated by Michael Mols. In his first season at the club he scored 25 goals, including the goal against Hibernian that won Rangers the league title.^[11] He made his debut for Rangers in a SPL match away to Aberdeen on 7 August 2004.^[12] His first goal came in his second appearance, netting in Rangers' 2-1 loss to Russian side CSKA Moscow on 10 August.^[13]

Following his first goal Novo failed to score in his next eight appearances and he was dropped from the starting eleven. He came on as a 66th minute subsititute in a league match against his former employers Dundee. Novo netted two goals in as many minutes which helped Rangers to a 2-0 victory ^[14], after that he was a regular in the Rangers side.

At the start of the season Novo broke his fifth metatarsal,^[15] which ruled him out for several months. Upon his return from injury he failed to score in the twenty matches he played the rest of that season, being deployed more as a winger than a striker due to the form of Kris Boyd. His three goals had come against Celtic, Falkirk and Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta.

With the departure of Alex McLeish and the arrival of Frenchman Paul Le Guen, Novo looked set to leave Rangers. However, a proposed transfer to English First Division club Coventry City fell through on transfer deadline day^[16]. Initially Novo found his appearances sporadic, featuring in the first game of the season then waiting seven weeks for his second but after a mixture of poor results, injuries and his good performances for the reserves Novo returned to the first team. His first goal of that season, and in over a year, was during a 3-2 UEFA Cup win over Livorno on 19 October 2006.^[17] The following match, Novo came off the bench to score a late winner against St Mirren in a 3-2 win.^[18] He then started the next game, Motherwell held Rangers to a 1-1 draw with Novo named Man of the Match. His rejuvenated form continued with goals against Hearts,^[19] Maccabi Haifa^[20] and AJ Auxerre.^[21] Novo continued to be a regular when Le Guen was replaced with Walter Smith.

The signings of strikers in the summer of 2007 led to increased competition for attacking positions and most of Novo's appearances in the early months of the season were as a substitute. On 20 October 2007 he started the first Old Firm derby match of the season and scored twice in a 3–0 victory for Rangers over Celtic.^[22] On the 2 December 2007 it was reported that Rangers were willing to offer Novo a one year extension to his current contract, which was to expire in July 2008.^[23] However, Novo said that he would leave the club if he was not offered a longer contract. He was later offered a two-year contract extension, which expires in the summer of 2010, and signed the deal on 21 December 2007.^[24]

On 1 May 2008, he scored the winning penalty in the semi final shoot-out against ACF Fiorentina which put Rangers through to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. During the 2007-08 season Novo was sent off twice, both in league games before cup finals, meaning he missed both the 2008 League Cup final and the 2008 Scottish Cup final through suspension. The 2008-09 season saw Novo used almost exclusively as a substitute. He came off the bench in the 2009 Scottish Cup Final to score the winning goal after only being on the field for 28 seconds.^[25]

International career

Novo has never been selected for the Spanish national team but has played for Galicia. His debut was in a 2007 friendly match against Cameroon and the game was drawn 1–1. In December 2008 he played for the Galician team against Iran, arriving in his homeland just an hour before the match started after playing for Rangers against Celtic earlier in the day. He scored two goals and left to the acclaim of the Galician fans.

On 24 October 2008, it was reported that Novo could be selected by the Scottish national team as he is eligible to acquire a British passport, having lived in Scotland for eight years.^[26] This led to much debate amongst the Scottish media as to whether Novo, who was born in Spain and has no Scottish parents or grandparents, should be selected by Scotland.^[27] It eventually became clear, however, that the Home Nations would continue to honour a deal whereby that any player selected by England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales would be required to have a blood tie to that country.^[27] This deal would rule out the prospect of Novo playing for Scotland, or the prospect of Manuel Almunia or Mikel Arteta playing for England.^[27]

Career statistics

Correct as of 15 December 2009

Honours

Rangers

• Scottish Premier League: 2
  

2005, 2009

• Scottish Cup: 1
  

2009

• Scottish League Cup: 1
  

2005

References

External links

• Nacho Novo career stats at Soccerbase
• Photo and stats at sporting heroes.net