César Caneda

César Fernández de las Heras Caneda (born 10 May 1978) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

He played 382 matches in the Segunda División and 402 in the Segunda División B, in a senior career that spanned more than two decades. In La Liga, he appeared for Athletic Bilbao.

Club career
Caneda was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava. Another product of Athletic Bilbao's prolific youth system at Lezama, he could never however fully establish in the first team, only playing a maximum of ten matches in two different La Liga seasons, also having appeared in the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League. He was also loaned to UD Salamanca, Sevilla FC and Racing de Santander, all in the Segunda División (he won promotion with the latter two, being regularly used).

After his permanent release in 2005, Caneda resumed his career in the second division. He appeared regularly for SD Eibar, Cádiz CF and Deportivo Alavés, but suffered two consecutive relegations with the last two clubs.

In the summer of 2009, Caneda joined Segunda División B side CD Guijuelo, switching to another team in that tier, CD Mirandés, for 2010–11. On 24 January 2012, the 33-year-old scored in the last minute of a 2–1 home win against RCD Espanyol in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey following a free kick from Pablo Infante – the competition's top scorer – as the minnows from Castile and León reached the last-four stage after a 4–4 aggregate score.

Caneda returned to the lower leagues in 2015, going on to represent Racing Santander, UD Logroñés and SD Logroñés and retiring aged 45. In August 2022, he played in a pre-season friendly against Deportivo Alavés B, whose team included his 19-year-old son Aritz.