Folkestone Invicta are delighted to announce the signing of Joan Luque.
Born in Barcelona, Joan spend 2 years at FC Barcelona from the age of 11-13 before making his senior debut at 4th Division side UDA Gramenet, playing 10 matches for the ‘B’ team and 22 for the first team during the 2011/12 season.
Joan would had spells at several clubs around Catalonia; Montañesa, Vilassa Mar, Santboià and Sabadell B. In 2014 he left the Spanish mainland to join Sant Rafel on the island of Ibiza where he settled for 2 seasons, scoring 23 goals in 72 league appearances before hopping to Mallorca to join Llosetense for the 2016/17 season.
Joan came to England in 2017, joining Heybridge Swifts where he scored 30 goals in all competitions during the 2017/18 season, earning himself a move to League 2 side Lincoln City.
After 6 months in Lincolnshire Luque returned to non-league football and the south of England, firstly on loan at Bromley before permanent spells at Concord Rangers and Dagenham & Redbridge before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the summer of 2020 Luque joined Maidstone United of the National League South where he scored 4 goals in 10 appearances in games played behind closed doors before making the move to back to the National League with Weymouth for the remainder of the season.
The following summer Joan returned to Maidstone, kicking off pre-season by scoring against Invicta at Cheriton Road. He would go on to score 20 goals in 33 appearances in the National League South to help fire Maidstone to the title and promotion to the National League. His performances earned him the accolade of Vanarama National South Player of the Season and a spot in the The of the Season (alongside fellow new Invicta recruit Jack Jebb).
Unfortunately for Joan, late in the 2021/22 season he sustained a knee injury that saw him miss the entirety of the 22/23 season in the National League before being released last summer by new manager George Elokobi.
Having left Maidstone, Joan joined Worthing where he made his return from injury with 4 goals in 24 appearances before joining AFC Totton on loan for the second half of the season where a further 17 appearances and 6 goals helped fire the club to 2nd place in the Southern League Premier South and a playoff final where they were beaten on penalties by Salisbury.
Speaking about his latest recruit, manager Andy Drury said: “I’m delighted to sign Joan Luque. It’s a signing myself and the chairman have worked hard on over the last couple of weeks. Joan was player of the year 2 years ago in the National South and has fantastic ability with the ball, a good work ethic without it and he will be a huge part of team this season. He wants to be part of a successful team and has seen the signings we have made and I’m delighted he has chosen to come to us despite all the offers he had elsewhere.”
Welcome to Cheriton Road, Joan.
