Cris Martínez, one of the stories of the season after returning to play following her maternity leave
One of the great stories of the 2025/2026 Liga F Moeve season has been that of Cris Martínez. The player from Astorga became a mother to her son Nicolás in November, and seven months later, she returned to the pitch to bid farewell to Riazor by providing an assist and being tossed into the air by her teammates.
26 JUN 2026
“I imagine my return with my son watching me play again, surrounded by much of my family,” said an emotional Cris Martínez in an interview with Liga F. The Astorga native arrived in A Coruña in 2016, a decision that changed her life. The full-back not only made the right flank of the Galician side her own but also became the team's captain and a role model for her teammates and all the girls who dream of becoming professional footballers one day. At the end of the 2024/2025 season, she received the news that she was going to be a mother and stopped playing football, although the defender remained a part of the dressing room, supporting the Galician side in their bid to maintain their top-flight status. Her club, Deportivo Abanca, and the competition, Liga F, supported her throughout the process thanks to the maternity grants provided by the II Collective Agreement.
The Spanish competition supported her financially by hiring a personal trainer specialising in pregnancy in León, Diana, who accompanied her throughout the maternity process until she gave birth in November. Furthermore, Liga F has also assisted her throughout the post-birth process by subsidising a physiotherapist specialising in the pelvic floor, Patricia Gutiérrez, who is also based in Astorga. Once she was ready to return, Cris Martínez rejoined the club, Deportivo Abanca, in March to complete her first training sessions with the rest of her teammates and step back onto the pitch at Abegondo. “When I stepped onto the pitch for the first time, it stirred everything up inside me, and I realised that this is what I wanted, and I am enjoying it so much,” confessed the footballer, who set herself the goal of playing football again.
With three months left on the horizon, the Astorga native had already been working on her own and was more than ready to return to the pitch, although “I would like to get some minutes, but minutes that are earned, not given. If I truly deserve to play, I want to be put on for that reason, not because ‘Cris Martínez is playing a match again after having a child’.” And, after many hours in the gym and training at the Abegondo Sports City, the reward for her effort arrived on Matchday 29 of Liga F Moeve. The Riazor stadium, which had already bid her farewell during the half-time break of a men's team match, rose to its feet with twelve minutes remaining to pay tribute to its eternal captain. Bárbara Latorre left the field to make way for the full-back, who received the captain's armband from Henar Muiña in an emotional gesture.
Once again touching the ball, feeling like a professional footballer, and connecting with her teammates on the pitch, fate had a special gift in store for her. Barely ten minutes after coming on, she received a loose ball inside the area and did not think twice before delivering a cross with her right foot that Paula Monteagudo, from the penalty spot, sent into the back of the net to make it 2-2, the final score against RCD Espanyol, confirming a share of the points at Riazor. Her teammates rushed to hug her and dedicate the goal to her. After the final whistle, tears once again took hold of Cris Martínez, who was tossed into the air by all her teammates, lifting her to the sky of what had been her stadium for ten seasons. She took her final photos with her son Nicolás, immortalising a moment that is now eternal.