[1][2] Rubio made his debut in the top flight on 6 September 1975, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home win against UD Las Palmas,[3] and finished his first year with 26 games (all starts) and three goals as the Andalusians ranked in 11th position.
[2] At the Camp Nou, having to compete with the likes of Juan Manuel Asensi and Jesús Landáburu – and later Bernd Schuster – Rubio was nothing but a fringe player due to a serious knee injury, all of his league appearances coming in the 1979–80 campaign.
[2] In 1991, after one-year spells with Recreativo de Huelva (second tier, relegation) and SD Ibiza (regional leagues), Rubio returned to Albacete once again, now as director of football.
As Benito Floro joined Real Madrid in the summer of 1992 after Albacete's top-flight overachiements, he was named his successor, being dismissed after the 15th round and replaced by former Sevilla teammate Víctor Espárrago.
[5] Rubio started the 2009–10 season at the helm of CF Atlético Ciudad in the third division,[8] leaving the club – who would be eventually relegated due to financial irregularities[9]– in late November.