Francisco Javier Castaño Allende (born 29 December 1972) is a Spanish retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a midfielder. He amassed La Liga totals of 121 games and seven goals over six seasons, representing in the competition Sporting de Gijón, Logroñés, Numancia and Betis. He added 150 matches and 23 goals in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, where he appeared for all the clubs but the first.

Club career

Born in Gijón, Asturias, Castaño alternated between La Liga and

during his first 13 years as a senior. He made his debut in the former competition on 2 June 1991 with Sporting de Gijón, coming on as a 68th minute substitute in a 3–0 home win against

RCD Español Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

. He scored his first goal in the Spanish top flight on 27 March 1994, contributing to a 2–1 victory over

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

also at El Molinón. Castaño promoted to the top tier three times in his professional career, with

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in ''Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club has ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and Real Betis in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, totalling 17 goals in the process. He also suffered relegation with the second side in 1997. In 2003, aged 30, Castaño left

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

. He went on to play a further 11 seasons in his native region, with Astur CF, UP Langreo, UC Ceares,

Marino de Luanco Club Marino de Luanco is a Spanish football team based in Luanco, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1931 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Miramar'', with a capacity of 3,500 seats. ...

and CD Lealtad, competing in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

and the Tercera División. In July 2015, Castaño returned to Sporting de Gijón as youth coach. Six years later, he was appointed manager of

Tercera Federación Tercera Federación, previously known as Tercera División RFEF, is the fifth tier of the Spanish football league system. It is below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional divisions ...

club CD Mosconia.

References

External links

*
La Segunda B profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castano, Francisco 1972 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Gijón Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Sporting de Gijón B players Sporting de Gijón players CD Logroñés footballers CD Numancia players Real Betis players Levante UD footballers UP Langreo footballers UC Ceares players Marino de Luanco footballers CD Lealtad players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish football managers Tercera Federación managers