Francisco Javier González Pérez (; born 14 July 1969), known as Fran, 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 ...

. He spent his entire career with Deportivo, as a

left midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

with skill and field vision, helping the club win the first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

title in its history. Fran represented

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Club career

Fran, one of the most notable players in

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

's history, was born in Carreira,

Santa Uxía de Ribeira Ribeira is the capital of the comarca of Barbanza, in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. The capital and most populous urban center is Santa Uxía de Ribeira. Another of its major points is ...

, Galicia, and was promoted to the first team in 1988, making his

debut on 31 August 1991 in a 2–1 away loss against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

. Quickly established, he only missed eight league games in his first five seasons – also scoring on 24 occasions – while already being

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

.¿Qué fue de Fran, el capitán del Superdepor? (What happened to Fran, captain of Superdepor?)

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns '' El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The paper particularly covers news of the Community of M ...

, 7 March 2017 (in Spanish) In the 1995–96 off-season,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

almost signed Fran (previously, in early 1992 and unbeknownst to him, he had agreed to a pre-contract with that club after having already put pen to paper to a new deal at Deportivo), but he regretted leaving and returned quickly. In 1999–2000, as ''Depor'' conquered its first national championship, injuries limited him to only 22 matches, and he added a goal in a 2–0 home win over Valencia on 12 March 2000. Fran retired from football at the end of the 2004–05 campaign after 17 years at the

Estadio Riazor Estadio Municipal de Riazor (), also known as Estadio ABANCA-RIAZOR for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium in A Coruña, Spain. The stadium is the home of Deportivo de La Coruña, and accommodates a total of 32,660 spectators, making ...

, 14 in the first division, at the same time as

Mauro Silva Mauro may refer to: Given name * Mauro (footballer, born 1932), Brazilian footballer * Mauro Silva (footballer, born 1978), Brazilian footballer * Mauro (footballer, born 1984), Portuguese footballer * Bruno Mauro (born 1973), Angolan footballer ...

, with both playing their last game on 22 May 2005 in a 3–0 home defeat to

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

. He made 700 competitive appearances. In 2008, Fran returned to Deportivo, joining its

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...

team alongside former teammates

Djalminha Djalma Feitosa Dias (born 9 December 1970), known as Djalminha , is a Brazilian football pundit and retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Blessed with superb skill and technical ability but possessing a troubl ...

, Donato,

Noureddine Naybet Noureddine Naybet ( ar, نور الدين نيبت; born 10 February 1970) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He played in Spain (Deportivo de La Coruña) and Portugal for Sporting CP and England for To ...

and

Jacques Songo'o Jacques Celestin Songo'o (born 17 March 1964) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is the current goalkeeper coach of the Cameroon national team. He spent the vast majority of his professional career ...

International career

Fran made his Spain national team debut on 27 January 1993, in a friendly 1–1 draw against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

. In total he earned 16

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, participating at

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

where he played his last international, a 4–3 group stage victory over

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. In April 2016, Fran was appointed Galicia's manager alongside

Míchel Salgado Miguel Ángel "Míchel" Salgado Fernández (born 22 October 1975) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back. Nicknamed ''Il Due'' ("two" in Italian), he was known for his combative tackling and attacking play. After excellent d ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fran goal.''

Personal life

Fran's older brother, José Ramón, was also a footballer (and a midfielder). He too spent several seasons with Deportivo, but with much less individual impact. His son Nicolás was also involved in the sport, most notably with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

Honours

: 1999–2000 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 1994–95,Supertítulo (Supertitle)
Mundo Deportivo, 28 June 1995 (in Spanish) 2001–02 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

References

External links

*
Deportivo archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fran 1969 births Living people People from O Barbanza Sportspeople from the Province of A Coruña Spanish footballers Footballers from Galicia (Spain) Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Deportivo Fabril players Deportivo de La Coruña players Spain international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players Spanish football managers