Francisco Bao Rodríguez (20 April 1924 – 13 February 2012), known as Sansón, was a Spanish

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 defender. He was the youngest ever player to appear in a

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 ...

game, when he played for

Celta Celta is Galician, Portuguese and Spanish for the Celts. It may also refer to: * Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), an English teaching certificate * Celta (train), an international train service connecting Vigo and Port ...

in 1939.

Career

Born in

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, Province of Pontevedra, Galicia, Sansón joined local

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 ...

in 1939. On 31 December of that year, at only 15 years and 255 days old, he made his

debut in a 4–1 away win against

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

, one of just six league appearances he would make for the club over two seasons, after which he was deemed surplus to requirements due to his age. In 1943, after two years with Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, Sansón returned to the top division with

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

, although he was again only a reserve at that level. Subsequently, he developed into an important player with Asturias neighbours

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

– also in the latter tier – playing an average of 23 matches during his stint, which included two top-five finishes. Sansón returned to Celta for the 1950–51 season, where he was utilised as a defender,

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 ...

and

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, but he was again almost exclusively a backup (20 games in his third year, a total of only 20 in the other four). After rejecting a new five-year contract for 500.000 pesetas, he retired in 1956 after a spell with Xerez CD, with top-flight totals of 167 matches and one goal. Sansón's record was broken on 24 June 2020, when

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 ...

's Luka Romero took the field against

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanson 1924 births 2012 deaths Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Vigo Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players RC Celta de Vigo players Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa players Sporting de Gijón players Real Oviedo players Xerez CD footballers