José Ramón Gallego Souto (born 7 August 1959) is a Spanish retired

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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. His entire professional career was spent with

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

, for which he played 11 seasons in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with competitive totals of 330 matches and 18 goals.

Club career

Born in

Durango, Biscay Durango is a town and municipality of the historical territory and province of Biscay, located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. It is the main town of Durangaldea, one of the ''comarcas of Spain, comarcas'' of B ...

, Gallego started playing in 1978 with local amateurs

SCD Durango Sociedad Cultural Deportiva Durango is a Spanish football team based in Durango, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1919 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Tabira'', with a capacity of 3,000 spectator ...

. After one year, he joined

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

giants

, initially being assigned to the reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

. Gallego made his

debut on 30 March 1980, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 away draw against

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

. He appeared in a further six league games during the season. After a loan to third-tier

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

, he returned to the San Mamés Stadium and went on to be a first-team regular over the following eight years. Gallego contributed a total of 57 matches and two goals as his main club won back-to-back national championships (including the double in 1983–84). He ended his career in 1992 at the age of 32, with neighbouring

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

in division three.

Honours

Club

Athletic Bilbao *

: 1982–83, 1983–84 *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 1983–84 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

: 1984

International

Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

¡¡¡Campeones!!! (Champions!!!)
Mundo Deportivo, 30 October 1986 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallego, Jose Ramon 1959 births Living people Footballers from Durango, Biscay Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División B players Athletic Bilbao B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Córdoba CF players Deportivo Alavés players Spain men's under-21 international footballers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen