Ramón Blanco Rodríguez (20 February 1952 – 9 May 2013) was a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. His professional career was closely associated to

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

, as both a player and manager.

Playing career

Born in

Vimianzo Vimianzo is a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Terra de Soneira. Boundary The city is bounded on the north by the municipalities of Camariñas, La ...

Province of A Coruña The province of A Coruña ( ; ; historical ) is the northwesternmost province of Spain, and one of the four provinces which constitute the autonomous community of Galicia. This province is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north ...

, Blanco moved to Argentina at an early age, as his parents were in search of better working opportunities. He joined

Sportivo Italiano Club Sportivo Italiano is an Football in Argentina, Argentine professional association football, football club located in Ciudad Evita, La Matanza Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The team currently plays in the Primera B Metropolitana, the third ...

at the age of 13, making his senior debut with the first team in

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 team ...

only four years later. Again in his country of birth, Blanco signed for

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, moving to

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

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

in 1974. He saw out his two-year contract with the latter, in spite of limited playing opportunities. He made his debut in the Spanish top flight on 5 January 1975, coming on as a late substitute in a 3–0 home win against

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

. Blanco joined

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

neighbours

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

in summer 1976, achieving promotion in his first year and being part of the squad that reached the top division for the first time ever. Under manager

Enrique Mateos Enrique Mateos Mancebo (15 July 1934 – 6 July 2001) was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker. He amassed La Liga totals of 123 games and 48 goals over the course of 13 seasons, representing in the competition Real Madrid, Sevilla and ...

, other than in his natural position, he played also as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. On 29 January 1978, Blanco scored his first and only goal in the top tier, in a 1–2 home loss to

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

. The season ended in immediate relegation and, after a further two years with the club in division two, he left after a contract dispute to

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

. Blanco retired in 1987 at the age of 35, after several spells in lower league and amateur football, mainly with Racing Club Portuense as he wanted to remain close to

Coaching career

Blanco started working as a coach immediately after retiring, beginning with Cádiz's youth teams and occasionally aiding first-team manager

Víctor Espárrago Víctor Rodolfo Espárrago Videla (born 6 October 1944 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan football coach and former midfielder. International career He was capped 67 times for the national team between 1966 and 1974. His playing career highlight ...

. After being in charge of the reserves and also assisting several coaches, he was appointed at the helm of the main squad late into the 1990–91 campaign, and managed to save the side from top-flight relegation in the playoffs, with a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

win over

CD Málaga Club Deportivo Málaga was a Spanish football club based in Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It played twenty seasons in La Liga, before being dissolved in 1992. History Origins The first football club in Málaga was establ ...

. The feat was repeated again the following year, after disposing of

UE Figueres Unió Esportiva Figueres is a Spanish football team based in Figueres, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1919 and refounded in 2007 it plays in the , holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal de Vilatenim'', with a seating cap ...

3–1 on aggregate. After the ''Gaditanos'' eventually suffered relegation in 1993, Blanco left and signed with

CA Marbella Club Atlético Marbella were a Spanish football team based in Marbella, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1947 and dissolved in 1997, it served as the reserve team of CD Málaga in the past. History Atlético Marbella had its ...

of the second division, being sacked early into the 1995–96 season. He returned to Cádiz the following campaign, with the team now 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 ...

. He left in June 1998 after not being able to help them promote, going on to work in the same league with

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

CD San Fernando Club Deportivo San Fernando was a Spanish football team based in San Fernando, Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1940 it was dissolved on 16 June 2009, due a €2 million debt. The club's home ground was ''Estadio Ba ...

(two spells),

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

and Torredonjimeno CF. After an extended period away from football, and also working as a

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

, Blanco returned to his beloved Cádiz 14 years later, with the club still in the third tier. He left after only three games in charge, however, for medical reasons.

Death

Blanco died on 9 May 2013 in Cádiz at the age of 61, after not being able to overcome a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

References

External links

* *
Player stats at Cadistas1910

Coach stats at Cadistas1910
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco, Ramon 1952 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of A Coruña Men's association football midfielders Primera Nacional players Sportivo Italiano footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players RCD Mallorca players Real Betis players Cádiz CF players Recreativo de Huelva players Racing Club Portuense players Chiclana CF players Atlético Sanluqueño CF players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Cádiz CF managers UD Almería managers Granada CF managers