Balbino Clemente Núñez (6 September 1896 – 28 March 1941), better known as Balbino, 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 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 ...

. He was part of the first-ever team fielded by

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

in 1923. His brother

Juanito Juanito is a given name or nickname, meaning "Little Juan" or Johnny. Notable people with the name include: Professional footballers * Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb (born 1985), Argentinian forward * Juan Díaz Sánchez (1948–2013), Spanish forw ...

was also a footballer.

Club career

Born in Vedra, Galicia, he spent most of his career at his hometown club Fortuna de Vigo, playing for them until it was merged with Real Vigo Sporting in 1923, to form

. The presentation match of this new team was held at Coia on 16 September 1923, in a meeting between an A and a B team formed with the players from the club, taking advantage of the large team available that they had. Balbino played for the B side that was captained by his brother

, in a 0-2 loss to the A team captained by Luis Otero. The first match against another club came a few days later, on 23 September 1923 against

Boavista F.C. Boavista Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Boavista, is a Portuguese professional sports club from the of Porto that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese football, at the Estádio do B ...

, in which he was part of an 8-2 victory. On 10 April 1924, he played a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

for Celta against the Uruguay national team that would go on to win the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He won three

Galician Championship Galician may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Galicia (Spain) ** Galician language ** Galician people ** Gallaeci, a large Celtic tribal federation who inhabited Gallaecia (currently Galicia (Spain) * Something of, from, or related t ...

s with Celta in 1923-24, 1924-25 and 1925-26.

International career

He received his only cap for Spain on 18 December 1921 at

Campo de O'Donnell Campo de O'Donnell was a multi-use stadium in Madrid, Spain. The stadium should not be confused with Campo de O'Donnell (Atlético Madrid), which shared the same name and was situated away on the same boulevard. It was initially a field (campo) ...

, in a 3-1 win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Being a player of Real Vigo Sporting, he was summoned to play for the Galicia national team, and he was one of the eleven footballers that played in the team's first-ever game on 19 November 1922, a 4-1 win over a Castile/Madrid XI in the quarter-finals of the

1922-23 Prince of Asturias Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the W ...

, an inter-regional

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

organized by the

RFEF The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the national cup competitio ...

. Balbino helped the team reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, in which he opened the scoring early in the game, but eventually lost 1-3 to Asturias national team, courtesy of a second-half brace from

José Luis Zabala José Luis Zabala (14 December 1898 – 22 April 1946) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward. He played in four matches for the Spain national football team in 1923 and 1924, scoring four goals, including a hat-trick against Portu ...

Honours

Club

;

: *Winners (3) 1923-24, 1924-25 and 1925-26

International

;Galicia Prince of Asturias Cup: *Runner-up (1): 1922-23

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balbino Clemente 1896 births 1941 deaths Footballers from the Province of A Coruña Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Real Betis players Sevilla FC players RC Celta de Vigo players Spain men's international footballers