Fernando Ponte Conde (1907 – 10 June 1978) was a Spanish sports leader who served as the first president of

Pontevedra CF Pontevedra Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team in Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded on 16 October 1941 it currently plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal de Pasarón'', with a capacity o ...

between 1941 and 1942.

Early life and education

Born in 1907 in

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

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

, Fernando Ponte Conde studied at the in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

between 1920 and 1922, and in the following year, he earned his bachelor's degree.

Pontevedra CF

On 16 October 1941, the two top teams in Pontevedra,

Eiriña CF The Eiriña Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football club located in Pontevedra, Galicia, founded in 1922, and disappeared on 16 October 1941, when it merged with the Alfonso XIII CF to form the Pontevedra CF. History Origins In 1921, the modest ...

and Alfonso XIII CF, which had been hindered by the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, decided to join forces and merge into a single entity that was capable of representing the city with the proper support: ''Pontevedra Club de Fútbol'', and Ponte Conde was elected as its first president. Eiriña's secretary,

José Soto Martínez José Soto Martínez (born 15 March 1946) is a Mexican politician affiliated with the Convergence. In the 2012 general election he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies to represent the first district of Oaxaca. He had previously represented t ...

, was an officer of the prison corps, and thus he knew that, in order to avoid arising suspicions in the others, the president had to be someone from Alfonso, with Ponte being the most suitable for this position. The paperwork that officially established the club was held in ''Las Palmeras'' because Ponte, who was already set to be the first president, was a colonel and had his office there. Pontevedra CF made its official debut just two months later, on 28 December, in a friendly against

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 ...

at the Pasarón, which ended in a 3–3 home draw. During his first presidency, the club quickly became the best in the city, dominating the lower categories of Galician football until they won the Galician Championship in

Ourense Ourense (; ) is a city and the capital of the province of province of Ourense, Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path o ...

in 1942.

Death

Ponte Conde died on 10 June 1978, at the age of 71. One of his great-grandsons, José Corrochano, was a member of Pontevedra CF in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponte Conde, Fernando 1907 births 1978 deaths Sportspeople from Pontevedra Pontevedra CF 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish colonels