Francisco José Abascal Alonso (born 10 October 1966), known as Francis Abascal, is a Spanish former professional

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 ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Abascal was born in Noriega in

Ribadedeva Ribadedeva (; Asturian and Cantabrian: Ribedeva) is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. To the north is the Cantabrian Sea, while to the south lies Peñamellera Baja, to the west Llanes and to the ea ...

, within the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

and

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administr ...

of Asturias, and began his career with Asturian side

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 ...

. He first appeared for the B team, Real Oviedo Aficionados, in 1984, and helped them to promotion as

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

group winners in 1987–88. However, he never played for the first team, and moved on in 1988 to join Real Burgos. He won the Segunda División title with Burgos in 1989–90, but played just once in the ensuing top flight campaign. He left the club in 1991 after 59 appearances and five goals in all competitions, joining

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' ...

rivals

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. In Abascal's first season, Cádiz avoided relegation thanks to a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

victory over

Figueres Figueres (, ; , es, Figueras, ) is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museu ...

, but they were not so lucky in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

. The following year they suffered a second consecutive relegation, and Abascal departed with two goals in his 75 matches for the club in all competitions. His next destination was

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

, where he made 33 appearances in 1994–95, but couldn't prevent them being relegated from

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, 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 Fo ...

. He spent the next two seasons with

Langreo Langreo (; ast, Llangréu) is a municipality and town in northern Spain, in Asturias. It is the 4th largest town of Asturias with 43,000 inhabitants. Langreo is located in the centre of Asturias, approximately south-east of Oviedo. It was an im ...

in the third tier, scoring once in 69 matches. Abascal signed for Tercera División side

Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at the ...

in 1997. He helped them to promotion in 1998–99, and made 29 appearances in the Segunda División B season that followed. He retired in 2000 at the age of 33.

Honours

Real Oviedo Aficionados *

: 1987–88 Real Burgos * Segunda División: 1989–90

Career statistics

:1. Appearances in the 1991–92 La Liga relegation playoff

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abascal, Francis 1966 births Living people People from Llanes Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Asturias Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Oviedo Vetusta players Real Burgos CF footballers Cádiz CF players CD San Fernando players UP Langreo footballers SD Ponferradina players