Francisco Javier Castaño Allende (born 29 December 1972) is a Spanish retired 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 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 amassed

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 ...

totals of 121 games and seven goals over six seasons, representing in the competition

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

, Logroñés, Numancia and Betis. He added 150 matches and 23 goals in the

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 ...

, where he appeared for all the clubs but the first.

Club career

Born in

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, Castaño alternated between

and

during his first 13 years as a senior. He made his debut in the former competition on 2 June 1991 with

, coming on as a 68th minute substitute in a 3–0 home win 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 scored his first goal in the Spanish top flight on 27 March 1994, contributing to a 2–1 victory over

RC 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 ...

also at

El Molinón Estadio El Molinón (), officially Estadio Municipal El Molinón-Enrique Castro "Quini", is an association football stadium in Gijón, Asturias, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Sporting de Gijón, Real Sporting de Gijón. With a capacity ...

. Castaño promoted to the top tier three times in his professional career, with

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in '' Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club ha ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

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 ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, totalling 17 goals in the process. He also suffered relegation with the second side in 1997. In 2003, aged 30, Castaño left

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

. He went on to play a further 11 seasons in his native region, with

Astur CF Astur Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Oviedo, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1923 and later re-founded in 1949, it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Hermanos Llana'', which has a capacity of 2, ...

UP Langreo Unión Popular de Langreo is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Langreo, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1961, it plays in , holding its home games at ''Estadio Ganzábal'' in La Felguera, with a ...

UC Ceares Unión Club Ceares is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in the neighbourhood of Ceares, Gijón, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1946, it plays in , holding home games at ''Campo de La Cruz (Gijón), ...

Marino de Luanco Club Marino de Luanco is a Spanish football team based in Luanco, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1931 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Miramar'', with a capacity of 3,500 seats. History Marino Luanco was founde ...

and

CD Lealtad Club Deportivo Lealtad de Villaviciosa (English: Loyalty Sporting Club of Villaviciosa) is a Spanish football team based in Villaviciosa, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1916, it plays in , holding home games at ''Les Caley ...

, competing in the

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 ...

and the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. In July 2015, Castaño returned to Sporting de Gijón as youth coach. Six years later, he was appointed manager of

Tercera Federación Tercera Federación, previously known as Tercera RFEF, is the fifth tier of the Spanish football league system. It is below the ''La Liga'', ''Segunda División'', and its fellow semi-professional divisions '' Primera Federación'' and ''Segunda F ...

club

CD Mosconia Club Deportivo Mosconia is a football team based in Grado in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1961, it plays in the . Its stadium is '' Marqués de La Vega de Anzo'' with a capacity of 4,100 seats. History The first ''CD Mosconia ...

References

External links

*
La Segunda B profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castano, Francisco 1972 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Gijón Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Sporting de Gijón B players Sporting de Gijón players CD Logroñés footballers CD Numancia players Real Betis players Levante UD footballers UP Langreo footballers UC Ceares players Marino de Luanco footballers CD Lealtad players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish football managers Tercera Federación managers