Francisco "Paco" Fortes Calvo (born 4 January 1955) is a Spanish former football

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. Even though he also played for

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, his career was mainly associated with Farense in Portugal, either as a player or manager.

Playing career

Born in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

, Fortes emerged through local

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

's youth ranks, going on to spend four years with the first team and also being loaned one season to

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 estab ...

. He only featured regularly for the former in 1975–76 – 23 matches, three goals – adding 11

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

appearances with three goals in two separate campaigns. He made his

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' ...

debut on 5 October 1975 at the age of 20, in a 3–0 home win against

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021 ...

. Released by the ''Blaugrana'' in 1979, Fortes signed for neighbours

RCD Español Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

, staying with the club for three seasons. Subsequently, he joined

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

still in the top flight, going on to appear in 175 games and score 14 goals in the competition. He earned his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

on 16 November 1975, playing 15 minutes in the 2–2 draw in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

for the

UEFA Euro 1976 The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 16 and 20 June 1976. Only f ...

qualifiers. In the summer of 1984, the 29-year-old Fortes signed with

S.C. Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Faro in the district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club will play the 2021–22 season in the Liga Portugal ...

in Portugal, being relegated from the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

in his first year but winning immediate promotion. He appeared in more than 100 official matches for the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its ...

side in his five-year stint.

Coaching career

In late 1988, aged 33, Fortes retired from football and immediately started coaching Farense. He was in charge of eight games in that season, winning four and drawing two, but the team eventually could not escape relegation after ranking 18th. Promotion befell in the following campaign, as champions. Fortes remained at the helm of the club for one full decade, managing four consecutive top-eight finishes from 1991 to 1995, including a best-ever fourth in 1994–95 as Farense qualified to the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. He was dismissed after the 21st round in 1998–99, moving to neighbouring

Imortal D.C. Imortal Desportivo Clube ''(abbreviated as Imortal DC and colloquially known as Imortal de Albufeira)'' is a Portuguese sports club centered around a football club based in the city of Albufeira, in the Portuguese region of Algarve. Imortal has ...

of the second tier. Early into 2001–02, after only six games with

C.F. União de Lamas Clube de Futebol União de Lamas ''(abbreviated as CF União de Lamas)'' is a Portugal, Portuguese Association football, football club based in Santa Maria de Lamas, Santa Maria da Feira Municipality, Santa Maria da Feira. Background CF União ...

(also division two), Fortes returned to his beloved Farense, in the midst of a severe financial crisis. He was one of four coaches during the season – this included his former player

Hajry Redouane Hajry RedouaneThe Arabic name, given name followed by family name, is Redouane Hajry. ( ar, رضوان حجري) (born 5 March 1964) is a Moroccan retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and a manager. His 15-year professional ...

– as the team were eventually relegated. After leaving midway through the following campaign, he spent two full seasons and part of a third with C.D. Pinhalnovense in the third division. After reuniting with Redouane at

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional footb ...

, Fortes returned to Pinhalnovense for one final year, then lost all connection with the football world. Undergoing serious financial problems, he contacted former club Barcelona's ''Agrupació Barça Veterans'', who arranged for him to work as a controller in the

Port of Barcelona Managed by Spanish Government The Port of Barcelona ( ca, Port de Barcelona, ; es, Puerto de Barcelona) has a 150-year history and great contemporary commercial importance as one of Europe's major ports in the Mediterranean. It is also Spain's th ...

Honours

Player

Barcelona *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 1977–78 Valladolid *

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

Farense * Segunda Liga: 1985–86

Manager

Farense * Segunda Liga: 1989–90

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortes, Paco 1955 births Living people Footballers from Barcelona Spanish footballers Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players CD Málaga footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Real Valladolid players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players S.C. Farense players Spain amateur international footballers Spain international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish football managers Primeira Liga managers Liga Portugal 2 managers S.C. Farense managers C.D. Pinhalnovense managers Raja CA managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in Morocco Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Morocco Botola managers