Rodrigo Alonso (footballer, born 1884)
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rodrigo Alonso Giménez-Cuenca | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | 11 August 1884 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth | Vigo, Spain | |||||||||||
| Date of death | 21 October 1965 (aged 81) | |||||||||||
| Place of death | Vigo, Spain | |||||||||||
| Position | Defender | |||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
| 1901–1903 | Mittweidaer BC | |||||||||||
| 1904–1906 | Vigo FC | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||
Rodrigo Alonso Giménez-Cuenca (11 August 1884 – 21 October 1965) was a Spanish footballer who played for Vigo FC and who served as its president in 1908. He was the older brother of Antonio, who played for Real Madrid.
Rodrigo Alonso was born in the Galician town of Vigo on 11 August 1884, as the third son of Antonio Alonso Santodomingo and his wife Eloísa Giménez-Cuenca (1860–1935), daughter of an important military man from Matanzas.[1][2] Like his younger brother Antonio, it is likely that Rodrigo was also sent to Germany to complete his studies at the Hochschule Mittweida University in Saxony, where he began to play for the school's football team, Mittweidaer Ballspiel-Club, which had been founded in 1896 by students.[3]
Sporting career
Alonso was, along with his brothers (Antonio and Mauro) and the Tapias (Rafael and Juan), the first known footballers from Vigo.[2] In 1904, the 20-year-old Rodrigo was already working as a field official.[2] The Alonsos were the first promoters of Vigo FC, founded in 1905, playing a crucial role in helping the club achieve financial stability.[4] Thanks to their friendships, such as that of the deputy Ángel Urzaiz, the club received a silver cup from King Alfonso XIII in 1905 as a clasp to organize the Galician Championships.[4] Later that year, Rodrigo and Antonio were signed by Madrid FC, but while his brother acquired great prominence in the team, Rodrigo soon returned to Vigo FC, becoming its honorary president in May 1905.[4]
The following year, in 1906, Alonso promoted a children's football competition, which was named after him.[2] He became the club's effective president in 1908.[2][3] He had no qualms about playing a few games for Vigo during his presidencies, mostly as a defender. In addition to football, he also practiced cycling in the early days of Vigo sport.[2] He later served as a director of the local Hunting and Fishing Society, and again president of Vigo in the early 1920s, now called Real Vigo Sporting.[2]