Atanasio Pardo

Atanasio Pardo Vega (6 April 1900 – 30 July 1994) was a Chilean football manager and player who played as a left winger, considered the first Chilean footballer who emigrated to Europe holding a contract and played in Spain.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Pardo and the second or maternal family name is Vega.
Atanasio Pardo
Pardo in August 1942.
Personal information
Full name Atanasio Pardo Vega
Date of birth (1900-04-06)6 April 1900
Place of birth Santiago, Chile
Date of death 30 July 1994(1994-07-30) (aged 94)
Place of death Santiago, Chile
Position(s) Left winger
Youth career
Asociación Escolar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Magallanes Atlético
1919–1922 Ibérico Balompié
1922–1924 UD Española
1925 Victoria FC
192? Saint-Denis
192? África Sport Club
1925–1926 Real Málaga 5 (2)
1926–1927 UD Española
1927–1929 Málaga FC 8 (1)
1929–1931 Antequera CF
1931 FC Malagueño
1931–1932 Antequera CF
1933 Málaga Sport Club
1941 Lautaro de Buin
1942 Tricolor Nacional
Managerial career
1929–1932 Antequera
193?–1938 Unión Española (assistant)
1938 Unión Española
1939 Central
1941 Lautaro de Buin
1942 Tricolor Nacional
1943 Unión Española
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

As a youth players, Pardo and David Arellano, one of the founders of Colo-Colo, were members of Asociación Escolar, a team made up by select students. They also coincided after in Magallanes Atlético.[1]

Pardo played for both Magallanes Atlético and Ibérico Balompié, later Unión Deportiva Española,[2] before emigrating to Spain by suggestion of his fellow footballer Juan Legarreta.[1] He joined Real Málaga in the Campeonato Regional Sur in 1925,[3] playing for several seasons for the club, in an age where it was changing his name to Málaga FC, FC Malagueño and Málaga Sport Club. In Málaga, he also played for Victoria Football Club[1] and Antequera CF.[4]

Pardo also had stints with Saint-Denis in France and África Sport Club, a team that he called "The Spanish from Africa".[1]

For a brief stint in 1926–27, he returned to Chile and played for Unión Deportiva Española.[4] In the 1930s, he returned to Chile again as a retired player.[2]

According to his sons, he returned permanently to Chile in 1941 after the Spanish Civil War, and played for Lautaro de Buin, Tricolor Nacional from Paine, being considered a legend of the club,[5] among others.[1]

Coaching career

Back in Chile, Pardo joined Unión Deportiva Española as assistant of Andrés García.[2] In 1938–39 he served as coach of Unión Española until the team retired from the Campeonato Nacional due to the Spanish Civil War, using the name Central in the match against Colo-Colo on 16 April 1939.[6] In 1943, he assumed as head coach again and won the Primera División de Chile, the first league title for the team.[2][7] As a curiosity, Pardo was the oldest coach and led the youngest squad at the tournament.[8]

He also coached another clubs such as Antequera CF in Spain[4] and both Lautaro de Buin and Tricolor de Paine in Chile, winning local championships, at the same time he performed as a player.[1]

Personal life

His parents were Spanish who came first to Valparaíso, Chile, and next they made his home in Paine.[1]

His twin brother, José, also was a footballer who played as a right winger, with whom Atanasio coincided in Unión Deportiva Española.[1]

In Spain, he was nicknamed El Hombre-Relámpago (The Lightning Man) due to his speed as well as The Chilean (El Chileno).[1]

Pardo married twice. From his first marriage, he had three children: Paty, Carlitos and Alicia. From his second marriage, he had nine children. His daughter Amalia played football for Unión Española and his son Arturo is the father-in-law of the Chile international goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

He graduated as a obstetrician at the University of Málaga and helped labours in Viluco, Buin, where he made his home. He also served as President of the neighborhood association.[9]

Honours

As player

Ibérico Balompíe

As manager

Unión Española

Legacy

Due to his contributions in Viluco, he is considered the driving force of Posta Viluco, the local medical center, where his daughter, María Luz, went go on helping of the community.[9]

A street from Buin was given his name.[10]

References
  1. Valencia, Antonio (29 August 2015). "Atanasio, la increíble carrera del primer chileno que jugó en España". www.economiaynegocios.cl (in Spanish). El Mercurio. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  2. Llanos Ibarra, Heriberto (29 March 2021). "Andrés García y las generaciones doradas de Unión Española". Asifuch (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  3. "Pardo, Atanasio Pardo Vega - Futbolista". www.bdfutbol.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  4. (La apasionante vida de los rojos de Santa Laura) ATANASIO PARDO on Facebook (in Spanish). 17 November 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  5. Herrera, Claudio (24 March 2018). "EyN: Atado a su peyorativa carga histórica, el Tricolor de Paine vuelve a escena". www.economiaynegocios.cl (in Spanish). El Mercurio. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  6. "COLO-COLO 4:2 UNIÓN ESPAÑOLA (ANULADO) - TORNEO NACIONAL 1939". historiadecolocolo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  7. "Historia - Unión Española". cdysunionespanola.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  8. Arias, Hugo (2008). "La épica historia de la primera estrella". pasión.y.furia/historia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  9. "Posta Viluco – Corporación de Buin". www.corporacionbuin.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  10. "Atanasio Pardo Vega, Buin, 951 0231 - CodePostalMonde.com". www.codepostalmonde.com. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
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