Rodrigo Alonso (footballer)
{{Short description|Spanish footballer (1884–1965)}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Rodrigo Alonso
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| full_name = Rodrigo Alonso Giménez-Cuenca
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1884|08|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Vigo, Spain
| death_date = {{death date and age|1956|08|26|1879|10|23|df=y}}
| death_place = Vigo, Spain
| height =
| position =
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 1901–1903 |clubs1 = Mittweidaer BC |caps1 = |goals1 =
| years2 = 1904–1906 |clubs2 = Vigo FC |caps2 = |goals2 =
| module = {{Infobox officeholder
| embed = yes
| name = Rodrigo Alonso
| image =
| office = President of Vigo FC
| term_start = 1908
| term_end = 1908
| predecessor =
| successor =
| height =
}}
}}
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.
Early life and education
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.{{cite web |url=https://gw.geneanet.org/sanchiz?lang=en&p=rodrigo&n=alonso+gimenez+cuenca |title=Rodrigo Alonso Giménez-Cuenca |language=es |website=gw.geneanet.org |accessdate=1 May 2025 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.palaciodeoriente.es/img/media/Sagas%2007%20Antonio%20Alonso.pdf |title=Los Alonso |trans-title=The Alonsos |language=es |website=www.palaciodeoriente.es |accessdate=1 May 2025 |archive-date=21 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621042251/http://www.palaciodeoriente.es/img/media/Sagas%2007%20Antonio%20Alonso.pdf |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.cuadernosdefutbol.com/2017/11/mittweida-alemania-capital-del-futbol-espanol/ |title=Mittweida (Alemania), capital del fútbol español |trans-title=Mittweida (Germany), capital of Spanish football |language=es |website=www.cuadernosdefutbol.com |publisher=CIHEFE |date=17 October 2017 |access-date=1 May 2025 }}
Sporting career
Together with his brothers Antonio and Mauro, he was among the first players and promoters of Vigo FC, founded in 1905, playing a crucial role in helping the club achieve financial stability.{{Cite web |url=http://lafutbolteca.com/tag/celtina/ |title=Historial del Real Club Celta de Vigo |trans-title=History of the Real Club Celta de Vigo |language=es |website=lafutbolteca.com |access-date=1 May 2024 |archive-date=1 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501235957/http://lafutbolteca.com/tag/celtina/ |url-status=live }} 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. 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. Rodrigo served as the club's effective president in 1908.
Later life
Rodrigo, along with his brothers Antonio and Mauro, regularly attended the factory of their father, a prominent businessman in the canning sector who paid all three equally, 15% of the annual profit, even though Mauro was the most active. Upon their father's death in 1917, all three of them continued the family business and soon created the Antonio Alonso-Hijos company in 1918.{{cite web |url=https://www.farodevigo.es/o-morrazo/2012/08/18/conservera-antigua-galicia-17628561.html |title=La conservera más antigua de Galicia |trans-title=The oldest preserve in Galicia |language=es |website=www.farodevigo.es |date=18 August 2012 |accessdate=1 May 2025 |archive-date=1 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501235942/https://www.farodevigo.es/o-morrazo/2012/08/18/conservera-antigua-galicia-17628561.html |url-status=live }} Under the management of Mauro, and with Rodrigo as the head of the sales department, the company experienced great success, becoming one of the main suppliers of canned goods to the Allied armies during the First World War, and later receiving a visit from King Alfonso XIII in 1927. After the Spanish Civil War, the different business styles of Rodrigo and Mauro caused the company to split into two new firms in 1940.