Conrado Pineda

Conrado Pineda Barbachano (died 20 October 1953) was a Spanish consular and footballer who played as a defender for Sporting de Gijón. He was an important figure in the amateur beginnings of Sporting de Gijón, being one of its founders in 1905, and then serving the club as a center-back until at least 1907.

Early life and family Conrado Pineda was born in the Philippines town of Manila, as the son of José Pineda Peláez, a judge from Infiesto who had worked in various courts in Havana, Barcelona, and Oviedo, before being assigned to Manila, and Marina Barbachano Álvarez, a Mexican-born Indian, whose family owned important businesses in Yucatán.

When his father was assigned to Gijón, the Pineda Barbachano couple moved and settled there, where their comfortable financial situation allowed them to raise nine children, six of whom went on to form ties with football, such as Conrado and Ignacio de Loyola, who played for Sporting de Gijón; Miguel, who played for Sport Ovetense and Gonzaga; and Marino, the youngest, who played for the Begoña Club youth team, while Francisco, the eldest, served as vice president of the CD Covadonga in Mexico, as well as a director of other locals teams linked to the Spanish emigration. The two Pineda brothers appear in the team's first known line-up, a match against Sport Ovetense on 18 August 1907, where they played alongside the three Muñiz brothers. In addition to being Sporting's first-choice center-back, Pineda was also an excellent cyclist and wrestler, facing the Japanese champion Sada Raku in a series of exhibition bouts held in Gijón in September 1910. He also stated that he had been the first president from 1905 until 1907, when he was replaced by Anselmo López, but he was quickly answered in the press by fellow founders Ángel Pardo and Ignacio Lavilla, who pointed out López as president.

Later life His connection with the Italian shipping companies played a key role in his appointment as the Italian consul in Asturias, a position that he held for twenty years, from 1930 until his death on 20 October 1953.