| José Antonio Gallardo | |
| Fullname: | José Antonio Gallardo Marín |
| Birth Date: | 31 December 1961 |
| Birth Place: | Torremolinos, Spain |
| Death Place: | Málaga, Spain |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Years1: | 1979–1984 |
| Years2: | 1984–1987 |
| Caps2: | 21 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Totalcaps: | 21 |
| Totalgoals: | 0 |
José Antonio Gallardo Marín (31 December 1961 – 15 January 1987) was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
He played 25 professional matches for Málaga, dying aged 25 from complications after a collision during a game.
Born in Torremolinos, Province of Málaga, Gallardo began his career at local Atlético Malagueño in 1979. He graduated to CD Málaga five years later, making his professional debut on 9 September 1984 and keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 La Liga away win against Real Sociedad;[1] it was his only appearance of a season that ended in relegation.
In April 1985, Gallardo played both legs of a 3–2 aggregate win over CA Osasuna in the first round of the Copa de la Liga.[2] [3] The following month, he did the same in a 2–4 aggregate loss to Athletic Bilbao in the next round.[4] [5]
As Fernando dominated in goal, Gallardo played only once in 1985–86, a 1–1 draw at Cartagena FC in the last Segunda División match on 18 May. After the former was sold to Sevilla FC in the summer of 1986, the latter became first-choice and conceded 14 goals in 19 matches during the first part of the campaign.[6]
On 21 December 1986, in a 3–2 loss to RC Celta de Vigo at Balaídos, Gallardo suffered a head injury after a collision with opposing striker Baltazar.[7] He recovered after three hours of critical medical treatment in the Galician city and, despite facial paralysis and memory loss, he was making progress.[8] However, on 7 January, he fell acutely ill after lunch, and his family took him to the local medical centre, where he was transferred to Málaga's Carlos Haya hospital.[9]
Gallardo, already in a coma, had a cerebral haemorrhage that had begun in his left temporal lobe and had spilt over three quarters of his brain.[10] He died eight days later, aged 25, and was buried in Arroyo de la Miel.[9]
As Gallardo had the best goals-against average at that point of the season, newspaper Marca posthumously awarded him the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for best goalkeeping in the division.[6]