Manuel de Castro (journalist)

Born in Vigo, he was one of the pioneers who began playing football in Vigo on the Malecón field in the early years of the 20th century. He began his journalist career as an editor for the Sprint newspaper, and already in 1909, he wrote in the magazine Letras y Deporte, the first sports magazine in Galicia, later moving on to Faro de Vigo (1912–1930), in which he became a fervent disseminator of sporting activity, signing his articles under the pseudonym Hándicap. He is thus considered "the dean" of sports reporters in Vigo. He also wrote for Vida Deportiva, the magazine where the first campaign in favor of building a stadium in Vigo appeared. == Managerial career ==

In 1921 he began to carry out the functions of coach of the Spain national team, as part of a Selection Committee of Spain made up of Julián Ruete and José Berraondo, and the first match this Committee oversaw was a friendly against Belgium 9 October 1921, which was Spain's first-ever game after the Olympics as well as their first-ever game on home soil. This Committee was formed and reformed numerous times in its history, also partnering with the likes of Ezequiel Montero and Ricardo Cabot in 1925–27. He oversaw a total of 10 games, winning 9 of them, which results in a ratio of 0.90 wins per game, a national record still unmatched. During his time at the head of the national team he would develop a great friendship with Ricardo Zamora. In addition to the Spanish team, he also managed the Galician national team on numerous occasions, in a time when most of the team was made up of Celta players. == Legend of the origin of the Furia Roja ==

He was at the Antwerp, Paris, and Amsterdam Olympic Games and dedicated two books to the first two. And that is how it went, with Belauste scoring the equalizer, thus immortalizing this phrase that was subsequently viewed as the reason why the national team was dubbed Furia Roja (Spanish Fury). ==Celta Vigo==

He combined his work as national coach with the role of vice president of the Real Vigo Sporting, a position he used to promote, together with and , the idea of merging Sporting with his city rival Fortuna de Vigo, to achieve a more powerful team that could successfully compete against the likes of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Athletic Bilbao. and despite losing the final, the Galicia fans were very pleased with the team's performance in the competition, thus welcoming with tremendous enthusiasm the idea proposed by Manuel de Castro, and hence, on 23 August 1923, Celta de Vigo was born. ==Later life==

In 1924, with the help of his brother, the former football player and athlete Fernando de Castro, he founded the Galician Athletics Federation. In the following years, he would limit his activity to refereeing, even founding the Galician College of Arbitrators. ==Death==

On 27 August 1944, he was "the victim of a tragic accident" when he was run over by a train in the vicinity of the Eijo Garay Gardens when he was leaving an exhibition. His death caused deep sorrow throughout the footballing world, where Hándicap enjoyed great prestige at a local, regional and national level. ==Legacy==

A bust of him, sculpted by Rafael Álvarez Borrás in 1946, has been located on the street that bears his name in front of the Balaídos stadium since 20 May 1956. to reward the best Celta player of the calendar year, election made by vote among the entire Celta environment (fans, media, players, etc). == Notes ==