Death of the historic Barcelona defender between 1958 and 1966
The historic Barcelona defender between 1958 and 1966, Francesc Rodriguez “Rodri”, died at the age of 88, the Catalan club said today, Tuesday.
Born in Barcelona on March 8, 1934, the defender made 236 appearances for Barcelona’s first team and has worn the Spain shirt four times.
Rodri, along with Ferran Olivella and Siegfried Gracia, became one of the main pillars of the team’s defense, under coach Helenio Herrera, between 1958 and 1960.
Rodri has suffered injuries since 1963, and ended up retiring in 1966 at the age of 32.
Rodri won the European Fairs Cup seasonally (1959/60 and 1965/66), the Spanish League title (1958/59 and 1959/60), and the seasonal cup title (1958/59 and 1962/63).
As soon as he retired, he joined the Barcelona coaching staff, where he coached the youth teams (1966-70), then worked as an assistant to Vick Buckingham, Marinos Michels, Hennis Wesweiler and Loriano Ruiz, between 1970 and 1976.
