Francisco Pavón

Francisco "Paco" Pavón Barahona (born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.

For the Honduran footballer, see Francisco Antonio Pavón.
This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Pavón and the second or maternal family name is Barahona.

Paco Pavón
Personal information
Full name Francisco Pavón Barahona
Date of birth (1980-01-09) 9 January 1980
Place of birth Madrid, Spain
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back
Youth career
Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Real Madrid C
2000–2001 Real Madrid B 38 (1)
2001–2007 Real Madrid 106 (1)
2007–2010 Zaragoza 43 (5)
2010–2011 Arles-Avignon 26 (0)
Total 213 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

His name became associated with the Los Galácticos policy when Real Madrid – where he spent most of his professional career – president Florentino Pérez promised to build a team full of Zidanes and Pavones – expensive high-profile recruits like Zinedine Zidane and youth team graduates like Pavón.[1][2]

Over nine seasons, Pavón amassed La Liga totals of 125 matches and three goals, with his main club and Zaragoza.

Club career

Born in Madrid, Pavón progressed through the ranks at Real Madrid, starting with the junior side Tendillo until he established himself with the B-team. He made his La Liga debut against Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 6 October 2001 and, shortly after that 2–0 win, signed a seven-year contract with the club,[3] going on to make a further 27 league appearances during the season and adding the campaign's UEFA Champions League.

In the subsequent two seasons, Pavón played an additional 51 league matches, scoring a rare goal on 8 May 2004 in a 2–3 home loss to RCD Mallorca.[4] His role would diminish drastically onwards, as he made no league appearances during 2006–07.[5]

On 25 April 2007, media speculation indicated that Pavón was close to agreeing a four-year deal with Premier League club Bolton Wanderers, rejoining former teammate Iván Campo, but nothing came of it. He eventually put pen to paper a four-year contract with Real Zaragoza on July after his release from Real Madrid,[6] but took part in just eight league games through the season as the Aragonese were relegated.

In 2008–09's Segunda División, Pavón netted his first goal for Zaragoza, in a 2–1 home victory over Real Murcia who had also been relegated the previous campaign.[7] He contributed much more consistently as the team immediately promoted.[8]

Pavón was only third or fourth-choice stopper in the 2009–10 season, but still managed to score twice as Zaragoza retained their division status.[9][10] In the very last minute of the 2010 summer transfer window he signed with AC Arles-Avignon, reuniting with former Real Madrid teammate Álvaro Mejía.

In November 2011, Pavón went on trial with West Ham United of the Football League Championship,[11] but nothing came of it. After nearly two years without a club – during which he refused to be eligible for unemployment benefits, claiming "others need it more"[12]– he chose to retire, aged 33.

Career statistics

Club

[13][14]

Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Madrid B 2000–01 Segunda División B 381———381
Real Madrid 2000–01 La Liga 00001[lower-alpha 2]00[lower-alpha 3]010
2001–02 2807110[lower-alpha 2]00[lower-alpha 4]0451
2002–03 220609[lower-alpha 2]02[lower-alpha 5]0390
2003–04 291306[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 4]0391
2004–05 170307[lower-alpha 6]1—271
2005–06 100103[lower-alpha 2]0—140
2006–07 00200[lower-alpha 2]0—20
Total 1061221361301673
Zaragoza 2007–08 La Liga 80101[lower-alpha 7]0—100
2008–09 Segunda División 24310——253
2009–10 La Liga 112———112
Total 435201000465
Arles-Avignon 2010–11 Ligue 1 2602[lower-alpha 8]0——280
Career Total 2137261371302799
  1. Appearances in Copa del Rey, Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue
  2. Appearances in Champions League
  3. Appearances in 2000 Intercontinental Cup
  4. Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España
  5. One appearance in 2002 UEFA Super Cup and one appearance in 2002 Intercontinental Cup
  6. Five appearances in Champions League and two appearances in 2004–05 Champions League qualifying rounds
  7. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  8. One appearance in Coupe de France and one appearances in Coupe de la Ligue

Honours

Real Madrid[15]

References
  1. Real Madrid compiling a new galaxy of superstars; The Times, 11 June 2009
  2. 'Zidanes y Pavones' sí funciona en el Camp Nou ('Zidanes and Pavones' does work at the Camp Nou); El País, 19 November 2004 (in Spanish)
  3. Real deal for Pavon; BBC Sport, 27 December 2001
  4. Real Madrid 2–3 Mallorca; ESPN Soccernet, 8 May 2004
  5. Pavón: 'Todos sabemos lo que hay, de nada sirve hablar con Capello' (Pavón: 'We all know the deal, no use talking with Capello'); El Mundo, 27 March 2007 (in Spanish)
  6. Zaragoza get Pavón and Matuzalem; UEFA, 18 July 2007
  7. La expulsión de Aquino condenó al Murcia (Aquino's ejection doomed Murcia); El Diario Vasco, 28 September 2008 (in Spanish)
  8. ¿Qué ha sido de los jugadores del último ascenso del Real Zaragoza? (What happened to the players of Real Zaragoza's last promotion?); Espiritu Deportivo, 25 January 2016 (in Spanish)
  9. Aguilar double downs Getafe; ESPN Soccernet, 27 September 2009
  10. Santander snatch a late point; ESPN Soccernet, 18 October 2009
  11. Hammers weigh up Pavon deal; Sky Sports, 17 November 2011
  12. Pavón, exjugador del Real Madrid, renuncia a cobrar el paro (Pavón, former Real Madrid player, refuses to go on the dole); 20 minutos, 13 October 2012 (in Spanish)
  13. Francisco Pavón at BDFutbol
  14. Francisco Pavón at Soccerway
  15. "Símbolo de una generación de canteranos" [Symbol of a generation of youth players] (in Spanish). Real Madrid CF. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
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