Maria Antònia Mínguez

Maria Antònia Mínguez

Personal information
Full name	Maria Antònia Mínguez Martín
Date of birth	(1947-03-05) 5 March 1947 (age 77)
Place of birth	Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970–1974	Barcelona	2+
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Maria Antònia Mínguez Martín (born 5 March 1947) is a Spanish former football goalkeeper. She played in FC Barcelona Femení's first-ever match, making her the team's first goalkeeper.[1]

Early and personal life

Mínguez grew up with a strict father. Though her brothers played football, she did not tell her father that she had joined a football team until the day before their first match.[2][3] She then gave up football because of a boyfriend who was against her playing.[3] From her retirement from football until her actual retirement she worked as a nurse.[4]

Career

Mínguez saw the advertisement published by Immaculada Cabecerán seeking players for a women's Barcelona football team,[5][2] and decided to try out as a way of dealing with grief after her fiancé died on her birthday.[3] Like all players, she tried out as a general outfield player, with coach and former goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets choosing her to be one of the goalkeepers. Mínguez had admired Ramallets and was satisfied with this.[2] The goalkeepers trained with César Rodríguez, who was briefly the second coach, a former forward who drilled them until they stopped everything he shot at them. She started as the goalkeeper in the team's first match.[1]

Mínguez stayed at the club for four and a half years, from 1970 to 1974, and during this period, she alternated with fellow goalkeeper Núria Llansà.[2]

References

1. "Las Pioneras del Barça" [The Pioneers of Barça]. www.mundodeportivo.com (in Spanish). 6 January 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
2. Navarro, Eduardo (18 May 2021). "Los inicios del fútbol femenino: "Me llamaban guarra y me gritaban que me fuera a la cocina"". SER 100 (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 August 2024.
3. Vicente, Sandra (1 May 2022). "Las pioneras del Barça femenino hace 50 años: "Mi novio no quería que jugara"". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 August 2024.
4. "Agradecimiento de las pioneras al Club y a la Agrupación" [Thanks from the pioneers to the Club and the Group]. www.fcbarcelona.com (in Spanish). 25 January 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
5. "Les mans del Barça femení" [The hands of the women's Barça]. www.elperiodico.cat (in Catalan). 16 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2024.