Toño (footballer, born 1979)

Not to be confused with Toño (footballer, born 1986).

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rodríguez and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.

Antonio Rodríguez Martínez (born 17 December 1979), known as Toño (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtoɲo]), is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Toño

Toño with Racing Santander in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Antonio Rodríguez Martínez
Date of birth	(1979-12-17) 17 December 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth	Alicante, Spain
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Betis Florida
	Hércules
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–1999	Hércules B
1999–2003	Hércules	64	(0)
2003–2004	Recreativo	49	(0)
2005–2012	Racing Santander	177	(0)
2006	→ Recreativo (loan)	19	(0)
2012–2013	Granada	24	(0)
2013–2014	Elche	9	(0)
2014–2017	Rayo Vallecano	39	(0)
Total		381	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent most of his professional career with Racing de Santander, appearing in 183 competitive matches over seven seasons. In La Liga, he also represented Granada, Elche and Rayo Vallecano.

Club career

Toño was born in Alicante, Valencian Community. After making his professional debut with hometown club Hércules CF, he joined Recreativo de Huelva (Segunda División) for the 2003–04 season, signing with La Liga side Racing de Santander in January 2005 but returning to Huelva on loan exactly one year later; during both his spells in Andalusia, he had an interesting battle for first-choice status with José Antonio Luque.^[1]

Toño in action for Racing Santander in 2009

In the following years, Toño was the undisputed first-choice: in the 2007–08 campaign, as Racing achieved a first-ever qualification to the UEFA Cup,^[2] he finished second to Iker Casillas in the Ricardo Zamora Trophy race,^[3] an award which he had already won in his debut season with Recre.^[4]

Toño begun 2009–10 as starter. On 28 February 2010, however, he suffered a leg injury as the Cantabrians lost 2–0 at home against UD Almería,^[5] and would miss more than two months of action, although he would be reinstated for the final two games as Racing narrowly avoided relegation, including the decisive 2–0 home win against Sporting de Gijón.^[6]

After leaving Santander in the summer of 2012, Toño continued competing in the top division by representing Granada CF and Elche CF. On 22 August 2014, he terminated his contract with the latter^[7] and moved to fellow league team Rayo Vallecano on 1 September.^[8]

In March 2018, the 38-year-old Toño announced his retirement due to recurrent physical problems.^[9]

Honours

Recreativo

• Segunda División: 2005–06^[10]

Individual

• Ricardo Zamora Trophy: 2003–04 (Segunda División)^[4]