Francisco Gallardo

Francisco 'Paco' Gallardo León (born 13 January 1980) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder.

Born in Seville, Andalusia, and a product of hometown club Sevilla FC's prolific youth system, Gallardo made his first-team debuts aged 20, being instrumental in their 2001 return to La Liga and proceeding to have a further two solid seasons with the main squad. In November 2001, he was fined and suspended by the Royal Spanish Football Federation for violating standards of "sporting dignity and decorum", after he congratulated teammate José Antonio Reyes, who had just scored, by bending down and biting on his penis.

After a relatively successful loan at Getafe CF, helping the Madrid side retain their newly acquired top division status, Gallardo's career would be very irregular: he served two unassuming loans in early 2006, starting with Vitória S.C. from Portugal, then moved in the 2006–07 campaign to Real Murcia in Segunda División, still on contract to Sevilla.

In 2007–08, Gallardo could only appear in ten league matches with Murcia, which was relegated from the top flight. In the following season, he was ousted from the squad alongside José María Movilla by manager Javier Clemente, and spent several months without a team, being reinstated in March 2009 after the coach's sacking; he was finally released in June.

On 19 November 2009, Gallardo moved to another club in the second level, SD Huesca, after a successful week's trial. He finished his career at the age of 34, after three years in Hungary with two teams.