Johnny Romualdez
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Miguel del Gallego Romualdez | ||
| Date of birth | September 15, 1941 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| ? | Ateneo Blue Eagles | ||
| International career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1962–1967 | Philippines | ||
Juan Miguel "Johnny" Romualdez was a former Philippine international footballer and former President of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF).
Early life and education
Johnny Romualdez was born in Manila, Philippines. His father was Dr. Alberto Zialcita Romualdez (1913-1986), former Secretary General of the World Medical Association (1965-1973) and brother of Daniel Z. Romualdez, the 10th Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines (1958-1962). His mother was Dr. Covadonga Ubante del Gallego (1915-2004), a former chairman of the Pathology Department of the University of Santo Tomas Hospital. He is the second of seven brothers and sisters. His older brother, Dr. Alberto "Quasi" Romualdez Jr. (1940-2013), was regarded by many as the “Pioneer of Universal Health Care” and was the former Secretary of Health (1998-2001) of the Department of Health (Philippines) and a fellow on Tumor Immunology at the University of Connecticut and Membrane Biophysics at the Harvard Medical School. His grandfather, Miguel Lopez Romualdez (1882-1950) served as mayor of Manila (1924-1927) during the American colonial period and Leyte assemblyman during the Commonwealth Era.
Romualdez attended Ateneo de Manila University (GS '53 HS '58 BA '62 MBA '66) a private Jesuit school founded in 1859 and the third oldest University in the Philippines. He started playing football at age 11. During his college years he received a scholarship from the YCO Athletic Club.[1]
Football career
Romualdez played football for the Ateneo Blue Eagles where he served as co-captain of the high school varsity team (1957–1958) and captain of the college varsity team (1961-1962). He was inducted into the Ateneo Hall of Fame in 1997.[1]
He joined the national team in 1958 and was part of the squad that participated at the 1962 Asian Games. His last appearance was in 1967 at the 1968 Olympics qualifiers when he served as captain of the national team. The team suffered its worst defeat in a 0–15 match against Japan.[1] He and a group of friends established the Blue Guards F.C. in the 1960s.[1]
Playing Experience
- 1958 Member, National Team to First Asian Youth Football Tournament
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 1959 Member, National Team to 2nd Asian Youth Football Tournament
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 1959 – 65 Member, YCO Athletic Club, Top First Division Commercial Team
- 1960 Captain, National Youth Team (failed to participate in Youth Tourney but played visiting teams in Manila)
- 1961 – 63 Member, National Seniors Team to Asian Games
Jakarta, Indonesia
- 1962 – 68 Member, All National Teams that played visiting teams in Manila including Hongkong, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Germany, U.S.A., etc.
- 1967 Member, National Seniors Team to Asian Cup
Taipei, China
- 1968 Captain, National Seniors Team to Olympic Eliminations
Tokyo, Japan
Experience as Officials
- 1965 Co-founder and Member, Blue Guards F.C.
- 1970 Manager, National Team to Asian Youth Tournament
Manila, Philippines
- 1971 Co-founder, Kasibulan F.C. (Youth Candidates)
1971 Manager, National Team to Asian Youth Tournament Tokyo, Japan
- 1972 – 75 Manager, National Seniors Team to various exhibition matches and tournaments
- 1972 – 75 Chairman, Tournament Committee, Philippine Football Association
1996 – 2007 Member, Executive Council, Philippine Football Federation Co-author, 5-Year Development Program, Philippine Football Federation
- 1998 Treasurer, Philippine Football Federation
- 1999 Chairman, Youth Development Committee, Philippine Football Federation
Co-author, Grassroots Development Program, Philippine Football Federation Co-author, Youth Development Program, Philippine Football Federation
- 2001 Chairman, Marketing Committee, Philippine Football Federation
- 2002 – 2003 Executive Vice-President, Philippine Football Federation
- 2003 – 2007 Member of All Congresses, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
Member of All Congresses, Asian Football Confederation
- 2003 – 2011 Member of All Congresses, Asean Football Federation
- 2004 – 2007 President, Philippine Football Federation
Member of Executive Committee, Asean Football Federation
- 2008 – 2011 Chairman Emeritus, Philippine Football Federation
Vice-President, Asean Football Federation
- 2005 – 2011 Counsil Member, Asean Football Federation
Awards
- 1958 Most Outstanding Footballer, Ateneo High School
- 1962 Most Outstanding Footballer, Ateneo De Manila University
- 1997 Awardee, Ateneo University Hall of Fame
- 2006 Bronze Star Awardee, Asian Football Confederation
Post-retirement
Romualdez was appointed as manager of the Philippines national under-21 football team which was organized under the Kasibulan grassroot program in the 1970s. He also ran several businesses in the mid 1970s. Romualdez also worked at the Philippine Football Federation and served as Executive Vice President.[1] He was elected President of the football association in 2004.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e Rivere, Katrina (28 September 2003). "All in the Game : Putting his best foot forward". Sunday Inquirer Magazine. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ Henson, Joaquin (3 April 2003). "PFF sets tone for soccer revival". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 31 March 2015.