Eduardo Yrezabal Sr. (born ''Eduardo Yrezabal y Azpiazu'') was a Filipino international

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who, at club level, played for

Bohemian SC Bohemian Sporting Club was a Filipino association football, football club based in Manila, Philippines. It was founded in 1910 and was one of the first clubs to be established within the country. The club, during the earliest phases of football ...

in the 1910s to the 1920s and also represented the Philippine Islands football team in the

Far Eastern Championship Games The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as the Far Eastern Championships, Far Eastern Games or Far East Games) was an Asian multi-sport event considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games. History In 1913, Elwood Brown, president of ...

. After football he served as an official at the highest of ranks at the Elizalde & Co. Inc. and was president of the Elizalde Stamp Club.

Club career

Bohemian Sporting Club

Yrezabal joined, reigning champions,

Bohemian Sporting Club Bohemian Sporting Club was a Filipino football club based in Manila, Philippines. It was founded in 1910 and was one of the first clubs to be established within the country. The club, during the earliest phases of football in the Philippines, im ...

in the middle years of the 1910s combining with the likes of

Paulino Alcantara Paulino is a surname and a masculine given name. It is a Spanish and Portuguese form of the Roman family name ''Paulinus'', which was itself derived from the Roman family name Paulus meaning "small" or "humble" in Latin. People with the given n ...

and Virgilio Lobregat. He and the ''Bohemians'' consolidated their strength and went on to accomplish two National Championships in 1917 and 1918, completing a historic four-peat. Another remarkable three-peat occurred and saw him to be one of the protagonists of the team, winning the titles in 1920, 1921 and 1922. The Championship, during those years, in the 1920s, featured foreign clubs that were able to win the title above the ''Bohemians'' who were also weakened by the fact that some of the old guard were past their best or left the club. Yrezabal would finish his career at Bohemian with a trophy cabinet of five National Philippine Championships won.

International career

Far Eastern Championship Games

His performances at Bohemian would earn him a spot in the Philippine Islands football team and participated in the 1917 Tokyo Far Eastern Games. That year the Filipino team won their biggest game by margin, outscoring Japan by 15 goals to 2. However Yrezabal and team couldn't repeat themselves against China and ended up with a silver medal. In the next edition, in 1919 in Manila he was present in all three games against China at the Nozaleda Park. The home team saw themselves coming up short against their rivals. After losing the first game and then winning the second to take it to a third game, the Filipinos were close to win the gold after leading with one goal at half-time but came up short as the Chinese were able to turn the game around resulting in a silver for the Philippines and the second for Yrezabal. He didn't participate in the

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

editions of the

but was able to make it one last time at the 1925 Games once again in Manila. The 30.000 at Wallace Field saw his and

Joaquín "Chacho" López Joaquín López, nicknamed "Chacho" was a Filipino international footballer who played as a midfielder for Bohemian S.C. and for the Philippine Islands football team which he also captained. Chacho López was the most longevous and the most deco ...

last games at the tournament but, after winning comfortably 4–0 against Japan, they saw defeat again to the hands of China and received a silver medal at the final whistle.

Personal life

He was born to ''Adolfo Yrezabal y Madariaga'' and ''Felipa Azpiazu y Elizalde''. He was married to ''Maria Echevarria y Egido'' with whom he started a family. One of his nephew was ''Ramón "Monchu" Echevarría'', also an important football figure who was mostly known for leading the Philippines to an upset against Japan and taking the team in the quarter finals of the

1958 Asian Games The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games () and commonly known as Tokyo 1958 (), were a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A total of 1,820 athletes repr ...

. Another relative of his, one of his grandsons, is the current owner of Yrezabal & Co., also named ''Eduardo Yrezabal''. After taking his education at

De La Salle University De La Salle University (), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools with main campus in Taft Avenue, Malate, Man ...

and during his time as a footballer, Yrezabal also worked as a clerk at the Elizalde & Co. Inc. but worked his way up and served in different executive capacities. He then became one of the highest-ranking officials of the company. In 1939, alongside other employees, he organized the Elizalde Stamp Club and served as its president as well as the managing editor of the Elizalde Stamp Journal. The club was formed to free the employees from the stress of work and to get more people involved in

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...

. It was a hobby of his with collectibles of Spain and Philippines as his specialties. He made former Bohemian teammate and friend

Jesús Cacho Jesús Cacho y Soriano (7 November 1894 – 5 May 1967) was a Filipino international Association football, football player who played for Bohemian SC and represented the Philippines national football team, Philippine Islands football team in th ...

an honorary member of the club as he was the most avid of collectors. His other passions and favorite sports were obviously football but also golf and became member of the

Casino Español de Manila Casino Español de Manila is a club established in 1888 by Spaniards living in the Philippines as their exclusive venue for recreational and social activities. It later opened its doors to Filipino members to foster Spanish-Filipino ties in the co ...

, Los Tamaraos Polo Club, and

Wack Wack Golf and Country Club Wack Wack Golf and Country Club is a golf course and country club resort complex located in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The complex features two 18-hole championship courses, landscaped terrains, gardens and villas. History Wack Wa ...

Honors

Bohemian S.C. * United States Philippines Championship (5): 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922 Philippine national football team *

(Silver medal):

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

References

{{reflist Filipino men's footballers Bohemian S.C. players Philippines men's international footballers 1899 births Year of death unknown National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) players