Estebán Pelaó Gratacós (10 January 1898 – 28 July 1980) was a Spanish

footballer 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who played for

CE Europa Club Esportiu Europa () is a Catalan football team based in the city of Barcelona, with close links to the Vila de Gràcia, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 1907, its first men's team plays in the , the fourth category ...

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, and the Catalonia national team.

Early life

Estebán Pelaó was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

on 10 January 1898 as the son of Pere Pelahó i Puigvert, and Maria Gratacós i Subirós, both born in

Tortellà Tortellà () is a village in the province of Girona and autonomous community of Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catal ...

. He was the younger brother of Bonaventura Pelaó, who also played for CE Europe.

Club career

Pelaó spent all of his career at CE Europa, except the 1924–25 season, in which he played for Espanyol. He played as a centre-half and was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of CE Europa during its golden age in the 1920s, playing a pivotal role in turning the club into an important team in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, competing head-to-head against the likes of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

and Espanyol, and together with Juan Pellicer, Manuel Cros and Antonio Alcázar, he helped the club win the 1922–23 Catalan Championship after beating Barça 1–0 in a play-off title-decider on 21 March 1923, thanks to a lonely goal from Alcázar. Pelaó was the captain of the club that day, and he then lead CE Europa to their first-ever

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

final in

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 ' ...

, which they lost 0–1 to

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

, courtesy of a goal from Travieso. On 10 February 1924, a match against FC Barcelona had to be suspended in the 38th minute when Europa's José Julià was sent off and refused to leave the rural area. He was punished with a one-year suspension along with team captain Pelaó, and the club was fined 1000 pesetas. This incident resulted in CE Europa making a general assembly in which it was agreed to separate from the

Catalan Football Federation The Catalan Football Federation (, ; FCF) is the Association football, football association responsible for administering football in Catalonia. It was formed on 11 November 1900 as the Football Associació de Catalunya (). It was the first footb ...

. Pelaó retired in 1928 after a 12-year career. In total, he scored 15 goals in 134 matches with the club, all of which in the Catalan championship.

International career

As a

player, Pelaó was eligible to play for the Catalonia national team, and together with

Paulino Alcántara Paulino Alcántara Riestrá (7 October 1896 – 13 February 1964) was a Filipino and Spanish professional footballer and manager who played as a forward. He spent most of his playing career at FC Barcelona, and also represented Catalonia, the ...

, Sagibarba and

Josep Samitier Josep Samitier Vilalta (; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, the Catalan XI, and Spain. He later ...

, he was a member of the Catalan squad that participated in the last edition of the

Prince of Asturias Cup The Prince of Asturias Cup (, ) was an inter-regional football competition contested by the regional selections of Spain – selections of players from clubs from the region in question, meaning that players did not need to be native to the regio ...

, an inter-regional

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

organized by the

RFEF The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the national cup competitio ...

. He started both matches in the midfield as Catalonia beat

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

in a two-legged title-decider to win the title.

Managerial career

As a coach, Pelaó managed

in the 1939–40 season.

Death

Pelaó died in Barcelona on 28 July 1980, at the age of 82. Following his death, his relatives: children Esteve and Margarida; son-in-law Pero Haro; grandchildren Maria Angela, Maria Isabel, Francisco Xavier and Carles; sister Margaret; nephews, cousins, and the whole family want to know their health and acquaintances. The religious ceremony took place two days later at 1:00 pm, in the chapels of Calle

Sancho d'Avila Don Sancho Dávila y Daza (21 September 1523 – 1583) was a Spanish general. Born at Ávila, he first served as the commander of the Duke of Alba's bodyguard. It was in this function that Dávila arrested the Count of Egmont. When the Ei ...

no. 2 before being then transferred to the Southwest cemetery.

Honours

Club

;

Catalan championship: *Champions (1): 1922–23

: *Runner-up (1):

International

; Catalonia XI

: *Champions (1):

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelaó, Estebán 1898 births 1980 deaths Footballers from Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders CE Europa footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Catalonia men's international footballers Spanish football managers CE Europa managers