Josep Maria Fusté Blanch (15 April 1941 – 20 April 2023) 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 ...

and who 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 ...

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 ...

during the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1964, together with

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

Amancio Amaro Amancio Amaro Varela (16 October 1939 – 21 February 2023), commonly known simply as Amancio, was a Spanish football player. Nicknamed ''El Brujo'' (The Wizard) he played outside right for Deportivo de La Coruña, Real Madrid, and the Spai ...

José Ángel Iribar José Ángel Iribar Kortajarena (born 1 March 1943), nicknamed ''El Chopo'' ("the Populus, Poplar"), is a Spanish former professional association football, football goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and Manager (association football ...

and his FC Barcelona teammate,

Chus Pereda Jesús María Pereda Ruiz de Temiño (15 June 1938 – 27 September 2011), also known as Chus Pereda, was a Spanish football midfielder and manager. In a 16-year professional career, he played mainly for Barcelona, amassing La Liga totals of 19 ...

, he helped

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

win the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. He also played for

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

and

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

. After retiring as a player he worked as a public relations executive for ''Codorniu'', a Catalan sparkling wine company. He also served as president of the FC Barcelona veterans association and publicly supported Sixto Cambra, a

Catalan nationalist Catalan nationalism promotes the idea that the Catalan people form a distinct nation and national identity. A related term is Catalanism (, ), which is more related to regionalism and tends to have a wider meaning, most people who define themsel ...

, who stood against

Josep Lluís Nuñez Josep is a Catalan language, Catalan masculine given name equivalent to Joseph (Spanish ''José''). People named Josep include: * Josep Bargalló (born 1958), Catalan philologist and former politician * Josep Bartolí (1910-1995), Catalan painter, ...

in the 1989 FC Barcelona presidential elections.

Club career

Born in

Linyola Linyola () is a municipality in the ''Comarques of Catalonia, comarca'' of Pla d'Urgell in Catalonia, Spain. Notable individuals associated with Linyola: *Josep Maria Fusté (1941–2023), former FC Barcelona Midfielder (football)#Centre midfielde ...

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

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 ...

, Fusté first joined

in 1958 and then went on loan to

. While at Osasuna, he made his Primera División debut on 3 September 1961 and scored a penalty in a 2–2 draw with

RCD Español 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 ...

. During his ten seasons playing for the senior team at FC Barcelona, the club finished second four times in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, but were never champions. However, during the 1960s and early 1970s, they did find success in various cup competitions. In 1962 Fusté played in his first European club final when he played for FC Barcelona in the second leg of the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

final. They drew 1–1 on the night, but Barça lost 7–3 to

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

on aggregate. In 1966, he played in another

Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

final and this time helped FC Barcelona beat

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

4–3 on aggregate. In 1968, he was a member of the team that beat

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

1–0 in the final of the

Copa del Generalísimo 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 Spanish f ...

. FC Barcelona subsequently qualified for the following seasons

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

and made it all the way to the final only to lose 3–2 to Slovan Bratislava. In 1971, Fusté inspired FC Barcelona to one more Copa win. In the 1970–71 season, FC Barcelona narrowly missed out on winning La Liga, losing by a single point to Valencia CF. The two teams also met in the Copa del Generalísimo final. With Valencia CF winning 2–0, Fusté, who had come on as a substitute, scored the first of four FC Barcelona goals that eventually led to a 4–3 victory in extra-time. In 1972, after 197 La Liga games and 47 goals, Fusté left FC Barcelona and joined

, then playing in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. After he retired, Fusté played with the FC Barcelona veterans team and continued to put in impressive performances until he retired in 2000. He also coached on the veteran team.

International career

Fusté also played eight times for

, scoring three goals. José Villalonga gave him his debut on 11 March 1964 in the first-leg of the

quarter-final against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. He scored as Spain won 5–1 and went on to help them win the competition. He also played for Spain at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in 1966 and during the group stages of the competition he scored in the 2–1 defeat against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Death

Fusté died in Barcelona on 20 April 2023, at the age of 82.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fusté goal.''

Honours

Barcelona *

: 1965–66 **

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy Play-Off The last Inter-Cities Fairs Cup edition was contested in the 1970–71 season before it was abolished and replaced by the UEFA Cup, a new seasonal confederation competition. The Fairs Cup trophy had not been won by any club permanently, so it wa ...

1971 *

Spanish Cup 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 Spanish f ...

: 1962–63, 1967–68, 1970–71 Spain *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

References

External links

*
National team data
*

FC Barcelona profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuste, Josep 1941 births 2023 deaths People from Pla d'Urgell Footballers from the Province of Lleida Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players FC Barcelona players CA Osasuna players Hércules CF players Spain men's B international footballers Spain men's international footballers 1964 European Nations' Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship–winning players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen