Josep Samitier Vilalta (; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, manager and scout 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 ...

for

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 ...

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 ...

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional association football, football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of Footb ...

, the Catalan XI, and

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 ...

. He later coached

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, Nice and Barcelona and worked as a scout for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. During his playing career with Barcelona, Samitier scored 187 official goals and was the club's all-time highest goalscorer at the time of his retirement. As of 2020, he is the club's fifth all-time top goalscorer behind

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 ...

László Kubala László Kubala (10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian professional association football, footballer. He played as a forward (association football), forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, ŠK Slovan Bratislava, Slovan Bratislava, F ...

, César, and

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

. As a player, Samitier pioneered the ''midfield general'' role and was nicknamed ''Surrealista'' (''The Surrealist'') and ''Home Llagosta'' (''The Grasshopper Man'') due to his style. As a manager, he led Barcelona to a title 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 ...

in 1945, and as a scout he recruited another Barcelona legend, László Kubala. However, Samitier was later accused of acting as a double agent when the club tried to sign

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond A ...

, and in the 1960s, he fell out with

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentina, Argentine and naturalised France, French association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He is best remembered for his success ...

and went to work for Real Madrid. Despite his role in the Di Stéfano affair, twice defecting to

, and his friendship with

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

, Samitier remained a legendary figure of FC Barcelona. When he died in 1972, he was given a state funeral and a street that leads to

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

Club career

Early life

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 ...

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 ...

, Samitier played as a junior for FC Internacional before, at the age of 17, he made his debut for

in 1919. As his signing-on bonus, he received a luminous watch and a three-piece suit. Among his teammates at the club was his childhood friend Sagibarba. During holidays at the Catalan resort of

Cadaqués Cadaqués (; ) is a town in the Alt Empordà ''comarca'', in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is on a bay in the middle of the Cap de Creus peninsula, near Cap de Creus cape, on the Costa Brava of the Mediterranean. It is a two-and-a- ...

, Samitier and Sagibarba had played football with, among others,

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

. He was also friends with the famous Spanish artist Salvador Dalí.

FC Barcelona

By 1925 Samitier was the highest-paid player in

. He was a member of the legendary

team, coached by

Jack Greenwell John Richard Greenwell (2 January 1884 – 20 November 1942) was an English football manager and former player. He is Barcelona's longest serving manager, having coached the club for ten consecutive seasons (initially as player-coach, then as ma ...

, that, apart from Sagibarba, also included

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 ...

Ricardo Zamora Ricardo Zamora Martínez (; 21 January 1901 – 8 September 1978) was a Spanish footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for Spain. As a man ...

Félix Sesúmaga Félix Sesúmaga Ugarte (12 October 1898 – 24 August 1925) was a Spanish (Basque people, Basque) footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for Arenas Club de Getxo, FC Barcelona, Racing de Sama, Racing de Sama de Langr ...

and, later,

Franz Platko Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

. Between 1919 and 1933 he won twelve Campionat de Catalunya titles, five

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 ...

and the very first

title. Among the goals he scored were four in the

finals of 1922, 1925, 1926 and 1928.

Madrid CF

In 1933 an aging Samiter found himself in dispute with the

management and he was dropped from the first team.

, then known as ''Madrid CF'', were quick to take advantage of the situation. Samitier was reunited with both his friend

and then

Francisco Bru Francisco Bru Sanz (12 April 1885 – 10 June 1962), also known as Paco Bru, was a Spanish football player, referee and manager. As a footballer he played as a striker and midfielder for FC Internacional and as a defender for FC Barcelona, RCD ...

. Although his career with the Madrid club was short, he did help them win a title in La Liga 1932–33 and the

Copa de España 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 ...

in 1934.

Samitier Tribute

The tribute match to Samitier was held on 13 May 1934 at

Estadio Chamartín Estadio Chamartín was a multi-use stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was initially used as the stadium of Real Madrid matches before the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium opened in 1947. The stadium held 22,500 people and was built in 1924. The stadium was ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, between Madrid FC and

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 Samitier scored both the first and the last goals of an 8–2 win. Other Madrid goalscorers include the likes of

Eugenio Eugenio is an Italian and Spanish masculine given name deriving from the Greek language, Greek 'wiktionary:Eugene, Eugene'. The name is Eugénio in Portuguese and Eugênio in Brazilian Portuguese. The name's translated literal meaning is well born ...

Hilario Hilario or Hilário can be both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Hilario (footballer, born 1905) (Juan Hilario Marrero Pérez, 1905–1989), Spanish footballer and manager * Hilário (footballer, born 1939 ...

Luis Regueiro Luis Regueiro Pagola ( 1 July 1908 – 6 December 1995), sometimes nicknamed ''Corso'', was a football (soccer), footballer, and an Olympian from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country in the north of Spain who played as a Forward ...

and Lazcano, while

José Padrón José Padrón Martín (5 May 1907 – 3 December 1966) was a Spanish footballer who played for RCD Espanyol, Sevilla FC and FC Barcelona in Spain and various clubs in France. Club career A native of Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria and th ...

scored one of Espanyol's consolation goals. Madrid: Zamora ( Cayol 45´); Quesada, Maciá, P. Regueiro ( Sauto), Bonet, Gurruchaga, (

Valle Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina * University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colomb ...

45´), Lazcano, L. Regueiro ( Olivares 45´) Samitier,

and

. Espanyol:

Martorell Martorell () is a municipality, county, and city that forms part of the Baix Llobregat Comarques of Catalonia, comarca, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Pont del Diable, Devil's bridge. It lies at the confluence of the Llobr ...

( Eizaguirre 45´); Mas, Pérez, Cifuentes,

Solé Tonya Michelle Johnston (born July 17, 1973), known professionally as Solé, is an American rapper from Kansas City, Missouri. Early life and education Solé was born on July 17, 1973 in Kansas City, to Phyllis Frazier and James Johnston, He ...

(Antero 45´), Cristià, Prats, Edelmiro,

Iriondo Iriondo is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Antonio Iriondo (born 1953), former Spanish football player and manager *Iban Iriondo (born 1984), Spanish professional road bicycle racer * Josu Iriondo (born 1938), Spanish American ...

Padrón Padrón () is a ''concello'' ( Galician for municipality) in the Province of A Coruña, in Galicia (Spain) within the comarca of O Sar. It covers an area of , is from A Coruña and from Santiago de Compostela. , the town had population of 8,9 ...

and Bosch.

Exile in France

In 1936 Samitier made a brief start to his career as a coach. He succeeded

Fred Pentland Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland (29 July 1883 – 16 March 1962) was an English football player and coach. Pentland played club football in the Football League for Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough, in the Southern Football League f ...

in the middle of the season, but failed to prevent them from being relegated. However, Samitier's new career and Atlético's relegation were postponed with the start of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. He found himself arrested by an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, but was eventually released and left for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on a warship. His ''escape'' was later used by the Nationalist side in an account printed in ''Marca''. In October 1936 he joined

as a player, where he was reunited once again with

. He subsequently scored 21 goals in 48 matches for the French team. He eventually retired as a player in 1939 and was briefly coach at

in 1942.

Return to Barcelona

Samitier returned to

and became manager of

CF Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded in 1899 by ...

in 1944. In

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

he guided them to only their second ever

title. Then they beat 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 ...

winners

Atlético 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 ...

to win the

Copa de Oro Argentina The Copa de Oro Argentina was a Spanish football competition, held once on 23 December 1945 as a one-off game between FC Barcelona (winner of the 1944–45 La Liga) and Athletic Bilbao (winner of the 1944–45 Copa del Generalísimo), with Barcelo ...

. Samitier subsequently worked as the clubs ''chief scout'' and was instrumental in the recruitment of another

legend

Ladislao Kubala Ladislao is a given name, a Hispanic variant of Vladislav. Notable people with the name include: * Ladislao Cabrera, Bolivian hero during the War of the Pacific * Ladislao Diwa, Filipino patriot * Ladislao Martínez, Puerto Rico musician * Lás ...

. In the summer of 1950 Kubala arrived in

with his own team, ''Hungaria''. The team was made up of fellow refugees fleeing

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. They played a series of friendlies against a ''Madrid Select XI'', a Spain XI and

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 these games, Kubala was spotted by both

and Samitier. Kubala was offered a contract by Real but was then persuaded by Samitier to sign for CF Barcelona. It has been suggested that Samitier used his connections within

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

to help arrange the transfer. In the midst of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Kubala's escape to the West was used by

and was made into a film ''The Stars Search for Peace'' which saw Kubala and Samitier playing themselves.

International career

In 1920, together with

, Pichichi and

José María Belauste José María de Belausteguigoitia Landaluce (3 September 1889 – 4 September 1964), known as Belauste, was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Bilbao, Biscay, Belauste played with Athleti ...

, Samitier was a member of the first ever Spain national team. The squad, coached by

, won the silver medal at the 1920 Olympic Games. He subsequently made 21 appearances and scored 2 goals for Spain. Samitier also played 26 games and scored at least 20 goals for the Catalan XI. However, records from the era do not always include accurate statistics and he may have played and scored more. Together with

, Sagibarba and Zamora, he helped the Catalan XI win 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 ...

twice in the 1920s, winning the inter-regional competition in 1923–24 and

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 ...

. In the 1924 final, he scored twice in a 4–4 draw against Castile/Madrid XI and scored again in the replay as the Catalan team won 3–2. Catalonia faced

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

twice in 1925 and 1926, and Samitier managed to score in both games, a 2–1 win and a 2–1 defeat, respecteviely. His last game for the Catalan XI was his own testimonial on 19 January 1936 at the ''Les Corts''. He scored in a 1–1 draw with SK Sidenice of

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Player

Club

FC Barcelona *

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

(5):

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

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 ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

* Catalan Championship (12): 1918–19, 1919–20, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32 Madrid CF *La Liga: 1932–33 *Copa del Rey:

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

International

Spain *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Silver medal:

Catalan XI *

: 1923-24 and

Manager

CF Barcelona * La Liga: 1944–45 *

: 1945

Citations

References

* ''Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football'' (2003), Phil Ball

*

External links

Samitier at www.fcbarcelona.com

La Liga player stats

Spain stats

La Liga manager stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samitier, Josep 1902 births 1972 deaths Spanish men's footballers Spanish football managers Spain men's international footballers La Liga managers Atlético Madrid managers FC Barcelona managers OGC Nice managers La Liga players Real Madrid CF players FC Barcelona players OGC Nice players Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Spain Olympic silver medalists for Spain Footballers from Barcelona Olympic medalists in football Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate football managers in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Men's association football midfielders Catalonia men's international footballers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen