Luis Iceta Zubiaur (21 August 1890 – 24 January 1966) 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 ...

for

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 ...

. He is an important player in the early history of the club, where he spent the entirety of his playing career and played a pivotal role as Athletic reached 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 ...

s finals, of which he played in three 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 ...

in two. He later co-directed three matches for the Spanish national team between 1950 and 1951.

Biography

The son of a family of merchants, Iceta studied in England to continue working in the family business. He used his knowledge of English to act as interpreter between the players and the coach, Englishman Billy Barnes, who changed his position from striker to midfielder. He participated in two historic matches: as team captain in 1910 on the first occasion Athletic wore the white-and-red shirt, and on the opening of the San Mamés stadium in 1913, in a friendly against Racing de Irun. In total, Iceta played 41 games over seven seasons, including the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

1910 Copa del Rey The Copa del Rey 1910 comprised two different competitions held the same year. Due to disagreements between the reigning champion of the tournament, Club Ciclista de San Sebastián, and some of the clubs invited, in 1910 two parallel competitions ...

, in which the 20-year-old Iceta started as a forward in an 1–0 victory over

Vasconia The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as ''Wasconia'', was originally a Frankis ...

. He then started in two consecutive finals in 1914 and 1915, both as captain, helping his side to a 2–1 victory over España FC and then a 5–0 victory over

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 ...

. In 1951, 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 ...

and

Félix Quesada Félix Quesada Mas (1 July 1902 – 9 July 1959) was a Spanish professional association football player. He was born in Madrid, Spain. He played as a defender spending the entire of his career at Real Madrid C.F. He scored 33 goals in 244 matche ...

, Iceta was a national selector in three matches, winning one and drawing two. Iceta died on 24 January 1966, at the age of 76. He is the great-uncle of Miquel Iceta, a politician who was the Spanish Government's Minister of Culture and Sport between 2021 and 2023.

Honours

''Athletic Club'' *

: **Winners:

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iceta, Luis 1890 births 1966 deaths Spanish men's footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Bilbao