Luis Molowny Arbelo (12 May 1925 – 12 February 2010) 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 and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. 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 ...

, he amassed

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 ...

totals of 175 matches and 90 goals during 12 seasons, with

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 ...

and

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

. He went on to work as a manager with the two clubs, winning 12 major titles with the former in both capacities combined. Molowny represented

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 ...

at the 1950 World Cup. For a brief period in the late 1960s, he also coached the national team.

Club career

Molowny was born in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. His surname originated from

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

in Ireland, where it is now most often spelt Maloney. He trialled for

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

as a youngster, but was not allowed to play in the scouting match. He positioned himself behind one of the goals in order to act as a ball boy and retrieve lost balls and return them, and after a display of skills he was signed by Santa Cruz CF but, not being 18 at the time, he was limited to appear in friendly games. In 1946, after winning the Canarian regional championships with Marino FC, Molowny caught the eye of both

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

. The former club sent an emissary by boat to sign him, and the latter's president, Santiago Bernabéu, upon reading the developments in ''

La Vanguardia ' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper. Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...

'' whilst he was travelling to

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

, telephoned to director

Jacinto Quincoces Jacinto Francisco Fernández de Quincoces y López de Arbina (17 July 1905 – 10 May 1997) was a Spanish football player and manager, as well as President of the Valencian Pilota Federation. He was a central defender and is regarded as on ...

and ordered that the player be signed; after he performed poorly in a match where he was due to showcase his talent, Bernabéu was still adamant, and a deal was eventually closed for 250.000 pesetas and a 3.000 monthly salary. Molowny made his debut for his new team on 1 December 1946, scoring through a 79th-minute header in a 2–1

home win against Barcelona. He finished his first season with a further ten goals in 15 appearances,

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...

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 ...

. During his 11-year stint in

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 ...

, Molowny appeared in 198 games all competitions comprised, netting 107 times. He conquered five titles with his main club, including two national championships and the 1955–56 edition of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, even though he did not take part in the final of the latter tournament itself.

International career

Molowny earned seven

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

, during slightly less than five years. His first came on 2 April 1950, and he contributed with one of his two international goals to a 5–1 win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

for the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

qualifiers, at the '' Nuevo Chamartín''. Selected by manager Guillermo Eizaguirre for the finals in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Molowny appeared in the 2–2 second group stage draw against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, helping to a final fourth place.

Coaching career

Molowny retired in January 1958 at the age of 32, and immediately started coaching

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

where he had last played. Over the following seasons he often acted as

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change wi ...

, not being able to prevent top flight relegation in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

; in the 1968–69 campaign, already as a full-time coach, he led the team to a best-ever runner-up finish only behind champions Real Madrid. From March–June 1969, Molowny was in charge of the Spanish senior side who he coached for four games. During his tenure, he won twice, drew once and lost to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Late into 1973–74 Molowny, who was working with Real Madrid in directorial capacities (where he remained until 1990), replaced

Miguel Muñoz Miguel Muñoz Mozún (19 January 1922 – 16 July 1990) was a Spanish football player and manager. A midfielder, he spent the majority of his career at Real Madrid before going on to coach the club, where he is widely considered one of the mos ...

at the helm of the first team. He won the domestic cup that year, and successively took the place of

Miljan Miljanić Miljan Miljanić ( sr-Cyrl, Миљан Миљанић; 4 May 1930 – 13 January 2012) was a Yugoslav and Serbian football administrator, coach and player who played as a defender. He was the all-powerful President of the Football Association ...

Vujadin Boškov Vujadin Boškov ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Бошков, ; 16 May 1931 – 27 April 2014) was a Serbian association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. A midfielder, he played 57 matches for the Yugoslavia nation ...

and

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 ...

after they were fired, being crowned champion in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

; additionally, he was also on the bench as the ''Merengues'' won consecutive UEFA Cups in 1984–85 and 1985–86.

Death

After quitting football altogether, Molowny settled in his native region. He died on 12 February 2010 at the age of 84, in

In film

Molowny played himself in three Spanish films: * ''

Once pares de botas ''Eleven Pairs of Boots'' (Spanish: ''Once pares de botas'') is a 1954 Spanish comedy sports film directed by Francisco Rovira Beleta and starring José Suárez, Mari Carmen Pardo and Elisa Montés.Bentley p.128 Plot Laura, the daughter of t ...

'' (1954). * ''

Radio Stories ''Radio Stories'' (Spanish:''Historias de la radio'') is a 1955 Spanish comedy film composed by three episodes directed by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia. A decade later the director returned to the theme with his ''Television Stories ''Television ...

'' (1955). He is interviewed for a radio program. * '' Saeta rubia'' (1956), a biopic about

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 ...

Honours

Player

Real Madrid *

: 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57 *

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the n ...

: 1947 *

: 1955–56 *

Latin Cup The Latin Cup was an international official football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949, the football federations came together and requested FIFA launch the competition ...

: 1955, 1957

Manager

Real Madrid *

: 1977–78, 1978–79, 1985–86 *

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 ...

: 1973–74, 1981–82 *

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1984–85, 1985–86

Individual

Manager * Don Balón Award (La Liga Coach of the Year): 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Molowny, Luis 1925 births 2010 deaths Spanish people of Irish descent Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Santa Cruz de Tenerife Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Real Madrid CF players UD Las Palmas players Spain men's international footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Spanish football managers La Liga managers UD Las Palmas managers Real Madrid CF managers UEFA Europa League–winning managers UEFA Champions League–winning players Spain national football team managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen