Adolfo Bolea Sanz (24 March 1933 – 14 November 2020) was a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. In a career spent mostly with

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, he played 309 games and scored 115 goals in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, adding three in six in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

for Español. He also managed Cádiz in two brief spells.

Playing career

Born in

El Poble-sec, Barcelona El Poble-sec (; ) is a neighborhood in the ''Sants-Montjuïc'' district of Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). The neighborhood is located between Montjuïc mountain and the Avinguda del Paral·lel. It covers around 70 hectares. The Poble Sec station ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Bolea began his career at Sant Andreu in 1951–52, making his debut on 30 September 1951 in an 8–0

loss at

Racing Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Galicia, Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in Prim ...

. In his fourth game, on 21 October, he scored his first goal, equalising for a 1–1 home draw against

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

. He finished the season with eight goals, hitting 13 in 29 appearances in the following campaign – including his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

, in a 4–1 home win over

Caudal Deportivo Caudal Deportivo is a Spanish football team based in Mieres, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1918 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Hermanos Antuña'' (built in 1951), with a c ...

– as the team ranked in eighth place and suffered administrative relegation. Bolea was then sold to Español of

, but loaned back down to

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

. He scored three times in a 6–1 victory against

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

on 18 October 1953, and added four more on 20 December 1953 in an 8–0 undoing of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

. He was then lent to Sabadell in summer 1954, before returning in November for his only experience outside the second tier; he netted three goals in six top-flight matches, including on 6 February 1955 when he struck twice in a 4–1 defeat of Hércules at the

Sarrià Stadium Sarrià Stadium (in Catalan: Estadi de Sarrià ; in Spanish: Estadio de Sarrià) was a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium was the home of RCD Espanyol from 1923 to 1997, and was located in the district of Sarrià. Begi ...

. At the end of the season, Bolea returned to the second division where he would remain until his professional retirement at the age of 31, signing for

España , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

during the

Spanish protectorate in Morocco The Spanish protectorate in Morocco ; es, Protectorado español de Marruecos, links=no, was established on 27 November 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain that converted the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco into a formal protect ...

. On 11 September 1955, in his very first appearance, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 win against

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, and finished his first year with a career-best 20 goals from 29 games, but the club was merged into Algeciras when the city returned to Moroccan rule in 1956. Bolea then crossed the

Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medit ...

and passed the final eight seasons of his career in the same league for

, leaving the

Estadio Ramón de Carranza Nuevo Mirandilla is a football stadium in Cádiz, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Cádiz CF. The stadium was originally inaugurated as ''Estadio Ramón de Carranza'' on 3 September 1955. It has since then been completely rebuilt twice. ...

at the age of 31.

Coaching career

Bolea was player-coach at amateurs Balón de Cádiz during the 1964–65 season, and remained as manager for a further six years. He returned to Cádiz in 1971 as assistant, and shortly afterwards served as

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

. In 1974, Bolea was appointed at the newly founded Cádiz B, achieving promotion to the first regional division. He signed with

Portuense Portuense is the 11th ''Quarters of Rome, quartiere'' of Rome (Italy), identified by the initials Q.XI. The toponym is also used to indicate the urbanistic area 15b, in the Municipio XV. The population of the urbanistic area amounts to 30.362 in ...

before the end of the campaign, and his role with the reserves was assumed by his assistant Luis Escarti. Bolea returned to Cádiz as interim manager during the second part of 1975–76. Taking over at a critical time, he managed to avoid relegation from the second tier. However, he was affected by illness and was not appointed to the permanent position, which went to Escarti. After two years with Cádiz's B side, Bolea's final position as manager was at

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

in the 1982–83 season.

Death

Bolea died on 14 November 2020 at the age of 87, in

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolea, Adolfo 1933 births 2020 deaths Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barcelona Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players UE Sant Andreu footballers CD Tenerife players CE Sabadell FC footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Cádiz CF players Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Morocco Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Cádiz CF managers