Antonio Alcázar Alonso (2 May 1902 - 6 December 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 le ...

who played as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was the first footballer born in

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

to have played for the Spain national team. A historical member of

CE Europa Club Esportiu Europa is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in the city of Barcelona in the district of Gràcia, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1907, it plays in the Segunda División RFEF, Segunda ...

in the 1920s, he was one of the first footballers to play for Europa for his entire career, and thus to be part of the so-called one-club men group.

Club career

Born in

, but when he was barely a year old his parents moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

. He started playing football as a child with his friends in a neighborhood team called Neptuno. His virtues did not go unnoticed by the scouts of the time, and therefore, he was already competing against the best teams in

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 ...

at 16-17. He spent all of his career with

, a team from Catalonia, which in the 1920s rivaled

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

for the supremacy of Catalan football, and in fact, both teams finished tied on 17 points in the 1922-23 Catalan Championship, which meant that the title had to be decided in a playoff match that was held on 21 March 1923 at the

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

stadium, and the game was decided by a lonely goal from Alcázar. Europa’s victory over Barcelona was an extraordinary event that exceeded all expectations. Together with Mauricio, Pellicer and Cros, he formed the great attacking front of the CE Europa side that won the Catalan Championship in 1923 and then reached the

1923 Copa del Rey Final The 1923 Copa del Rey Final was the 23rd final of the Spanish cup competition, the Copa del Rey. The final was played at Les Corts, in Barcelona, on 13 May 1923. Athletic Bilbao beat Europa 1–0 and won their ninth title. The lonely goal w ...

, where they were beaten by

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

0-1.

International career

Being a

, he was eligible to play for the Catalan national team, receiving 7 caps, but failing to score a single goal. Alcázar also earned two caps for the Spain national team, which made him the first footballer born in

to reach the national team as well as the first footballer from

. He made his debut on 1 June 1925 against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, helping his side to a 3-0 win, and in his second and last cap for Spain two weeks later, on 14 June, he contributed to a 1-0 victory over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at the

Mestalla Stadium Mestalla Stadium ( es, Estadio de Mestalla , ca-valencia, Estadi de Mestalla ) is a football stadium in Valencia, Spain. The stadium is the home of Valencia Club de Fútbol and has a capacity of 48,600 seats, making it the 8th-largest stadium i ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

. Coincidence or not, all of those 4 goals were scored by the same player Juan Errazquin.

Honours

Club

;

Catalan football championship The Catalan football championship ''(Campionat de Catalunya)'' was a football competition in Catalonia and the first football league in Spain before La Liga was established in 1929. In December 1900, Alfons Macaya, the president of Hispania AC, o ...

: *Champions (1): 1922-23

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: *Runner-up (1):

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

References

1902 births 1966 deaths Footballers from Murcia Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders CE Europa footballers Spain men's international footballers Catalonia men's international footballers {{Spain-footy-midfielder-stub