Alejandro Rodríguez Apolinario (1 October 1892 - 28 October 1972) 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

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 ...

for

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 ...

. The highlight of his career was winning the treble with Barcelona in the 1912–13 season ( Catalan championship,

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 ...

and Pyrenees Cup), in which he contributed with the winning goal of the 1913 UECF Copa del Rey Final against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

Club career

He began his career in 1911 with Sociedad Gimnástica, featuring alongside the likes of José Carruana,

José Manuel Kindelán José Manuel Kindelán Duany (8 October 1887 – 9 November 1919) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender for RCD Espanyol and Sociedad Gimnástica. Biography Born in Cádiz, he moved to Madrid as a child, and enventually joined Club ...

and

Sócrates Quintana Sócrates Quintana Montoto (18 December 1891 – 28 February 1984), was a Spanish artist and footballer who played as a midfielder for RS Gimnástica and Athletic Club de Madrid. He was one of the most important footballers in the amateur begin ...

, and forming a dynamic attacking partnership with Antonio Morales, however, the latter was signed by

in the middle of the 1911–12 season, in February, which was a great setback for the club, but despite his partner's departure, Apolinario was still able to help Gimnástica reach the 1912 Copa del Rey Final, which still is the club's only cup final appearance, and interestingly, it was Barça who they faced, and in the end, it was Morales' side who won (2–0). The silver lining was that his performance in the final impressed the Catalan club enough for them to sign him in the summer, replacing none other than Morales, who had been signed by

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

. In his only season at Barcelona (1912–13), Apolinario won all the titles at stake: The Catalan championship, Copa del Rey and Pyrenees Cup. He was fundamental in Barça's triumph in the Copa del Rey Final, netting two goals against

in the final, one in the first leg as they tied at 2, and then the winning goal in the replay to secure the title with a 2–1 win (the other goal was scored by

José Berdié José Berdié Places (1887 – 31 January 1931), sometimes written as Verdié, was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for Espanyol and FC Barcelona. He won two Copa del Rey titles with the latter. Club career Born in Huesca, he jo ...

). He then moved to

University SC A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, finishing his career at the end of the season.

Retirement

During the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

, he was a candidate in the elections of February 1936 for the center party in the province of

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

, but he was not elected.

Honours

Sociedad Gimnástica *

: **Runner-up (1):

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

;

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 ...

* Catalan championship: **Champions (1): 1912–13 * Pyrenees Cup: **Champions (1): 1913 *

: **Champions (1):

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apolinario, Rodríguez 1892 births 1972 deaths Spanish footballers Association football forwards Footballers from the Canary Islands FC Barcelona players