Bosch Josep-Clemente Gràcia (5 February 1897 – 6 March 1981), known as Grace, was a Spanish

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

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 ...

and out as header during a career which lasted from 1917 to 1926. At his peak with

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 ...

, he achieved the record of most goals scored by a player in a single season when he netted 59 goals in the 1921–22 season, which has remained unbroken until 2010, when it was finally broken by the great

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

Club career

A native of

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 ...

, Clemente Gràcia began his career at

Terrassa FC Terrassa Futbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Terrassa, Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1906 it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3, holding home matches at ''Estadi Olímpic de Terras ...

. In the 1917–1918 season he was top scorer for

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 ...

, who undefeated won the

Copa Catalunya The Copa Catalunya (''Catalonia Cup'') is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain. History Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the '' Championship ...

. In 1919 with

Ricardo Zamora Ricardo Zamora Martínez (; 14 February 1901 – 8 September 1978) was a Spanish footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for both the Catala ...

, he left the club to join

. With

Vicente Piera Vicente Piera Pañella (11 June 1903 in Barcelona – 14 June 1960), known by the nickname "La Bruja" ("The Witch"), is a former Spanish footballer who spent most of his career at FC Barcelona. Club career Born in Barcelona, Piera began to play ...

Paulino Alcántara Paulino Alcántara Riestrá (7 October 1896 – 13 February 1964) was a football player and manager who played as a forward. Born in the Philippines, he spent most of his playing career at Barcelona, and also represented Catalonia, the Philippi ...

and

Emili Sagi-Barba Emilio "Emili" Sagi Liñán (born Bolívar, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 15 March 1900; died Barcelona, 25 May 1951), was a Spanish footballer who played as a left-winger for FC Barcelona, the Catalan XI and Spain during the 1920s and 1930s. He was ...

, he formed one of the best front considered Barcelona's history. His best season was 1921–1922, where he won the Copa Catalunya and the

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 ...

, scoring one of five goals for his team in the final against

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...

. That season he was the team's top scorer with 59 goals (35 goals in friendly matches, 19 in the Championship of Catalonia and 5 in the Championship of Spain) in 50 games, a record that still stands. He played for

for five years, and won five Copa Catalunya: 1919, 1920, 1921,1922 and 1924, and two

(1920 and 1992). In total, he scored 161 goals in 151 games for Barcelona, scoring an average of more than one goal per game. After leaving Barcelona in 1924, he again played for

and then later for

FC Martinenc Fútbol Club Martinenc is a Spanish football team based in Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it plays in ''Primera Catalana – Group 1'', holding home games at ''Camp Municipal del Guinardó''. Season to season ...

. Professionally, it was official Guardia Urbana de Barcelona.

Club stats

International career

In 1920 he played several games with the

Catalonia national football team The Catalonia national football team ( ca, Selecció de futbol de Catalunya) is the official football team of Catalonia. It is organised by the Catalan Football Federation, founded in 1900. The team has been referred to by various names including ...

, and participated in the 1922-23, which ended in a semi-final elimanation to Galicia. Nonetheless, Grace still managed to score once in the tournament, in the quarter-finals against

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

to help Catalonia to a 3-0 win.

Honours

Barcelona

*Copa del Rey:

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

and

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

*Campeonato de Cataluña: 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924

Death

Clemente Gràcia died in his native

at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gracia, Clemente Spanish footballers FC Barcelona players RCD Espanyol footballers 1897 births 1981 deaths Footballers from Barcelona Association football forwards Catalonia international footballers