Ezequiel Montero Román (22 February 1893 – 17 April 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 ...

, referee 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 ...

in Spain at the beginning of the 20th century. As a player, he helped the Madrid national team win two

Prince of Asturias Cup The Prince of Asturias Cup (, ) was an inter-regional football competition contested by the regional selections of Spain – selections of players from clubs from the region in question, meaning that players did not need to be native to the region ...

s in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

and 1918. As a coach, he managed the Spain national team in four games between 1926 and 1927.

Playing career

He was born at the beginning of 1893 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, a city in which he would develop an extensive career linked to football. In the 1910s, he played as a

midfielder 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 ...

for Racing de Madrid, with whom he won the 1914–15 Centro Championship together with Joaquín Pascual, Ricardo Álvarez and

Feliciano Rey Feliciano Rey Álvarez (4 July 1894 - 4 March 1974), was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for Racing de Madrid and Madrid FC. After retiring, he had a short spell at Deportivo Balompié as manager. Club career Born in Madrid, he ...

. Since he was a Racing de Madrid player, he was eligible to play for the Madrid national team, for whom he played several matches between 1915 and 1918, being a member of the side that participated in the first edition of the

in 1915, an official inter-regional competition organized by the RFEF. Montero was also a member of the Madrid team captained by

José María Castell José María Castell García de la Cruz (24 September 1896 - 13 October 1981) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder. Castell was one of the most important figures of Madrid FC at the beginning and middle of the 20th last century, as ...

, which against all odds, claimed the trophy in the 1917 Prince of Asturias Cup, which was the first in Madrid's history.

Refereeing career

Montero began his refereeing career when he was still an active player, which was normal at the time. In 1915, after satisfactory examinations, he joined the Board of the College of Referees of the Center, the first College of Referees in Spain, roughly at the same time as the likes of Carlos Dieste and of then-teammate at Racing, Antonio Pelous. According to posting practice, he also performed regular service as a coastal judge. As a referee, he oversaw matches of the Central Championship, and even of 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 footb ...

. He was a referee in the first-ever Spanish league in 1929, refereeing 22 matches in the Primera División (1929–1942). In total, he oversaw more than 100 matches between the Regional, First and

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, in a career that lasted more than 30 years (1915–1947). Together with Eulogio Aranguren and

Enrique Peris Enrique Peris de Vargas (27 February 1887 - 17 February 1953) was a Spanish footballer who played as a left winger. He spent most of his career at Barcelona, with whom he played over 300 matches. Club career Born in Barcelona, he began his career ...

, he holds the peculiar distinction of having participated in the

as both a player and referee, given that Montero refereed one match in the competition, a semi-final between Galicia and

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

in the 1922–23 edition, ending in a 4–1 win to the Galicians. At the request of the

Portuguese Football Federation The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) ( pt, Federação Portuguesa de Futebol; ) is the governing body of football in Portugal. The federation was formed in 1914 as Portuguese Football Union (UPF) by the three existing regional associations ...

(FPF), he acted as a referee in the

1922 Campeonato de Portugal The 1922 Campeonato de Portugal was the 1st edition of the Portuguese football knockout tournament, organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The regional champions from the Algarve, Lisbon, Madeira, Porto FAs were invited to take pa ...

, which was the 1st edition of the Portuguese domestic cup. This match was a derby between

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

and FC Porto, ending in a 2–0 win to the "Lions".

Coaching career

Between 1926 and 1927 Montero was the manager of the Spain national team, leading the nation in four games that ended in three wins and one loss.

Honours

Racing de Madrid * Centro Championship: 1914–15 Madrid XI *

, 1918

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montero, Ezequiel 1893 births 1972 deaths Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football midfielders Atlético Madrid footballers Spanish football managers Spain national football team managers Spanish football referees

Playing career

Refereeing career

Coaching career

Honours

See also

References