Gregorio Blasco Sánchez (10 June 1909 – 31 January 1983), also known as Goyo Blasco, 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Personal life

Born in

Mundaka Mundaka ( es, Mundaca) is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. On the coast, Mundaka is internation ...

in the Basque Country , Blasco emigrated to Mexico where he married Maria Victoria González in 1943 and with whom he had 3 children, Gregorio, José Maria and Victoria.

Career

Blasco began his career in 1926 when he joined Acero de Olabeaga. Two years later he signed for Athletic Bilbao where his first match was a friendly against Swansea City. During his time with Athletic Bilbao he won the

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ricardo Zamora, link=no) is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' MARCA'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ic ...

three times, and also played 5 times for the Spanish national team. He played with Athletic Bilbao until the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

in 1936 when all national competitions in Spain were put on hold. In 1937, in the midst of the civil war, he was selected for the Basque Country national football team which was sent abroad to raise funds for refugees fleeing the conflict. In 1938 that team integrated into the Mexican league under the name

Club Deportivo Euzkadi Club Deportivo Euzkadi was an association football team that played in the Primera Fuerza league in Mexico during the 1938–39 season. It was formed when the Basque Country national football team, which had been touring the world, was refused ...

. After one season the team dissolved and Blasco joined

Real Club España Real Club España is a Mexican sports club located in Mexico City. The club hosted a large variety of sports and other activities such as aerobics, basque pelota, billiards, canoeing, climbing wall, football, gymnastics, jai alai, mountaineering ...

. In 1941 he joined River Plate in Argentina, before returning to Mexico a year later to rejoin Club España. He stayed there until 1947 when he joined rival team Atlante. He was one of the first goalkeepers to use goalkeeping gloves. Apart from being a footballer he also had a business selling construction materials.

References

1909 births 1983 deaths Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Spanish footballers Spain international footballers La Liga players Liga MX players Athletic Bilbao footballers Atlante F.C. footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Real Club España footballers Association football goalkeepers Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Spanish emigrants to Mexico Basque Country international footballers {{Spain-footy-goalkeeper-stub