José Berraondo

José Angel Berraondo Insausti (born 4 November 1878 in San Sebastián and died 11 April 1950) was a Spanish footballer, referee and manager. He was one of the most important figures of Spain's football at the beginning and middle of the 20th century, as a player, captain, club founder, manager, referee, director, vice-president and even as a national coach.

Berraondo was one of the most important figures in the amateur beginnings of Real Madrid, then known as ''Madrid CF'', serving as its captain from 1904 until 1909, and thus playing a crucial role in Madrid's four consecutive Copa del Rey titles between 1905 and 1908. In addition to being the team captain, he was also the vice-president of ''Los Merengues'', even holding the interim presidency of Madrid FC for a few months. Berraondo was one of the founding members of Real Sociedad in 1909, and helped the newly founded club reach two Copa del Rey finals in 1910 and 1913. After retiring as a player, Berraondo became a referee and took charge of the 1921 Copa del Rey Final. As a manager, he guided the Spain national team at the 1928 Summer Olympics, and coached Real Madrid for 2 years during 1927–1929.

Playing career

Berraondo was introduced to football during his time as a student in England. Apparently, he got to play in the first team of Brentford during this period. At the age of 26, Berraondo returned to Spain and settled in Madrid, where he decided to continue his love of football and joined the city's main club, Madrid FC (now Real Madrid), in 1904. Despite the presence of the likes of Yarza, Prast, Parages and even Armando Giralt, it was Berraondo who, just one year after joining the team, became the captain of Madrid FC in 1905. No one disputed this decision in a time when the captain had the duty of dictating the tactics to be followed and making up the line-ups as there were still no professional coaches in Spain's football, thus basically serving as a player-coach. Under his captaincy, Madrid won 4 Copa del Rey titles in a row between 1905 and 1908 and as many regional championships with the white club. Berraondo played an important role in the first great team in the history of Real Madrid since he was able to pass on to his teammates the knowledge that he had acquired in England about football.

In 1909 he decided to go live in his hometown, whose local team at the time was Club Ciclista de San Sebastián, which had just won the 1909 Copa del Rey, being the first time in 5 years that a team other than Madrid won the competition. A few months after this victory, Berraondo, along with the players who had won the tournament, founded the Sociedad de Football (now known as Real Sociedad) on 7 September 1909, of which he was elected its first vice-president.

Berraondo played for Real Sociedad for four years, between 1909 and 1913, a period in which he also served as captain and player-coach, using the knowledge he brought from England to strengthen the newly founded team. Sociedad participated in the 1910 Copa del Rey (UECF) under the umbrella of another local club, the Vasconia Sporting Club (since the club was not a year old since its constitution like the tournament statutes required). To secure a spot, however, Vasconia had first to defeat Racing Club de Irún in a playoff to determine the local representative in the tournament, and Berraondo played in both matches, which ended in wins. The tournament was played in a triangle format against the only two other teams who had won the competition, Madrid FC and Athletic Club, the powerhouses of Spain's football at the time, but under Berraondo's leadership, they managed to beat his former club Madrid by a score of 2–0 (both goals being scored by George McGuinness), but in the final they were beaten by Athletic 0–1, the courtesy of a goal from Remigio Iza.

In 1913, in another edition marked by two parallel tournaments, Sociedad also played in one of the two Cup finals, this time against FC Barcelona. Berraondo played the first two games of the final teaming up in defense with Mariano Arrate, with both ending in draws, first at 2 and then at 0. In the third and decisive match, Berraondo was replaced by Eguía and without him, Barcelona took the title with a 2–1 win.

On 5 October 1913, Berraondo participated in another historic eleven of Real Sociedad, the one that opened the Atotxa Stadium against Athletic Club, in an eventual 3–3 draw. That same year Berraondo, who was already a veteran turning 35, decided to hang up his boots as a footballer.

Executive career

While at Madrid FC, he held a position on the board during the presidency of General Adolfo Meléndez (1908–10). Despite still being a player and captain of the squad he was elected vice president. In fact, in the absence of Meléndez, who was a professional soldier and had to go to the Melilla War, Berraondo held the interim presidency of Madrid FC for a few months. His departure in 1909 to live in San Sebastián forced him to resign from these functions and he was subsequently relieved of the vice-presidency of the club, a position that he carried out with great honor. Also in 1909, he participated in the foundation of Real Sociedad, ​​of which he was a member of the first board of directors, also holding the position of vice president for a few years, while also serving as player and captain of the team.

Berraondo also took part in the founding of the Spanish Football Federation in 1913 and the Guipuzcoan Football Federation and held various positions in the organization chart of these federations. He was proposed for President of the Guipuzcoan Football Federation in 1923, but did not accept the position.

Refereeing career

Berraondo refereed the 1921 Copa del Rey Final between Athletic Club and Athletic Madrid, which was the first meeting between the 'two Athletics' who had begun as the same club, ending in a convincing 4–1 win to the team from Bilbao.

Sports journalist career

He also devoted himself professionally to sports journalism as a sports editor of El País Vasco and editor of the newspaper ''La Noticia''. While still at Madrid FC, in the "Heraldo de Madrid", Berraondo published some delicious chronicles about the qualities, training, defects and virtues of each of the players' positions. Ways to defend a corner, speed tests and specific training for goalkeepers.

Managerial career

Real Sociedad

Berraondo was the first coach in the history of Real Sociedad. According to the Real Sociedad website, Berraondo served as coach of Real Sociedad between 1909 and the 1922–23 season, when they signed the first professional coach in their history, the Hungarian Lippo Hertzka. This claim comes from the fact that Berraondo was the captain of Real Sociedad from 1909, when he arrived at the San Sebastian team, until his retirement in 1913, and after his retirement as a footballer, it seems that Berraondo continued to be linked to Sociedad as a coach, because in a press release from 1917, is commented that "Berraondo presents his resignation as coach of the team", his resignation not being accepted by the board. So although this figure lacked official status at the time, it can be said that he performed these functions both as captain and after.

Spain

Berraondo was the driving force behind Spain's first-ever unofficial