Joaquín Yarza Ormazábal, also known as Quincho Yarza (1881 - 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

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

Madrid FC Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. Along with his brother Manuel, he was a member of the

side that won 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 ...

four times in a row, between 1905 and 1908, although Joaquín only participated in the first three, leaving the club in 1907 to join Sporting de Vigo. Quincho helped Sporting reach their first-ever final in

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

, in which the Yarza brothers were rivals, as Manuel stayed at Madrid. Quincho was a versatile footballer, playing in

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

and attack. Outside of football, he served in the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

, reaching the rank of captain, and dedicated himself to the naval industry in

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, creating, among other companies, the shipyard Construcciones Navales Yarza.

Club career

Born in

as the son of an innovator of the naval industrial sector José Joaquín Yarza Albea, a native of Donostia, he began his career at Moderno FC during the 1902–03 season, but just a few months later the club folded due to financial reasons, and the club had to merge with

(the merger of the entities briefly known as Madrid-Moderno FC), thus he and his brother joined the first team of Madrid, for which Quincho played until 1907. He played a pivotal role in helping the club win three

titles in a row between

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

and

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

. He then left Madrid to join Sporting de Vigo, with whom he reached his fourth Copa del Rey final in a row, where he came face-to-face with Madrid and his brother, who took the better of him to assure the fourth title in a row to the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

side. During his time at Vigo he might have been the first

professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a professi ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, during the so-called amateur era, when he received payments from the Vigo club, and in some chronicles of his time he was referred to as "professional". He left Sporting de Vigo in 1909 and participated in the 1909 Copa del Rey with Galicia FC, being eliminated in the semi-finals by the eventual champions

Club Ciclista de San Sebastián Club Ciclista de San Sebastián was a cycling club based in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. In 1909 the football section won the Copa del Rey. A few months after this victory, the players who had won the tournament founded the club that w ...

. After a brief spell with Pontevedra Sporting, he moved to Real Club Coruña still in 1909, forming an attacking partnership with Joaquín Caruncho. In 1912 he joined

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

, making his debut on 31 March in a match held in the old Riazor field against Compostela FC.

Retirement

Outside of football, he joined the

and was a naval engineer, being assigned to several ships such as ''Bonifaz'', '' Almirante Cervera'' or ''Laya''. Already as a captain, he was a teacher at the Machinist Academy, and in 1935 he entered the School of Machinists in Ferrol to specialize in engines. During 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, lin ...

he was exiled, and after the end of the conflict, he was assigned to the cruise ship Galicia. In 1941 he settled permanently in

, dying in 1972.

Honours

Club

;

Campeonato Regional Centro The Campeonato Regional Centro (Spanish for Central Regional Championship) was an important annual association football competition for clubs based primarily in the Castile region of Spain, including the Community of Madrid, during the first half ...

: **Champions (3): 1904–05, 1905–06 and 1906–07 *

: **Champions (3):

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

and

; Sporting de Vigo **Runner-up (1):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarza, Joaquín 1881 births 1972 deaths Footballers from Vigo Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Real Madrid CF players RCD Espanyol footballers Pontevedra CF footballers Deportivo de La Coruña players Spanish people of Basque descent