Luis Otero Sánchez-Encinas (22 October 1893 – 20 January 1955) 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 defender and who competed in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

, being a member of the Spanish team that won the silver medal at the tournament. Otero is recognized as one of the most outstanding Galician footballers in history. He was part of the first teams of both

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

and the Spanish team, and along with Moncho Gil, he is the first Galician Olympic medalist. In his memory, the Luis Otero Trophy has been held in Pontevedra since 1959.

Club career

Born in

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

, he began playing football at the age of 16 at his hometown club, Pontevedra Sporting Club in 1909, and two years later he moved to

Real Vigo Sporting Real Vigo Sporting Club, was a Spanish football club based in Vigo, Galicia, founded in 1905. Background Vigo was one of the cities through which football entered the Iberian Peninsula, thanks to British sailors and workers. The first demonstr ...

. After playing with Sporting for almost a decade, winning four Galician Championships and reaching the semifinals 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 footbal ...

twice (in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

and

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 ...

), he left the club shortly after it merged with Fortuna de Vigo to form

in 1923. Although he seemed destined to be one of the mainstays of Celta de Vigo, Luis Otero, along with two other players - Chiarroni and González -, not satisfied with the discipline of the new club, left the entity before the start of the 1923 Galician Championship to sign for

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 ...

, which ultimately proved to be one of the triggers of the historical rivalry between the Vigo and Coruña teams. Celta sued Deportivo for bribery and these protests led the Galician Federation to suspend the three "runaway" footballers for a season, accusing them of professionalism, while Deportivo was forbidden of lining them up in the Galician Championship. However, Deportivo appealed to the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

, which ruled in favor of Deportivo and annulled the sanction against the club on the understanding that there had been no bribery, urging the Galician Federation to readmit Deportivo to the championship, although it mantained the sanction on the three players for having duplicate records. The Galician Federation agreed by majority to accept the verdict of the Spanish Federation. At the end of his suspension, he returned to Deportivo, where he played six seasons, winning two more Galician Championships.

International career

On 28 August 1920, Otero went down in history as one of the eleven footballers who played in the first game of the Spanish national team at the

, in an eventual 1–0 victory over

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He also featured in the second round of the repechage tournament against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

which Spain won 2-0, winning the silver medal three days later after beating the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

3-1, making Otero and Moncho Gil the first Galician Olympic medalists in history. In total, he earned four caps for Spain, two at the 1920 Olympics and two in friendlies, the last of which was on 21 December 1924 at Les Corts in a 2-1 win over

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Being a player of

, he was summoned to play for the Galicia national team, and he was one of the eleven footballers that played in the first game of the team's history, a 4-1 win over a Castile/Madrid XI in the quarter-finals of the

1922-23 Prince of Asturias Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, an inter-regional

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

organized by the

RFEF The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

. Otero was a member of the Galacian team that reached that tournament's

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, in which they lost 1-3 to Asturias national team, courtesy of a second-half brace from

José Luis Zabala José Luis Zabala (14 December 1898 – 22 April 1946) was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He played in four matches for the Spain national football team in 1923 and 1924, sc ...

Honours

Club

;

Galician Championship: *Winners (4) 1914, 1919, 1920 and 1923 ;

Galician Championship: *Winners (2) 1926-1927 and 1927–28

International

Spain *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Silver medal:

;Asturias

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 ...

: *Runner-up (1): 1922-23

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Otero, Luis 1893 births 1955 deaths Spanish footballers Spain international footballers Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Spain Olympic silver medalists for Spain RC Celta de Vigo players Deportivo de La Coruña players Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Association football defenders