Raimundo Pérez Lezama (29 November 1922 – 23 July 2007) was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After beginning his professional career in England, he returned to his country, going on to later represent, mainly,

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

Club career

Refugee in England

Lezama was born in Barakaldo, Biscay but moved to England as a refugee at the age of 14. He entered at the port of Southampton on board the ''Habana'' on 23 May 1937, he and his brother Luis being among 3,889 Basque children fleeing the Spanish Civil War; some of the other refugees also became footballers, including Emilio Aldecoa,

Sabino Barinaga Sabino Barinaga Alberdi (15 August 1922 – 19 March 1988) was a Spanish football forward and manager. He appeared in 205 La Liga matches and scored 92 goals over 13 seasons, almost exclusively for Real Madrid. He later embarked on a manageri ...

and José Gallego. While in Southampton, Lezama played for his school Nazareth House (less than half a mile from The Dell), where he was spotted by Southampton and signed for the club as a trainee, eventually progressing to the reserves before making his first-team debut on 1 June 1940 in a 0–5 away defeat against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. His next game was at Craven Cottage, when the "Saints" fielded five Arsenal players ( Ernie Collett,

Leslie Compton Leslie Harry Compton (12 September 1912 – 27 December 1984) was an English sportsman who played football and cricket for Arsenal and Middlesex, respectively. He gained two England caps late in his football career, and remains the oldest outfi ...

, Eddie Hapgood, Leslie Jones and Bernard Joy) in a 2–1 victory over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, with both goals for the victors being scored by local boy

Eric Webber Eric Victor Webber (22 December 1919 – 10 December 1996) was an English footballer, playing as a centre-half, and manager. Playing career Early days Although he was born at Shoreham in West Sussex, Webber's family moved into Hampshire w ...

despite the plethora of stars. Lezama played one further match, a 1–3 defeat at Charlton Athletic at the end of an extended wartime season. Despite being underage, he briefly worked as a driver for the Royal Air Force.

Athletic Bilbao

On returning to Spain in 1940, Lezama joined

Arenas Club de Getxo Arenas Club de Getxo is a Spanish football club based in the town of Getxo, near Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at Campo Mu ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

.Lezama, el gran portero del Athletic (Lezama, Athletic's great goalkeeper)
Periodista Digital, 24 July 2007 (in Spanish) In 1941 he signed for

, and made his La Liga debut on 27 September 1942 in a 5–0 home win over Real Betis. The 1942–43 season saw the side, with a team that also included Telmo Zarra, José Luis Panizo and

Agustín Gaínza Agustín Gaínza Vicandi (28 May 1922 – 6 January 1995) was a Spanish football forward and manager. Club career Nicknamed ''Piru'', Gaínza's entire career was spent with Athletic Bilbao. Born in Basauri, Biscay, he made his official debut a ...

, win a double (league and Copa del Rey); he helped Athletic retain the cup in both 1944 and 1945, winning it again in 1950. While at Bilbao, Lezama also won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy as best goalkeeper during 1946–47. He added his only cap for Spain on 26 January 1947, when he was a second-half substitute for

José Bañón José Bañón Gonzálvez (19 April 1922 – 21 April 1987) was a Spanish football goalkeeper and coach. Club career Bañón was born in Alicante. After playing for three local amateur clubs he joined another team in the Valencian Community, Hér ...

in a 1–4 away defeat against Portugal. Throughout the rest of his career at Athletic, Lezama was only a squad player, making only 12 league appearances in his last five campaigns combined. After playing 197 league matches (261 in all competitions), he left the club in 1957.

Later career

In 1957, Lezama joined SD Indautxu in the second level, where his teammates included emerging youngsters

Chus Pereda Jesús María Pereda Ruiz de Temiño (15 June 1938 – 27 September 2011), also known as Chus Pereda, was a Spanish football midfielder and manager. In a 16-year professional career, he played mainly for Barcelona, amassing La Liga totals of 1 ...

and

Miguel Jones Miguel Jones Castillo (; 27 October 1938 – 8 April 2020) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for SD Indautxu and Atlético Madrid during the 1950s and 1960s. Football career Although born in Spanish Guinea, now known as Equato ...

. He spent two further seasons in that tier with Sestao Sport Club, before rejoining first team in Spain Arenas de Getxo in 1960. Lezama died of heart failure in Laguardia, Álava, at the age of 84. It was sometimes thought that Athletic's training facilities were named after him, but in fact these were named for their location, the village of Lezama near Bilbao.Lezama
at Mi Athletic (in Spanish)

Honours

Club

Athletic Bilbao * La Liga: 1942–43 * Copa del Generalísimo:

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

* Copa Eva Duarte: 1950

Individual

* Ricardo Zamora Trophy: 1946–47

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lezama, Raimundo 1922 births 2007 deaths Spanish refugees Spanish footballers Footballers from Barakaldo Association football goalkeepers Southampton F.C. wartime guest players La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Arenas Club de Getxo footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Barakaldo CF footballers SD Indautxu footballers Sestao Sport Club footballers Spain international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the United Kingdom