Ramon Torralba Larraz (13 August 1895 – 6 June 1986) is a famous figure in the history of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. He was popularly known as ''la Vella'' ('the Old One') because of his long career with Barça.

Club career

Despite being born in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

, he moved to

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

at just six months old, and there he began playing football at FC International in 1912, before joining

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

two years later, with whom he played for the next 15 seasons, earning the nickname 'la Vella' (the Old One). He played as a holding midfield and was known for his strength and sacrifices. He formed a partnership with

Agustín Sancho Agustín Sancho Agustina (18 July 1896 – 25 August 1960) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona in the 1920s. Club career Born in Benlloc ( province of Castellon, Valencia), he moved to Sants in Barcelona as a chi ...

and

Josep Samitier Josep Samitier Vilalta (; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish Association football, football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, ...

on the midfield. He was a regular in the starting line-ups from the 1914/15 season until the 1925/26 season. With Barcelona he won 10 Catalan championships, along with four

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 ...

titles in

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 ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

and

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

, with Torralba scoring the opening goal in the 1922 final which ended in a 5-1 win over

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...

. On 4 February 1917, he become the first player in the history of Barcelona to be granted a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

, which took place at the

Camp de la Indústria Camp de la Indústria () or Campo de la calle Indústria was a multi-use stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It was initially used as the home venue of FC Barcelona, until the team moved to Camp de Les Corts in 1922. The capacity of the stadium was 6,000 ...

when he was still an active player. He retired on 1 July 1928, at the

Camp de Les Corts Camp de Les Corts (), commonly referred to as Les Corts, was a sports stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the home for FC Barcelona until the club moved to the Camp Nou in 1957. It was also the home of CD Condal for the club's enti ...

, after a second tribute match.

Honours

Club

;

Catalan football championship The Catalan football championship ''(Campionat de Catalunya)'' was a football competition in Catalonia and the first football league in Spain before La Liga was established in 1929. In December 1900, Alfons Macaya, the president of Hispania AC, o ...

: *Champions (10): 1915-16, 1918-19, 1919-20, 1920-21, 1921-22, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27 and in 1927–28

: *Champions (4):

and

References

FC Barcelona players 1895 births 1986 deaths People from Cinco Villas, Aragon Sportspeople from the Province of Zaragoza Association football midfielders Spanish footballers Footballers from Aragon Footballers from Catalonia Catalonia international footballers {{Spain-footy-midfielder-stub