Roberto Bertol Garrastazu (2 December 1917 – 3 March 1990) was a Spanish footballer. He was a key part of the great

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 ...

team of the 1940s, where he spent 11 seasons and would eventually become its captain.

Career

Bertol was born in

Lizarza Lizartza is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, in the North of Spain. References External links Official WebsiteInformation available in Spanish lan ...

, a small town in

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

near the border with

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

. His first steps as a player were with a modest hometown team. At the outbreak of 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 ...

(1936) had just 18 years old. Like many boys his age Bertol, was forced to fight in the war. When it ended in 1939 he played for SD Deusto (

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

), a team that won a national amateur championship that year. After the civil war,

was forced to rebuild their team almost from scratch, because most players who had proclaimed league champions in 1936 were now retired or in exile. This started a campaign in which they sought new players from the second division teams based in

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

. Bertol was one of the players selected in that talent search campaign, one of the first in the ''new'' Athletic. His debut in the Spanish Primera División took place on 3 December 1939 when he had just turned 22. His professional football career lasted the next 10 years in the ranks of Athletic Bilbao, between the 1939–40 season and 1949–50. During those years he was a member of one of the best teams in the history of Athletic, the team known as the 'historic second front' consisting of Iriondo, Zarra, Venancio, Panizo and Gaínza. Bertol was one of the key pieces in that team, especially between 1942–43 and 1948–49 seasons, although his role was in second place to the stars of the club, namely the forwards and the goalkeeper

Lezama Lezama is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It is home to the training headquarters of the football team Athletic Bilbao, and is accessible by bus - Bizka ...

. His role was to provide security to the midfield. At the end of his career also served as team captain because of his charisma and seniority. Bertol's honours included a league title (1942–43), two runner-up finishes (1940–41 and 1946–47), two Cup wins (1944, 1945) and two losing finals (1942 and 1949). After defending the jersey for 186 matches and 11 seasons, Bertol played his last official match in the league on 9 October 1949. That season he rounded out his resume with the last Cup title, but did not play an active role. A farewell match for him was played on 21 December 1950 in San Mames Stadium.

National team

Bertol was called to play with the

Spain national football team The Spain national football team ( es, Selección Española de Fútbol) has represented Spain in international men's football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in ...

twice. His international debut was on 26 January 1947 in a friendly against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

(4–1 defeat), and his second and final match was played in 1948 against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, a 3–3 draw.

References

External links

Stats at Sportec.es
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertol, Roberto 1917 births 1990 deaths Spanish men's footballers Spain men's international footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers La Liga players Men's association football midfielders People from Tolosaldea Footballers from Gipuzkoa SD Deusto players