Ángel Rodríguez Ruiz (13 October 1879 – 10 May 1959) was the founder and first president of the Real Club Deportivo Español. He was also a

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 lea ...

for the club between 1903 and 1905.

Biography

Ángel Rodríguez was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

as the son of Rafael Rodríguez (1845–1949), an Andalusian doctor and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

settled in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, who was chancellor of the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

from 1902 to 1905, and who stood out for his positioning against the use of

Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

in the University. In 1900, when he was studying

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, at the age of 21, Rodríguez became fond of football after watching a match between English sailors and

Català FC Català Futbol Club, and later Català Sport Club, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed from 1899 until its dissolution in the late 1920s. It was one of the most important entities in the amateur beginnings of football in C ...

. When he was unable to join a team, which were made up of foreigners, whose quality was much better than his own, he thus decided to found a Football Society himself. For this reason, together with two friends, classmates from the University, Octavio Aballí and Luis Roca Navarra, he created a

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

which was officially established on 28 October 1900 as the ''Sociedad Española de Fútbol'' and debuted on 20 January 1901 under the name ''Club Español de Fútbol'', which would later change to Real Club Deportivo Español in 1910. This group of students led by Rodriguez made the nationality of its members its main hallmark: all of them were Catalan or born in the rest of Spain, and thus differed from most other teams, in which there were a large number of foreigners, especially English. That defining characteristic was forever embodied in his name. Rodríguez was the first president of the entity from its foundation until 1901, as well as one of its first-ever players. His passion for football become so intense that in 1901, his father, sent him to study in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He was replaced by José María Miró, who held the presidency for four years, between 1902 and 1906. Despite the distance, he was always informed of the events of the club, and on some occasions, he had to escape from his school to participate in a meeting. Together with Joaquim Escardó,

Ángel Ponz Ángel Ponz Junyent (1883 – 20 August 1936) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Club Español (now known as RCD Espanyol). Although little has been recorded of his life, he was one of the most important footballers in the ama ...

, and

Gustavo Green Gustavo Gren Córdoba (10 May 1880 – 9 November 1965), better known as Gustavo Green, was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol. After spending his ...

, he was part of the team that won the first edition of the Campionat de Catalunya in 1903–04. In the 1909–10 season, at the age of 30, he played a few friendly matches for the club. Ángel Rodríguez Ruiz was a member of the State Corps of

Industrial Engineer Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

s. He died in Barcelona on 10 May 1959, at the age of 79.

Legacy

On 6 October 2005, the Plaza de Ángel Rodríguez was inaugurated in honor of the founder of RCD Espanyol de Barcelona. On 28 October 2019, RCD Espanyol paid

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

to Ángel Rodríguez with a commemorative plaque, on the 119th anniversary of Espanyol, with an entourage attended by the vice president of the club and his grandson, José Miguel de Nadal Rodríguez, among others. On 28 October 2020, RCD Espanyol's celebrated its 120th anniversary, and the representatives of the club began the day with a visit to the Sant Gervasi cemetery, where they paid homage to the tomb of Ángel Rodríguez, whose grandson also attended the ceremony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Angel 1879 births Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barcelona RCD Espanyol footballers Men's association football forwards 1959 deaths