Óscar Álvarez González (1 May 1902 – 11 June 1972) 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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

. He later worked as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He was also a member of the Spanish football squad that competed in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

, but he did not play in any matches.

Club career

Born in

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

, Óscar started his football career in his hometown club , where he began playing as a goalkeeper by chance, replacing a teammate who had been injured during a match, and he soon demonstrates great qualities that made him stand out between the posts. In 1926, he was one of the main promoters of the merger between Stadium and the neighboring club , which resulted in the birth of Real Oviedo. Óscar was named the club's first-ever

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and he defended the Real Oviedo shirt from the first day of its existence until the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

interrupted football competitions in 1936. During this period, he recovered in 1930 from a broken

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

that threatened the end of his football career. In total, he played 198 official matches; 103 in the League, 3 in promotion matches, 30 in the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, and 62 in the Regional Championship. At the end of the war he was imprisoned and later released for having clearly positioned himself in favor of the

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

International career

Being a

player, Óscar was eligible to play for the Asturias team, being one of the eleven footballers that played in the team's first-ever game on 4 June 1922, in a friendly against

St Mirren F.C. St Mirren Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, that competes in the after winning the 2017–18 Scottish Championship. Founded in 1877, the team has two nicknames: ''The Buddies'' and ''The S ...

, which ended in a 3–7 loss. The regional Asturian team then played seven official games between 1922 and 1926 in the Prince of Asturias Cup, winning the 1922–23 edition, largely thanks to Óscar's heroic performances in the semifinals, keeping a clean-sheet in a 1–1 win over

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 ...

, which was mostly made-up of players of the so-called golden generation of

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

, such as

Ricardo Zamora Ricardo Zamora Martínez (; 21 January 1901 – 8 September 1978) was a Spanish footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for Spain. As a man ...

, Vicente Martínez, and

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

. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 25 February 1923, he started in a 3–1 victory over Galicia at Coia. Óscar was a member of the Spanish football squad that competed in the

, but he did not play in any matches. In total, he was called up for the national team 11 times, 9 being a Stadium player and 2 as an Oviedo player, but he was unable to make his debut because of the great competition that there was for the goalkeeping position, where mainly

blocked his way.

Managerial career

Óscar began his managerial career at the helm of

Racing de Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol, commonly known as Racing de Ferrol, is a Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in , holding home games at '' E ...

, which he coached in 1940–41. In July 1941, he took charge of

, replacing

Cristóbal Martí Cristóbal Martí Batalla (born 22 May 1903 – 28 July 1986) was a Spanish football player and manager. Career Born in Granollers, Catalonia, Martí began playing football with CE Sabadell FC before joining FC Barcelona. He made more than 250 ...

to become the club's 10th coach, a position that he held for only a year until 1942, when he was replaced by Manuel Meana. After another one-season stint at

Real Avilés CF Real may refer to: Currencies * Argentine real * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Nature and science * Reality, the state of things as they exist, ...

(1943–44), he gave up from coaching, but eventually returned following a 7-year hiatus to take charge of another Asturian team in the Segunda Division,

Caudal Deportivo Caudal Deportivo is a Spanish football team based in Mieres, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1918 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Hermanos Antuña'' (built in 1951), with a capacity of 2,940 spectators. Hist ...

, and this time he lasted two seasons. He then returned to Real Avilés in 1954, and then to Real Oviedo in July 1955, but left in October after only three months at the helm of the club. His last season as coach was in 1957–58 with CP La Felguera.

Honours

;

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

XI * Prince of Asturias Cup: **Champions (1): 1922–23

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Álvarez, Óscar 1902 births 1972 deaths Footballers from Oviedo Spanish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Real Oviedo players Olympic footballers for Spain Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Spanish football managers Racing de Ferrol managers Real Avilés Industrial CF managers Real Oviedo managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen