Agustín Sauto Arana (11 May 1908 – 21 August 1986), known as Bata, was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, scoring 208 goals in as many matches across all competitions and winning four

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

championships. He is the only player to have scored 7 goals against Barcelona in a single match. The goals were scored during the 1930/1931 Laliga season in which Bilbao crushed the Catalans 12-1.

Club career

Born in

Barakaldo Barakaldo (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is pa ...

, Biscay, Bata started his career at hometown club Barakaldo CF. His nickname derived from the fact he used to wear an overall (''bata'' in Spanish) made by his mother in order to prevent him from staining his better clothes; he was also dubbed ''El Bertha bilbaino'' (Bilbao's Bertha), ''El terror de San Mamés'' (terror of San Mamés) and ''El león enfurecido'' (raging lion). Bata signed with Athletic Bilbao in 1929, and made his professional debut for them on 22 September in a 4–1 win against Deportivo Alavés for the Biscay Championship. In his first season, he won both the

and

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 ...

titles. His first goal in the former competition came on 23 March 1930, in a 4–3 success at Atlético Madrid; he was the focal point of what become a famous forward line at the club, along with José Iraragorri, Chirri II, Lafuente and Guillermo Gorostiza. Bata achieved the same feat of league and cup double the following campaign, while also earning the Pichichi Trophy having scored 27 goals. Seven of those came in Athletic's historic 12–1 defeat 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 ...

on 18 February 1931, even though some sources only awarded him five and others as many as eight; he continued to play regularly until 1935–36 when he won the championship for a fourth time, but his career was then effectively ended at the age of 28 by the outbreak of 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 ...

. In the summer of 1938, Bata re-joined Barakaldo, but the competition would only be resumed the following year after the end of the war. He retired at the age of 35 after four seasons in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, and died on 21 August 1986 at 78 in Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran.

International career

In spite of his club achievements, Bata won only one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Spain national team. It happened on 19 April 1931, in a friendly with

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

played in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Athletic Bilbao *

: 1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36 *

: 1930, 1931,

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

Individual * Pichichi Trophy: 1930–31, 1931–32

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bata 1908 births 1986 deaths Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barakaldo Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Barakaldo CF footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers CA Osasuna players Spain men's international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers Pichichi Trophy winners 20th-century Spanish sportsmen