Alfonso Albéniz Jordana (11 September 1885 – 27 September 1941) was a Spanish footballer and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

, as well as a renowned chemical engineer, lecturer and later a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He is best known for being the first-ever player to play for both FC Barcelona and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, which he achieved when he moved out from Catalonia to the capital for study purposes. In addition to football, he also practiced

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, tennis, cycling, and was an outstanding rugby player in France. He was one of the founders of both the College of Referees of the Center in 1914, the first college for such in Spain, and the

National Committee of Referees The National Committee of Referees (Spanish language, Spanish: Comité National de Árbitros), also known as Technical Committee of Referees, directly attends to the functioning of the federative collective of referees and is responsible, under su ...

in 1922, serving as its second and first president respectively.

Early life

Alfonso Albéniz Jordana was born on 11 September 1885, as the firstborn of the marriage formed by the famous composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz and Rosa Jordana Lagarriga, daughter of the former mayor of the