Alejandro Rodríguez Apolinario (1 October 1892 - 28 October 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 forward for

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 ...

. The highlight of his career was winning the treble with Barcelona in the 1912–13 season ( Catalan championship,

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 Pyrenees Cup), in which he contributed with the winning goal of the 1913 UECF Copa del Rey Final against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

Club career

He began his career in 1911 with Sociedad Gimnástica, featuring alongside the likes of

José Carruana José Carruana Gálvez (1890 - Unknown) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender for RCD Espanyol, Madrid FC and Sociedad Gimnástica. Club career Born in Madrid, Carruana began his career aged just 18, in 1908, at his hometown club C ...

, José Manuel Kindelán and Sócrates Quintana, and forming a dynamic attacking partnership with

Antonio Morales Antonio Morales Veloso (6 December 1889 – 7 November 1967), sometimes referred to by some sources as Arsenio Morales was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Club Español de Madrid, RS Gimnástica and FC Barcelona. His brother ...

, however, the latter was signed by

in the middle of the 1911–12 season, in February, which was a great setback for the club, but despite his partner's departure, Apolinario was still able to help Gimnástica reach the 1912 Copa del Rey Final, which still is the club's only cup final appearance, and interestingly, it was Barça who they faced, and in the end, it was Morales' side who won (2–0). The silver lining was that his performance in the final impressed the Catalan club enough for them to sign him in the summer, replacing none other than Morales, who had been signed by

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

. In his only season at Barcelona (1912–13), Apolinario won all the titles at stake: The Catalan championship, Copa del Rey and Pyrenees Cup. He was fundamental in Barça's triumph in the Copa del Rey Final, netting two goals against

in the final, one in the first leg as they tied at 2, and then the winning goal in the replay to secure the title with a 2–1 win (the other goal was scored by

José Berdié José Berdié Places (1887 – 31 January 1931), sometimes written as Verdié, was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for Espanyol and FC Barcelona. With the latter side, he won one Catalan championship (1913), and two titles in b ...

). He then moved to

University SC A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, finishing his career at the end of the season.

Retirement

During the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

, he was a candidate in the elections of February 1936 for the center party in the province of

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

, but he was not elected.

Honours

Sociedad Gimnástica *

: **Runner-up (1):

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

;

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 ...

* Catalan championship: **Champions (1): 1912–13 * Pyrenees Cup: **Champions (1): 1913 *

: **Champions (1):

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apolinario, Rodriguez 1892 births 1972 deaths Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Footballers from the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife FC Barcelona players Sportspeople from San Cristóbal de La Laguna