Arturo López Espinosa (1 February 1889 – 30 April 1970) 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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Madrid FC Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and ''Sociedad Gimnástica'' in the 1910s. He later worked as a

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 title ...

, becoming the 13th president of the National Committee of Referees in a brief interlude in 1952.

Playing career

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Espinosa began his football career in his hometown club Madrid FC in 1909, aged 20, making his debut in a Centro Regional Championship match against his future club ''Sociedad Gimnástica'', scoring once to help his side to a 4–2 win. In the 1909–10 season, he played a total of seven matches for Madrid, including two in the regional championship and two in the 1910 Copa del Rey (UECF), which ended in 0–2 losses to

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

and

Vasconia The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as ''Wasconia'', was originally a Frankis ...

. In 1910, Espinosa joined the ranks of Sociedad Gimnástica, which at the time had a great team, captained by the

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Sócrates Quintana, and with

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 ...

and

José Manuel Kindelán José Manuel Kindelán Duany (8 October 1887 – 9 November 1919) was a Spanish referee and footballer who played as a defender for Atlético Madrid. Playing career Born in Cádiz, Kindelán moved to Madrid as a child, and eventually, he joined ...

teaming up on defense. On October and November 1910, he played three

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

against his former club Madrid FC, scoring the winner on the latter. Espinosa helped his side win two Centro Championships in 1910–11 and 1913–14, and in 1912, he helped Gimnástica reach which still stands as the only

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 ...

final in the club's history, which they lost 0–2 to

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 ...

. Espinosa remained loyal to the club until 1915, when he returned to Madrid FC, with whom he played for just one year before retiring at the end of the 1915–16 season. In the semifinals of the 1916 Copa del Rey, Madrid faced

in the first competitive

El Clásico El Clásico (in Spanish, also in lowercase letters; ) or El Clàssic (in Catalan, ), both meaning "The Classic", is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions he ...

in 14 years, and after three matches proved insufficient to separate the two teams, Madrid decided to field Espinosa for the fourth, and this choice paid off since Madrid won (4–2), thus reaching 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 ...

in which he did not play, and without him, Madrid lost 0–4 to Bilbao.

Refereeing career

In 1924, the 35-year-old Espinosa began his refereeing career, overseeing several matches in regional championships during his first four years. Between 1928 and 1933, he refereed a total of 26 league matches, 19 in the

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 7 in

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 ...

. He made his refereeing debut in La Liga on 29 November 1931, in a match between

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

and

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

, which ended in a 5–1 win to the former. In total, he refereed eight Valencia matches, with the Mestella club winning six and losing two. In 1952, the 63-year-old Espinosa served as the 13th president of the National Committee of Referees during a brief interlude between

Pedro Escartín Pedro Escartín Morán (8 August 1902 – 21 May 1998) was a Spanish football player, referee, coach, journalist and author. He was an international referee from 1928 to 1948, and a member of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for 27 years. He als ...

and the return of

Eulogio Aranguren Eulogio Aranguren Labairu (27 July 1892 – 19 October 1972) was an Argentine footballer who spent his youth in Basque Country. He was a midfielder and played most of his career for Real Madrid CF. He was the elder brother of Sotero Aranguren ...

Death

Espinosa died on 30 April 1970, at the age of 81.

Honours

; RS Gimnástica * Centro Championship: **Champions (2): 1910–11 and 1913–14 *

: **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 ...

;

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

* Centro Championship: **Champions (2): 1915–16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinosa, Arturo 1889 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Madrid Spanish men's footballers Spanish football referees Men's association football defenders Real Madrid CF players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen