Bernardo Menéndez Galán (20 February 1889 – unknown) 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 defender for

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 ...

in the mid-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 ...

, being a co-founder of College of Referees of the Center, the first College of Referees in Spain.

Playing career

Bernardo Menéndez was born in

Avilés Avilés (Asturian and ;) is a town in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is, along with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main cities in the Principality of Asturias. The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, partially in a land that belonged ...

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 ...

, but it was in Madrid where he began his football career, joining the ranks of Real Madrid in 1907, and making his debut with the first team in a

friendly match 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 sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against Español de Madrid on 15 December 1907, which ended in a 2–2 draw. He had to wait nearly six years to make his official debut with the first team on 17 March 1913, in the semifinals of the

1913 Copa del Rey The 1913 Copa del Rey comprised two different competitions held the same year. Due to disagreements between the Federación Española de Clubs de Football (FECF), forerunner of the Royal Spanish Football Federation () and some clubs, in 1913 two pa ...

against

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 ...

, which ended in a 3–0 loss. Menéndez then made a further three official appearances for Madrid, all in the Madrid regional championship, although some sources state that he made a total of nine official appearances and won four regional titles along with two Copa del Reys. Outside football, he worked at ''Circulo Industrial''.

Refereeing career

Menéndez began his refereeing career when he was still an active player, which was normal at the time; for instance, on 12 May 1915, he refereed a match between the Basque Country and

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 ...

in the 1915 Prince of Asturias Cup, which ended in a 1–0 victory for the Basques, and two years later, on 10 May 1917, he refereed another Catalonia match in the Prince of Asturias Cup, but this time ending in their favour: 1–0 win over Cantabric. In 1914, Menéndez was among those who formed the College of Referees of the Central Regional Federation, which was the first College of Referees in Spain. Together with the likes of Manuel Prast, Alfonso Albéniz, and Julián Ruete, he was a member of the College's first constitution on 15 April 1914, but following the latter's resignation on 19 May, he was elected secretary. He then became one of the first category referees, and whose most important task was to referee the matches of the Madrid Championship, and if available, 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 ...

Later life

In late 1923, Menéndez, then a director of Madrid, together with

Pedro Parages Pedro Parages Diego-Madrazo (17 December 1883 – 15 February 1950) was a Franco-Spanish footballer, manager, and the 5th President of Real Madrid from July 1916 until 16 May 1926. During his mandate, Madrid FC received the Royal title (''Rea ...

José María Peña Anacleto José María Peña Salegui (9 April 1895 – 13 January 1989) was a Spanish professional football player and manager. Born in Las Arenas, he started playing football as a midfielder at Arenas Club de Getxo in 1913; teammates included ...

, and Carlos López Quesada, helped secure the required loan of 500,000 pesetas to build the

Estadio Chamartín Estadio Chamartín was a multi-use stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was initially used as the stadium of Real Madrid matches before the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium opened in 1947. The stadium held 22,500 people and was built in 1924. The stadium was ...

, which was inaugurated in May 1924, with the capacity for a crowd of 25,000 people.

Honours

;Real Madrid * Centro Championship: **Champions (3): 1915–16, 1916–17, 1917–18

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menéndez, Bernardo 1889 births Year of death missing Footballers from Asturias Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Real Madrid CF players Spanish football referees 20th-century Spanish sportsmen