Joaquín García Cenarro (1875 – 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

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

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 ...

and Club Español (now known as

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 ...

). Although little has been recorded of his life, he was one of the most prominent footballers in the

Copa Macaya The Hispania Athletic Club Tournament–Alfonso Macaya Cup, popularly known as the Copa Macaya, was a Association football, football competition contested by clubs from Catalonia which ran from 1900 until 1903, disappearing at the same time of its ...

, the first football championship played on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, winning the competition with both Barça ( 1901–02) and Espanyol ( 1902–03).

Club career

García was introduced to football during his time as a student in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. While there, he developed a deep interest in football and began playing it in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. At the age of 26, García returned to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and settled in

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 ...

, where he decided to continue his love of football and joined the city's main club,

, in 1901. Together with

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Joan Gamper Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably Barcelona and Zürich. ...

, Udo Steinberg and

Gustavo Green Gustavo Gren Córdoba (10 May 1880 – 9 November 1965), better known as Gustavo Green, was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol. After spending his ...

, he played a pivotal role in helping Barça win the 1901–02 Copa Macaya, which was the club's first-ever piece of silverware, netting 5 goals including back-to-back braces against Club University and his future club RCD Espanyol. The following season, he was recruited by Club Español where he spent two seasons. In his first season at the club, together with René Fenouillière,

Ángel Ponz Ángel Ponz Junyent (1883 – 20 August 1936) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Club Español (now known as RCD Espanyol). Although little has been recorded of his life, he was one of the most important footballers in the ama ...

, and Gustavo Green, he managed to win the third and last Copa Macaya, which means that he won two back-to-back championships in a row with different teams. Together with Joaquim Escardó, Ángel Rodríguez, and Green, he was part of the team that won the first edition of the Campionat de Catalunya in 1903–04.

International career

In 1903, García played three friendly matches between teams made up of the best players in Barcelona, the first at Muntaner on 21 May, the second on 8 September, scoring once for the Reds in 3–4 loss to the Whites, and the third on 24 September, a test match between two "Barcelona teams" that was meant to decide who would integrate the first selection of the Catalan national team the following year. On 13 April 1904, García made his debut for Catalan national team, only its second-ever match, which ended in a 2–3 loss to Sportsmen's Club. In the following month, on 29 May, García played for Espanyol against Catalonia, scoring once in a 4–1 victory; this was his farewell match as he then went on to live in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Later life

On 29 October 1917, García arrived in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from Brest,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The date of his death is unknown.

Honours

''FC Barcelona'' *

: **Winners (1) 1901–02 ''RCD Espanyol'' *

: **Winners (1) 1902–03 * Catalan Championships: **Winners (1) 1903–04

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:García, Joaquín 1875 births Year of death missing Footballers from Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards FC Barcelona players RCD Espanyol footballers