Joaquín Jiménez Postigo, better known as Joaquín (18 April 1918 – 6 October 2005), 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 Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

and

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. He is the only footballer to have won La Liga with Betis and Sevilla. He is also considered one of the best full-backs of the Seville.

Early life

Born on 18 April 1918 in

Alcalá de Guadaíra Alcalá de Guadaíra () is a town located approximately 17 km southeast of Seville, Spain, Seville, Spain; in recent years the expansion of Seville has meant that Alcalá has become a suburb of that city. Alcalá used to be known as ''Alcal� ...

, Joaquín spent his childhood in the San Juan mill, which his family ran on the banks of the

Guadaíra The Guadaíra is a river that runs through the province of Seville, in Andalusia, southern Spain. Its name contains the same ''guad'' root as the much larger Río Guadalquivir, coming from the Arabic word ''wadi'' (), meaning "river valley". The ...

river.

Playing career

Joaquín began his football career at his hometown team ''Once Diablos'', where he quickly stood out from the rest, thus being signed by Betis, making his debut on 8 December 1934, aged 16, 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 Xerez, which ended in a 4–0 loss. He went on to play several matches in 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 ...

, and even though he never made his league debut due to his young age, and also because no substitutions were not allowed at the time, Joaquín is nonetheless considered one of the winners of the

1934–35 La Liga The 1934–35 season of La Liga began on 2 December 1934 and finished on 28 April 1935. It was won by Betis for the first and to date only time. It was also the first time Sevilla, Betis' cross-city rival participated. Team information ...

title, the first (and only) league title in the history of Betis. Perhaps unsatisfied with his lack of playing time, and following the advice of his brother-in-law, Ángel Oliveros, he left Betis at the end of the season to join Sevilla FC in 1935, which paid off, since in his opening season, the 17-year-old Joaquín played in all the matches of the league. Joaquín remained loyal to the club for 15 years, from 1935 until 1950, always featuring as a starter for the first time. Together with Diego Villalonga and

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

José María Busto José María Busto Llano (12 November 1923 – 27 May 2012), was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla FC, Sevilla in the 1940s and 1950s. He is wid ...

, he was a member of one of the best defensive lines in the entire history of the club, which was the driving force behind the Sevilla team that won the last three editions of the Andalusian championship (1935–36, 1938–39, and 1939–40), and two

titles in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

and

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

; he did not start in the former final against

Racing de Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol, commonly known as Racing de Ferrol, is a Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in , holding home games at '' E ...

due to an untimely injury against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

in the semifinals, but he later redeemed himself by starting as the

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 ...

in the 1948 final at Chamartín, where he helped his side to a 4–1 win over

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

before lifting the trophy. In the league, Seville were runners-up twice ( 1939–40 and 1942–43) before finally winning it in 1945–46, where he was once again fundamental as he played every minute of the competition. The title was only decided on the last matchday of the league, against

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 ...

at Les Corts, with Joaquín helping his team to held Barça to a 1–1 draw. In doing so, he became the first footballer to have won La Liga with Betis and Sevilla, a feat that is still unmatched. In total, Joaquín scored 1 goal in 234 La Liga matches, and overall, he played 280 official matches for Seville, an impressive tally for a time when the league only had 26 matches, not to mention the three-year hiatus caused by the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. He was called up to the Spanish national team on several occasions, but he never had to chance to make his international debut. The local press sometimes recognized him as the right-back that "our team deserved", and the newspaper

Marca Marca may refer to: Places * Marca, Sălaj, a commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Marca, a tributary of the Barcău in Sălaj County, Romania * an alternative name for Merca, Somalia * Marca District, in the province Recuay, Peru * Marçà, a vil ...

once described him as "the best defender in Spain" in 1946.

Managerial career

After his career as a player ended, Joaquín remained closely linked to Sevilla, accepting the club's offer to be the second coach as well as the team's physical trainer, and in that first year, the club also registered him as a player in case of an emergency, which did not happen. He remained as assistant coach for eleven years, from 1950 until 1961, when he decided to leave the position due to ethical reasons, as his nephew Ángel Oliveros had just arrived in the first team. In total, he remained linked to Sevilla for 20 consecutive seasons.

Death

Joaquín died on 6 October 2005, at the age of 87.

Honours

;Real Betis *

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 ...

**Champions (1): 1934–35 ;Sevilla FC * Andalusian championship: **Champions (3): 1936, 1939, and 1940 *

**Champions (1): 1945–46 **Runner-up (2): 1939–40 and 1942–43 *

: **Champions (2):

and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiménez, Joaquín 1918 births 2005 deaths Footballers from Seville Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Real Betis players Sevilla FC players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen