Martí Ventolrà Fort (16 December 1906 — 5 June 1977) was a former

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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 ...

. He formed part of the forward set up of

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 ...

which also included Raich, Escolà, Fernandez and Munlloch. He represented

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 ...

at the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, senior men's national teams. It took place in Kin ...

Career

Born 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 ...

, Ventolrà began playing youth football with local sides Fortpienc and Catalunya de Les Cortes. His first senior contract was with

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 ...

, and Ventolrà made his competitive debut for the club in 1925. He played for Espanyol through the

1929–30 La Liga The 1929–30 Primera División season started 1 December 1929, and finished 30 March 1930. A total of 10 teams contested the league, where Barcelona were the defending champions. As different from the previous season, the last qualified team wa ...

season, winning the

1928–29 Copa del Rey The King Alfonso XIII's Cup 1928–29 was the 29th staging of the Copa del Rey, the Spanish football cup competition. The competition started on December 8, 1928, and concluded on February 3, 1929, with the final, held at the Estadio Mestalla in ...

during his time with the club. A spell with

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

followed, and then Ventolrà joined his hometown's club

. He won the Campionat de Catalunya twice with Barcelona, and scored 31 goals in 58

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 ...

matches, including scoring four goals against

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 ...

on 21 April 1935. In 1937, Ventolrà emigrated to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

during 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 is the father of the Mexican footballer José Vantolrá.

Personal

While he was playing football in Mexico, Ventolrà married Josefina Rangel Cárdenas, the niece of Mexico's President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

. They had four children, Martín,

Pepe Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish and Portuguese name José (Joseph). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms *Pepe (footballer, born 1935), Brazilian footballer José Macia *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian-born Portuguese footballer ...

, Guadelupe and Jorge. Martín and Pepe were professional footballers who played for Deportivo Toluca F.C., and Pepe played for Mexico at the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...

finals. Ventolrà's brother Josep was also a footballer who played for FC Barcelona.

References

External links

* *
Martí Ventolrà at camisetasclubes.comStats at LFPProfile
1906 births 1977 deaths Spain men's international footballers La Liga players Liga MX players FC Barcelona players Sevilla FC players RCD Espanyol footballers Atlante F.C. footballers Naturalized citizens of Mexico 1934 FIFA World Cup players Spanish emigrants to Mexico Footballers from Barcelona Real Club España footballers Men's association football midfielders Spanish men's footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico 20th-century Spanish sportsmen {{spain-footy-midfielder-stub