Ramón Colón Acevedo (22 March 1916 – 1999) 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

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. He later became a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, taking charge over Atlético Madrid,

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

, and

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

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 ...

on 22 March 1916, Colón began playing football at his hometown club in Imperio CF in 1939, which at the time served as a subsidiary of Atlético Madrid, then known as Atlético Aviación, which signed him in 1940. He remained with the club for three seasons, playing a total of eight

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, and winning one league title in 1940–41 and the

1941–47 FEF President Cup The 1941–47 FEF President Cup () was a football competition organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), who donated the trophy and organized the tournament. The tournament was held between 6 April and 4 May 1941, but one last match ...

, in which he played in only one match, a 2–0 loss to

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 ...

. In June 1941, he started for Aviación in both legs of the final of the '' 1940–41 Copa Presidente Federación Castellana'' against Real Madrid, which ended in a 3–1 victory on aggregate. Colón then played for

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

and

Chamberí Chamberí is a district of 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 ...

FC before retiring in the late 1940s.

Managerial career

After his career as a player ended, Colón remained linked to Atlético, now as a coach of the amateur and youth teams for several years, with which he was proclaimed champion of Spain. In January 1953, he was promoted to the first team to replace

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentina, Argentine and naturalised France, French association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He is best remembered for his success ...

when he was dismissed. He was dismissed at the start of the 1953–54 campaign after only five days, and in the following summer, he joined Real Murcia. Knowing like few others about the Madrid football academy, Colón brought with him two kids with huge potential, the 18-year-old

Joaquín Peiró Joaquín Peiró Lucas (29 January 1936 – 18 March 2020) was a Spanish football attacking midfielder and manager. After excelling at Atlético Madrid – where he would start and end his professional career, amassing La Liga totals of 166 game ...

and the 20-year-old

Enrique Collar Enrique Collar Monterrubio (born 2 November 1934) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He earned 16 caps and scored 4 goals for the Spain national football team from 1955 to 1963. He played in the 1962 FIFA Wo ...

. The latter was claimed in the middle of the season by his parent club, but Colón pulled another one from Real Madrid,

Ramón Marsal Ramón Marsal Ribó (12 December 1934 – 22 January 2007) was a Spanish footballer, who played three seasons in the dominating Real Madrid team in the 1950s. His career came to an early end due to an injury.

, thus forming a team with which he achieved promotion to the First Division in the 1954–55 season, with the journalist

Juan Antonio Calvo Juan Antonio Calvo Carazo (22 August 1948 – 3 June 2020) was a Spanish sports journalist who co-founded ''Don Balón'' in 1975. Early life and education Juan Antonio Calvo was born on 22 August 1948 in the Valladolid town of Nava del Rey, but h ...

, the head of the sports section of the ''La Verdad'' newspaper stating that "of the eleven times that Murcia has risen to the First Division, it has never done so with such little suffering and as much anticipation as the one that has just occurred". Colón later coached

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

(1955–56), Rayo Vallecano (1956–58 and 1959–61),

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

(1958–59), and

(1963–64). He was also a youth coach of both and the National team.

Death

Ramón Colón died in 1999, at the age of either 82 or 83.

Honours

Player

;Atlético Madrid * FEF President Cup: **Champions (1): 1941–47 *

: **Champions (1): 1940–41 * ''Copa Presidente Federación Castellana'': **Champions (1): 1940–41

Coach

;Real Murcia *

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 ...

: **Champions (1): 1954–55

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colón, Ramón 1916 births 1999 deaths Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Footballers from Madrid La Liga players Segunda División players Atlético Madrid footballers Deportivo de La Coruña players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Atlético Madrid managers Real Murcia CF managers CD Málaga managers Rayo Vallecano managers CD Badajoz managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen