Ricardo Alós Bailach (11 October 1931 – 14 January 2024), sometimes known as just Ricardo, was a Spanish professional

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 ...

. A prolific goalscorer, he is best known for winning the 1957–58

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...

in a three-way tie.

Club career

Alós began his senior career in 1952 with the reserves of his local side,

Valencia Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in , holding home games at '' Ciud ...

. In the 1956-57 season, he moved to

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *BFA Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Real Sporti ...

in the

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 ...

and scored 46 goals in the season winning the Pichichi Segunda División, and setting the all-time record for goals scored in a season in that division. His strong season with Sporting Gijón earned him a move to the senior

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

side in

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 ...

, and in his debut season he scored 19 goals; he earned the Pichichi Trophy that season, in a three-way tie with

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond A ...

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 ...

and

Manuel Badenes Manuel Badenes Calduch (31 October 1928 – 26 November 2007) was a Spanish footballer, who played as a forward for clubs such as FC Barcelona and Valencia CF. Club career Badenes started his career at CD Castellón. His first season at the ...

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

. After Valencia, he moved to

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 ...

in 1960 in the Segunda División where he played inconsistently, although they won the

1962–63 Segunda División The 1962–63 Segunda División season was the 32nd since its establishment and was played between 16 September 1962 and 21 April 1963. Overview before the season 32 teams joined the league, including 4 relegated from the 1961–62 La Liga and 5 ...

. He played his final year with

Ontinyent Ontinyent is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Vall d'Albaida, Valencian Community, Spain. It is situated on the banks of the Clariano River, a tributary of the Xúquer, and on the Xàtiva–Alcoi railway. Ontinyent is near the Sierra d ...

, retiring in 1964.

International career

Alós played one match for the Spain B national team in 1958, in the

1953–58 Mediterranean Cup The 1953–58 Mediterranean Cup was the third and last championship of the Mediterranean Cup (men's football), Mediterranean Cup, which is a association football, football competition contested by List of men's national association football teams, ...

Death

Alós died on 14 January 2024, at the age of 92.

Honours

Valencia Mestalla *

: 1956–57 Real Murcia *

: 1962–63 Individual * Pichichi Segunda División: 1956–1957 *

: 1957–58

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alos, Ricardo 1931 births 2024 deaths People from Horta Nord Footballers from the Province of Valencia Spanish men's footballers Spain men's B international footballers Men's association football forwards Pichichi Trophy winners La Liga players Segunda División players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Sporting de Gijón players Valencia CF players Real Murcia CF players Ontinyent CF players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen