Josep Samitier
Samitier in 1928
Personal information
Full name José Enrique Ignacio Samitier Vilalta[1]
Date of birth (1902-02-02)2 February 1902
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Date of death 4 May 1972(1972-05-04) (aged 70)
Place of death Barcelona, Spain
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1914–1916 Internacional
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1917–1919 FC Internacional 18 (1)
1919–1932 Barcelona 174 (133)
1932–1934 Real Madrid 14 (7)
1936–1939 Nice 48 (21)
International career
1920–1936 Catalan XI 26 (20)
1920–1931 Spain 21 (2)
Managerial career
1936 Atlético Madrid
1942 Nice
1944–1947 Barcelona
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1920 Antwerp Team competition

Josep Samitier Vilalta (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛp səmitiˈe]; 2 February 1902[2] – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, the Catalan XI, and Spain. He later coached Atlético Madrid, Nice and Barcelona and worked as a scout for both Barcelona and Real Madrid.

During his playing career with Barcelona, Samitier scored 187 official goals and was the club's all-time highest goalscorer at the time of his retirement. As of 2020, he is the club's fifth all-time top goalscorer behind Luis Suárez, László Kubala, César, and Lionel Messi. As a player, Samitier pioneered the midfield general role and was nicknamed Surrealista (The Surrealist) and Home Magosta (The Grasshopper Man)[3] due to his style.

As a manager, he led Barcelona to a title in La Liga in 1945, and as a scout he recruited another Barcelona legend, László Kubala. However, Samitier was later accused of acting as a double agent when the club tried to sign Alfredo Di Stéfano, and in the 1960s, he fell out with Helenio Herrera and went to work for Real Madrid. Despite his role in the Di Stéfano affair,[3] twice defecting to Real Madrid, and his friendship with Francisco Franco,[3] Samitier remained a legendary figure of FC Barcelona. When he died in 1972, he was given a state funeral and a street that leads to Camp Nou.[3]

Club career

Early life

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Samitier played as a junior for FC Internacional before, at the age of 17, he made his debut for FC Barcelona in 1919. As his signing-on bonus, he received a luminous watch and a three-piece suit. Among his teammates at the club was his childhood friend Sagibarba. During holidays at the Catalan resort of Cadaqués, Samitier and Sagibarba had played football with, among others, Salvador Dalí. He was also friends with the famous Spanish artist Salvador Dalí.[4]

FC Barcelona

By 1925 Samitier was the highest-paid player in Spain. He was a member of the legendary FC Barcelona team, coached by Jack Greenwell, that, apart from Sagibarba, also included Paulino Alcántara, Ricardo Zamora, Félix Sesúmaga and, later, Franz Platko. Between 1919 and 1933 he won twelve Campionat de Catalunya titles, five Copa del Rey and the very first La Liga title. Among the goals he scored were four in the Copa del Rey finals of 1922, 1925, 1926 and 1928.

Madrid CF

In 1933 an aging Samiter found himself in dispute with the FC Barcelona management and he was dropped from the first team. Real Madrid, then known as Madrid CF, were quick to take advantage of the situation. Samitier was reunited with both his friend Ricardo Zamora and then Francisco Bru. Although his career with the Madrid club was short, he did help them win a title in La Liga 1932–33 and the Copa de España in 1934.

Samitier Tribute

The tribute match to Samitier was held on 13 May 1934 at Estadio Chamartín in Madrid, between Madrid FC and Espanyol, and Samitier scored both the first and the last goals of an 8–2 win. Other Madrid goalscorers include the likes of Eugenio, Hilario, Luis Regueiro and Lazcano, while José Padrón scored one of Espanyol's consolation goals.

Madrid: Zamora (Cayol 45´); Quesada, Maciá, P. Regueiro (Sauto), Bonet, Gurruchaga, (Valle 45´), Lazcano, L. Regueiro (Olivares 45´) Samitier, Hilario and Eugenio.

Espanyol: Martorell (Eizaguirre 45´); Mas, Pérez, Cifuentes, Solé (Antero 45´), Cristià, Prats, Edelmiro, Iriondo, Padrón and Bosch.

Exile in France

In 1936 Samitier made a brief start to his career as a coach. He succeeded Fred Pentland at Atlético Madrid in the middle of the season, but failed to prevent them from being relegated. However, Samitier's new career and Atlético's relegation were postponed with the start of the Spanish Civil War. He found himself arrested by an anarchist militia, but was eventually released and left for France on a warship. His escape was later used by the Nationalist side in an account printed in Marca. In October 1936 he joined OGC Nice as a player, where he was reunited once again with Ricardo Zamora. He subsequently scored 21 goals in 48 matches for the French team.[5] He eventually retired as a player in 1939 and was briefly coach at OGC Nice in 1942.

Return to Barcelona

Samitier returned to Spain and became manager of CF Barcelona in 1944. In 1945 he guided them to only their second ever La Liga title. Then they beat the Copa del Generalísimo winners Atlético Bilbao to win the Copa de Oro Argentina. Samitier subsequently worked as the clubs chief scout and was instrumental in the recruitment of another CF Barcelona legend Ladislao Kubala.

In the summer of 1950 Kubala arrived in Spain with his own team, Hungaria. The team was made up of fellow refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. They played a series of friendlies against a Madrid Select XI, a Spain XI and RCD Español. During these games, Kubala was spotted by both Real Madrid and Samitier. Kubala was offered a contract by Real but was then persuaded by Samitier to sign for CF Barcelona. It has been suggested that Samitier used his connections within Francoist Spain to help arrange the transfer. In the midst of the Cold War, Kubala's escape to the West was used by Francoist Spain and was made into a film The Stars Search for Peace which saw Kubala and Samitier playing themselves.

International career

In 1920, together with Ricardo Zamora, Félix Sesúmaga, Pichichi and José María Belauste, Samitier was a member of the first ever Spanish national squad. The squad, coached by Francisco Bru, won the silver medal at the 1920 Olympic Games.[6] He subsequently made 21 appearances and scored 2 goals for Spain.[1]

Samitier also played 26 games and scored at least 20 goals for the Catalan XI. However, records from the era do not always include accurate statistics and he may have played and scored more. Together with Paulino Alcántara, Sagibarba and Zamora, he helped the Catalan XI win the Prince of Asturias Cup twice in the 1920s, winning the inter-regional competition in 1923–24 and 1926. In the 1924 final, he scored twice in a 4–4 draw against Castile/Madrid XI and scored again in the replay as the Catalan team won 3–2.[7] Catalonia faced Czechoslovakia twice in 1925 and 1926, and Samitier managed to score in both games, a 2–1 win and a 2–1 defeat, respecteviely.[8][9] His last game for the Catalan XI was his own testimonial on 19 January 1936 at the Les Corts. He scored in a 1–1 draw with SK Sidenice of Czechoslovakia.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Regional Friendly Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Internacional 1916–17 La Liga 00005050
1917–18 00004040
1918–19 00009191
Total 0000181181
FC Barcelona 1918–19 La Liga 0000001111
1919–20 0030100302432
1920–21 0000121330451
1921–22 00527037224924
1922–23 000010048215821
1923–24 0075101427414460
1924–25 00810121017123732
1925–26 0048107632117
1926–27 0073142125234647
1927–28 001521101610133550
1928–29 1377442643017
1929–30 239792882820
1930–31 10324512192026
1931–32 1211711214523628
1932–33 0000610431013
1934–35 0000001212
1935–36 0000001313
Total 28217363130102271179504365
Real Madrid CF 1932–33 La Liga 630063
1933–34 218553159
Total 8485532112
Career total 36258168153106271179543378

International

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Samitier goal.
List of international goals scored by Josep Samitier[1]
No. Date Venue Appearance Opponent Score Result Competition
121 December 1924Camp de Les Corts, Barcelona, Spain11 Austria2–12–1Friendly
213 December 1931Dalymount Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland21 Republic of Ireland4–05–0

Honours

Player

Club

FC Barcelona

Madrid CF

International

Spain

Catalan XI

Manager

CF Barcelona

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 "José Samitier, international footballer". eu-football.info. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  2. ↑ "Registro de nacimientos 1902" (PDF). Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Das, Srijandeep (28 November 2017). "Salvador Dali's Favourite Footballer – Surrealista, Josep Samitier". Football Paradise. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  4. ↑ Martín Otín, José Antonio (2011). "Un tanguito de arrabal". El fútbol tiene música. Córner. ISBN 978-8415242000.
  5. ↑ "La fiche de Josep Samitier". OGC Nice (in French).
  6. ↑ "Josep Samitier". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  7. ↑ Vicente Martínez Calatrava (17 August 2009). "La Copa Príncipe de Asturias" [The Prince of Asturias Cup] (in Spanish). CIHEFE. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "Cataluna batió Praga por 2 goals a 1" [Catalonia beat Prague 2–1]. hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com (in Spanish). Hemeroteca. 14 December 1925. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  9. ↑ "Praga batió Cataluna por 2 goals a 1 ayer" [Prague beat Catalonia 2–1 yesterday]. hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com (in Spanish). Hemeroteca. 8 July 1926. Retrieved 24 June 2022.

References

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