 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 | 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) |
| Total | 254 | (162) | |
| 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'sfootball | ||
Representing Spain | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 | 1920 Antwerp | Team competition |
Josep Samitier Vilalta (Catalan pronunciation:[ʒuˈzɛpsəmitiˈe]; 2 February 1902[2] – 4 May 1972), also known asJosé Samitier, was a Spanishfootball player, manager and scout who played as amidfielder forFC Barcelona,Real Madrid,OGC Nice, theCatalan XI, andSpain. He later coachedAtlético 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 behindLuis Suárez,László Kubala,César, andLionel Messi. As a player, Samitier pioneered themidfield general role and was nicknamedSurrealista (The Surrealist) andHome Llagosta (The Grasshopper Man)[3] due to his style.
As a manager, he led Barcelona to a title inLa 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 signAlfredo Di Stéfano, and in the 1960s, he fell out withHelenio Herrera and went to work for Real Madrid. Despite his role in the Di Stéfano affair,[3] twice defecting toReal Madrid, and his friendship withFrancisco Franco,[3] Samitier remained a legendary figure of FC Barcelona.[citation needed] When he died in 1972, he was given a state funeral and a street that leads toCamp Nou.[3]
Born inBarcelona,Catalonia, Samitier played as a junior for FC Internacional before, at the age of 17, he made his debut forFC 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 friendSagibarba. During holidays at the Catalan resort ofCadaqués, Samitier and Sagibarba had played football with, among others,Salvador Dalí. He was also friends with the famous Spanish artist Salvador Dalí.[4]
By 1925 Samitier was the highest-paid player inSpain. He was a member of the legendaryFC Barcelona team, coached byJack Greenwell, that, apart from Sagibarba, also includedPaulino Alcántara,Ricardo Zamora,Félix Sesúmaga and, later,Franz Platko. Between 1919 and 1933 he won twelveCampionat de Catalunya titles, fiveCopa del Rey and the very firstLa Liga title. Among the goals he scored were four in theCopa del Rey finals of 1922, 1925, 1926 and 1928.
In 1933 an aging Samiter found himself in dispute with theFC Barcelona management and he was dropped from the first team.Real Madrid, then known asMadrid CF, were quick to take advantage of the situation. Samitier was reunited with both his friendRicardo Zamora and thenFrancisco Bru. Although his career with the Madrid club was short, he did help them win a title inLa Liga 1932–33 and theCopa de España in 1934.
The tribute match to Samitier was held on 13 May 1934 atEstadio Chamartín inMadrid, between Madrid FC andEspanyol, and Samitier scored both the first and the last goals of an 8–2 win. Other Madrid goalscorers include the likes ofEugenio,Hilario,Luis Regueiro andLazcano, whileJosé 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 andEugenio.
Espanyol:Martorell (Eizaguirre 45´);Mas, Pérez,Cifuentes,Solé (Antero 45´),Cristià,Prats,Edelmiro,Iriondo,Padrón andBosch.
In 1936 Samitier made a brief start to his career as a coach. He succeededFred Pentland atAtlético 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 theSpanish Civil War. He found himself arrested by ananarchistmilitia, but was eventually released and left forFrance on a warship. Hisescape was later used by theNationalist side in an account printed inMarca. In October 1936 he joinedOGC Nice as a player, where he was reunited once again withRicardo 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 atOGC Nice in 1942.
Samitier returned toSpain and became manager ofCF Barcelona in 1944. In1945 he guided them to only their second everLa Liga title. Then they beat theCopa del Generalísimo winnersAtlético Bilbao to win theCopa de Oro Argentina. Samitier subsequently worked as the clubschief scout and was instrumental in the recruitment of anotherCF Barcelona legendLadislao Kubala.
In the summer of 1950 Kubala arrived inSpain with his own team,Hungaria. The team was made up of fellow refugees fleeingEastern Europe. They played a series of friendlies against aMadrid Select XI, aSpain XI andRCD Español. During these games, Kubala was spotted by bothReal 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 withinFrancoist Spain to help arrange the transfer. In the midst of theCold War, Kubala's escape to the West was used byFrancoist Spain and was made into a filmThe Stars Search for Peace which saw Kubala and Samitier playing themselves.
In 1920, together withRicardo Zamora,Félix Sesúmaga,Pichichi andJosé María Belauste, Samitier was a member of the first everSpain national team. The squad, coached byFrancisco Bru, won the silver medal at the1920 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 theCatalan XI.[citation needed] However, records from the era do not always include accurate statistics and he may have played and scored more. Together withPaulino Alcántara,Sagibarba and Zamora, he helped the Catalan XI win thePrince of Asturias Cup twice in the 1920s, winning the inter-regional competition in1923–24 and1926. In the1924 final, he scored twice in a 4–4 draw againstCastile/Madrid XI and scored again in the replay as the Catalan team won 3–2.[7] Catalonia facedCzechoslovakia 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 theLes Corts. He scored in a 1–1 draw with SK Sidenice ofCzechoslovakia.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Regional | Friendly | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Internacional | 1916–17 | La Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1917–18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 1918–19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 18 | 1 | ||||
| FC Barcelona | 1918–19 | La Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1919–20 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 43 | 2 | ||
| 1920–21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 45 | 1 | ||
| 1921–22 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 37 | 22 | 49 | 24 | ||
| 1922–23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 48 | 21 | 58 | 21 | ||
| 1923–24 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 44 | 60 | ||
| 1924–25 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 12 | 37 | 32 | ||
| 1925–26 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 17 | ||
| 1926–27 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 21 | 25 | 23 | 46 | 47 | ||
| 1927–28 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 21 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 35 | 50 | ||
| 1928–29 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 17 | ||
| 1929–30 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 28 | 20 | ||
| 1930–31 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 20 | 26 | ||
| 1931–32 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 36 | 28 | ||
| 1932–33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 13 | ||
| 1934–35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1935–36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Total | 28 | 21 | 73 | 63 | 130 | 102 | 271 | 179 | 504 | 365 | ||
| Real Madrid CF | 1932–33 | La Liga | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | ||||
| 1933–34 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 9 | ||||
| Total | 8 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 12 | ||||
| Career total | 36 | 25 | 81 | 68 | 153 | 106 | 271 | 179 | 543 | 378 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Appearance | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 December 1924 | Camp de Les Corts,Barcelona, Spain | 11 |  Austria | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 13 December 1931 | Dalymount Park,Dublin, Republic of Ireland | 21 |  Republic of Ireland | 4–0 | 5–0 |
FC Barcelona
Madrid CF
Spain
Catalan XI
CF Barcelona
Spain squads | |||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
