| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Rodríguez Aretio | ||
| Date of birth | (1922-07-10)10 July 1922 | ||
| Place of birth | Ferrol, Spain | ||
| Date of death | 24 September 1973(1973-09-24) (aged 51) | ||
| Place of death | A Coruña, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Racing de Ferrol | |||
| Pontevedra CF | |||
| Club Peñasco | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1943–1949 | Celta de Vigo | ||
| 1949–1950 | FC Barcelona | ||
| 1950–1951 | Real Murcia CF | ||
| 1951–1953 | Sporting de Gijón | ||
| 1953–1954 | Celta de Vigo | ||
| 1955–1956 | Salgueiros | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1961–1962 | Celta de Vigo | ||
| 1963–1964 | Recreativo de Huelva | ||
| 1964–1966 | Melilla CF | ||
| 1966–1967 | Real Oviedo | ||
| 1972–1973 | Celta de Vigo | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Juan Rodríguez Aretio (10 July 1922 – 24 September 1973) was a Spanishfootballer who played as amidfielder for Spanish clubCelta de Vigo,[1]FC Barcelona,[2] andSporting de Gijón.[3][4] He was also amanager, taking charge of Celta de Vigo andRecreativo de Huelva.[5]
Juan Rodríguez Aretio was born inFerrol on 10 July 1922, and began playing football at his hometown clubRacing de Ferrol,Pontevedra CF, andClub Peñasco.[6]
After standing out in regional football, Aretio arrived at Celta in the 1943–44 season along withPahiño to sweeten the goodbye of two monsters:Nolete, who left football; andJuan del Pino, who signed forSabadell.[1] In their first year at the club, they formed a great attacking quintet made up of Roig,Miguel Muñoz, Pahiño, Aretio, andVázquez, which played a crucial role in taking Vigo out of theSegunda División.[1] In 1948, he was a member of the Vigo side that reached thefinal of the1948 Spanish Cup, which still is the club's onlyCopa del Rey final appearance, but they lost 1–4 toSevilla FC, courtesy of ahat-trick fromMariano Uceda.[7] In the late 1940s, Aretio began to fall apart as the exodus of stars from Celta began: Pahiño and Muñoz signed for Real Madrid, and a year later they were joined by Gabriel Alonso and Sobrado, while Roig retired from football.[1]
Aretio thus left Celta too in October 1949, and went toBarcelona, where he joined the ranks of FC Barcelona, who paid five hundred thousandpesetas for him.[1] At Barcelona, he did not lose his goal-scoring instinct, scoring 7 goals in 19 competitive matches, always accompanied in this aspect by Pahiño.[2] After playing for Barcelona, Murcia, and Sporting de Gijón, with whom he played twenty matches in 1951–52, and ten in 1952–53.[6] Aretio then returned to Celta in November 1953, but he was no longer the player who had left, and was released at the end of that season.[1] In total, he scored 63 goals in 148 matches for Celta.[1] He ended his career atSalgueiros of the Portuguese Second Division in 1955–56, at the age of 34.[2][6]
Aretio was the footballer with the sublime dribble and had prodigious and elegant ease with his header shots.[1]
After his career as a player ended, Aretio remained linked to Celta, now as a coach, which he oversaw in two stages (1961–62 and 1972–73).[1][5] The tremendous outcome of the latter season surpassed all the limits of the admiration that the Balaidos fans felt for Aretio.[1] Although Celta had a foot and a half in the Second Division, the outcome was only decided on the last matchday against Real Madrid, then coached by Miguel Muñoz, andown goals fromTouriño, Doblas and Jiménez, in a stadium where they say there was no room for even a pin, led Celta to salvation.[1] Once the fight was over, Aretio burst into tears hugging his beloved enemy Muñoz.[1]
This victory coincided with the 50th anniversary of the foundation of Celta Vigo, but Aretio was too sick to celebrate, since his perennial voice led him to an initial diagnosis of laryngeal cancer; later denied and displacing all fears to the lungs.[1] He also coached Turista, Racing de Ferrol (1960–61),Recreativo de Huelva (1963–64), Melilla, Oviedo (1966–67) Avilés, and Gran Peña Celtista (1973).[5][6]
Aretio died of lung cancer inA Coruña on 24 September 1973, at the age of, on the same day that two teams he had coached were going to face each other: Oviedo and Celta, and although Celta won 5–1, the bouquet of flowers that Oviedo had left on his grave before the game sowed desires for a draw within many Celta fans.[1][8]
A month later a well-deserved tribute match was played to honor his memory, with all the clubs providing their best men for the game while the Hotel Nice offered free accommodation to all of them.[1]