| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Manuel Fernández de Valderrama Tejedor | ||
| Date of birth | (1904-07-29)29 July 1904 | ||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||
| Date of death | Unknown | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1920–1923 | Recreativo Español | ||
| 1923–1924 | Real Madrid | ||
| 1924–1930 | Racing de Madrid | ||
| 1928 | →Celta de Vigo (on loan) | ||
| 1930–1931 | Real Madrid | ||
| 1932–1933 | Atlético Madrid | ||
| 1934–1936 | AD Ferroviaria | ||
| International career | |||
| 1923 | Madrid | 1 | (0) |
| 1927 | Spain | 1 | (0) |
| 1927 | Spain B | 1 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1939–1940 | Recreativo Granada | ||
| 1940–1941 | Cádiz CF | ||
| 1947–1948 | Granada CF | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Manuel Fernández de Valderrama Tejedor (29 July 1904 - Unknown) was a Spanishfootballer who played as amidfielder[1] and later amanager.[2] He represented the three biggest Madrid teams of the 1920s and 30s,Real Madrid,Atlético Madrid andRacing de Madrid, and also earned one cap for Spain in 1927.[3][4]
Valderrama was born on 29 July 1904[a] inMadrid, nearParque del Retiro, and it was there, inLa Chopera, in 1919, where he began playing football.[5]
Valderrama was an excellent dribbler and finished with both legs and his head, thus everyone wanted to have him as a partner everySunday when they split up to play a match.[5] He was a phenomenon since he was little and continued to be one when he grew up, having the intelligence to perform several tricks along with an impeccable header.[5] His first team wasPatria Balompie, but where he began to play seriously was atRecreativo Español.[5][6] While there, he met two other excellent footballers who would later be his teammates in Madrid: the left defenderFélix Quesada and the left interiorFélix Pérez.[5]
After a time at Recreativo, Valderrama signed for Real Madrid ahead of the 1923–24 season, helping the club to win theregional championship with one goal in five matches,[7] thus qualifying for the1924 Copa del Rey, where he scored 3 goals in six matches[7] to help the club reach thefinal, which they lost 0–1 toReal Unión, courtesy of a goal fromJosé Echeveste.[5][8] Even though he played several games, Valderrama considered himselfSantiago Bernabéu's substitute and decided to leave the club at the end of the season, moving toRacing de Madrid, for whom he played for 6 seasons until 1930.[5]
In thesummer of 1928, Valderrama briefly joinedCelta de Vigo to take part in its trip toSouth America alongside other reinforcements fromDeportivo,Racing de Ferrol, andSevilla FC among others.[6] Celta played threefriendlies inBuenos Aires, two in Uruguay, and one inRosario, losing all of them sept for one in the Argentina capital, with Valderrama attributed their failure in America to the injuries suffered by several players in the first games in Buenos Aires, withIsidro,Luis Pasarín, and himself being forced to stop playing in some games.[6] Even so, he had time to recognize the value of Argentine and Uruguayan football, surprised by the speed with which the forwards developed, and that they were also great kickers.[6] Some players did not return on the "Weser" ship that brought Celta back, including Valderrama, who along with Cárdenes, Espinosa, andEsteban Eguía stopped in theport of Tenerife to spend a few days on vacation.[6] He arrived in Celta not only quite tired from the American tour, but also affected by the minor injuries suffered in the friendlies played on American soil.[6]
After his negative experience on that tour with Celta, he assured that he would renew his contract with Racing Madrid, which he finally ended up doing after his well-deserved vacation in theCanary Islands, but as a result of his travels, he began enjoying a more languid life in "a beach with a palm tree and a seagull".[6] This inevitably led to some problems with the board of Racing due to financial issues and some statements made to the press, so he was disqualified for two years.[5] WhenGaspar Rubio left unexpectedly forHavana, Real Madrid found itself without a center forward. Their subsequent efforts in theRoyal Spanish Football Federation caused the punishment to be lifted and so he returned to the white team.[5] However, his spell there only lasted a single season once again with Valderrama participating in only two league games of the1930–31 season, againstAthletic Bilbao andReal Sociedad on 22 and 29 March and even scoring once against the former.[6][7] In total, he played 16 matches for the club.[9] He ended up without a club for the 1931–32 season before being rescued byAtlético Madrid for 1932–33, which at the time was in theSegunda División.[6][10]
In 1936, Valderrama then moved toAD Ferroviaria, where his career was cut short by a meniscus tear and theSpanish Civil War.[6] In the postwar period, he had a dairy and a billiards and spent a lot of money betting in pools.[6]
Like most Real Madrid players of that time, Valderrama was summoned to play for theMadrid national team, and he was part of the team that reached thefinal of the1923–24 Prince of Asturias Cup, an inter-regionalcompetition organized by theRFEF,[11] although he only played in the quarter-finals againstGalicia, which his side won 1–0 thanks to an early goal fromAntonio De Miguel.[12]
Valderrama earned one internationalcap for both theSpanish A team and for theB side, both in 1927. His cap for the main side was held atEl Sardinero on 17 April 1927, in a friendly againstSwitzerland which ended in a 1–0 win, courtesy of a goal fromÓscar.[3] On the other hand, his cap for the B side was held at theMetropolitano on 29 May 1927, in a friendly against thePortugal A side, and Valderrama scored in a 2-0 win.[13]
After he retired in the mid-1930s, Valderrama became a manager, taking charge over the likes ofCádiz CF andGranada CF in the 1940s.[2][14]
Valderrama was an adventurer, a guy who liked to travel and learn about other cultures.[6] On an exhibition trip toMexico and theUnited States, he met Spaniards working inHollywood, dubbing and re-filming films in Spanish, such asEdgar Neville andDolores del Río, and decided to stay for a while.[6] There he became friends with people likeStan Lauren andOliver Hardy.[6]
The date of his death is unknown, but he died at some point in the 1980s.[6]