 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Gaudencio Manuel Prats Guerendiaín | ||
| Date of birth | (1902-01-01)1 January 1902 | ||
| Place of birth | Portugalete, Spain | ||
| Date of death | 22 September 1976(1976-09-22) (aged 74) | ||
| Place of death | Baracaldo, Spain | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1919–1926 | Barakaldo | ||
| 1926–1927 | Real Murcia | ||
| 1927–1933 | Real Madrid | 49 | (1) |
| 1933–1935 | Alicante | ||
| 1935–1936 | Barakaldo | ||
| International career | |||
| 1927–1930 | Spain | 9 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1939–1941 | Stadium Club Avilesino | ||
| 1943–1944 | Indauchu | ||
| 1944–1945 | Constància | ||
| 1945–1947 | Barakaldo | ||
| 1948–1949 | Lucense | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gaudencio Manuel Prats Guerendiaín, better known asPachuco Prats (1 January 1902 – 22 September 1976), was a Spanishfootballer who played as amidfielder forReal Murcia andReal Madrid between 1927 and 1932. He also played nine matches for theSpanish national team between 1927 and 1930.
He later worked as amanager, taking charge of several Catalan teams in the 1940s.
Born on 1 January 1902 inPortugalete,Biscay, Prats began his football career atBarakaldo, with whom he was crowned interregional champion in 1919, aged 17, and with whom he played for seven years.[1] In 1926, he was signed by Real Murcia, who had been monitoring Catalan and Basque players from second-tier teams, as they were very competitive footballers and their salaries were affordable for the club.[2] He made his debut for Murcia in afriendly match againstLevante on 30 June 1926, in which he delivered a performance that convinced Murcia to begin the formalization process of his signing.[2]
Prats quickly established himself as the club's best player, with the chroniclers highlighting his performance in every Murcia game.[2] On 27 March 1927, in aCopa del Rey group stage match againstFC Barcelona, he accomplished his task of marking the greatJosep Samitier,[3] who was so impressed by his tenacity and relentless pursuit of the ball that he told the national coaches about him, and thus, two weeks later, he was called up for the Spanish national team for the first time.[1] In doing so, he became the first-ever footballer belonging to a club from theRegion of Murcia to play for the Spanish national team, with his selection surprisinging many because, at the time, the national coaches would not take into account the players from teams in the south-east of the peninsula, with Spain being usually made up of players from Catalan and Basque clubs, and to a lower degree, players from clubs inMadrid,Galicia andAndalusia.[2]
In 1927, Murcia loaned Prats to Real Madrid for its tour of America, playing a total of 12 matches in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States,[1][4] most notably against theArgentine national team on 9 July, in which he successfully nullifiedRaimundo Orsi, who went on to score in the1934 FIFA World Cup final, in an eventual goalless draw.[4] As soon as he arrived in Murcia, Prats informed Murcia that he had reached an agreement with Madrid to sign for them, with Murcia achieving a profit of 17,000pesetas with the transfer.[1][4]
In his first season at the club, Prats helped Madrid win both theMadrid Regional Championship and the1927–28 Copa Federación Centro, starting in the latter's final againstAtlético Madrid (3–0).[5] The following season, on 10 February, he was one of the eleven footballers who played in Real's first-ever match in theSpanish top division, helping his side to a 5–0 win overCE Europa.[6] In the following matchday, he started in La Liga's first-everEl Clásico, helping his side to a 2–1 win over Barça.[7]
Together with the likes ofFélix Quesada,José María Peña,Jaime Lazcano, andGaspar Rubio, he was a member of the Madrid squad that reached back-to-back finals in theCopa del Rey in1929 and1930, both of which ending in losses toRCD Espanyol (2–1) andAthletic Bilbao (3–2).[8][9] In the1931–32 season, Prats played 14 league matches as Madrid won its first-ever La Liga title, finishing the league unbeaten.[10] Thefollowing season, Madrid won the league again, but this time, Prats did not play a single league match.[10][1] He stayed at Madrid for six years, from 1927 to 1933, scoring 1 goal in 117 official matches for Madrid,[10][11] including 1 goal in 50 La Liga matches,[10][12] 30 cup matches, and 37 in the regional championship.[10]
In 1931,Athletic Bilbao had shown interest in signing him, but the deal collapsed because Madrid asked for 40,000 pesetas for the transfer.[4] When he left the merengue club in 1933, Prats joinedAlicante CF, then in theTercera División, with whom he played for two seasons, until 1935, when he returned to Barakaldo.[13][4] Prats had an instant impact at Alicante, as the team was crowned champion of its group within one year of his arrival, but they ended up being knocked out from the promotion play-offs by Gerona.[4] Despte not being in good physical condition during his first matches back at Barakaldo, he soon began to stand out again, but his career was then cut short by the outbreak of theSpanish Civil War.[4]
On 17 April 1927, at the end of his first season with Murcia, the 25-year-old Prats made his international debut for Spain, a friendly againstSwitzerland inSantander, starting alongside four other debutants, including his former Barakaldo teammateLafuente; Spain won 1–0.[14][13][3] The following day, the Catalan press stated that "Prats was undoubtedly the best player in the midfield", with several other notable personality agreeing with this statement, such as the national coachesManuel de Castro,Ricardo Cabot, and even the secretary of theNational Committee of RefereesLuis Colina.[3] In the following month, in May, Prats made his second and third appearance for Spain, both friendlies, againstFrance andItaly, and on both matches he once again praised by the press, withMundo Deportivo stating that he was "the best player on the team, the most consistent, with great determination and effectiveness".[15]
During his time in Madrid, Prats played a further six matches for Spain, including in thefamous match againstEngland on 15 May 1929 at theEstadio Metropolitano, where he was one of the five Madrid players who helped Spain achieve a 4–3 victory, thus becoming the first team fromContinental Europe to defeat the English.[4][16][17] He earned his last internationalcaps for Spain on 30 November 1930, in a friendlyIberian derby againstPortugal, helping his side to a 1–0 win.[14][13][4]
When the Civil War ended in 1939, Prats was appointed as coach of the second division sideStadium Club Avilesino, a position he held for two years, until 1941.[18] In his second season at the club, Avilés facedRacing de Santander for the first time, winning 1–0, but Prats was replaced midway through the season by Hilario Fernández.[19] During the 1940s, he took charge over several Catalan clubs, such asIndauchu (1943–44),Constància (1944–45), and Barakaldo (1945–47).[18][4][20] He was hired by Indauchu at the behalf of its presidentLuis María Uribe, who had coincided with him at Madrid in the 1928–29 season.[1] He also coachedLucense in 1948–49,[18] andSan Fernando.[4]
Whilst in the capital, Prats opened a bar in Barakaldo in 1931, which he began to run four years later.[4] On 16 May 1969, his former clubs Barakaldo and Madrid faced each other for the so-called "Pachuco Prats Trophy", and after the match, he received a cup from the then Madrid presidentSantiago Bernabéu.[4]
Prats died on 22 September 1976, at the age of 74.[14][13][4]