| Organiser(s) | Royal Spanish Football Federation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1915 |
| Abolished | 1926 |
| Region | Spain |
| Teams | 2 to 8 teams |
| Last champions |  Catalonia |
| Most championships | Catalonia (3 titles) |
ThePrince of Asturias Cup (Spanish:La Copa Príncipe de Asturias,Catalan:Copa Príncep d'Astúries) was an inter-regionalfootball competition contested by theregional selections of Spain – selections of players from clubs from the region in question, meaning that players did not need to be native to the region. The tournament was created in 1913 by the FECF (Federación Española de Clubs de Football), a forerunner of theRFEF, in honour of the donator of the trophy, donAlfonso, Prince of Asturias, the first-born son ofKingAlfonso XIII andPrince of Asturias.[1] After that, there have been seven tournaments for the Prince of Asturias Cup under the umbrella of thenational committee of the RFEF (Spanish FA), the first of which was organized in 1915.[2]
The first editions (1914 to 1918) of the competition were held inMadrid and the registration of the regional federations was voluntary. At the end of the fourth edition, the competition was stopped due to a lack of interest, and the trophy was awarded to theCentro federation for winning two editions (1917 & 1918). In July 1922 it was agreed to introduce a new trophy called theInterregional Championship, which would be held on the road and with the mandatory participation of all regional federations associated with the Spanish FA. The high economic costs of travel again led to the disappearance of the competition, with a final tournament being played in 1926 with the aim of awarding ownership of the second trophy in dispute, and the champion wasCatalonia.[3]
The Prince of Asturias Cup is among the oldest Spanish football competitions along with theCopa de la Coronación and theCopa del Rey. Notable figures of this tournament areSantiago Bernabéu,Pichichi,Ricardo Zamora,Josep Samitier andPaulino Alcántara.
The competition was originally created in 1913 by theFederación Española de Clubs de Football (FECF), a forerunner of the RFEF, in honour of the donator of the trophy, donAlfonso, Prince of Asturias, the first-born son ofKingAlfonso XIII andPrince of Asturias.[1][4][5][6] This took place whenJuan Padrós Rubio (the 2nd official President ofReal Madrid) held the FECF presidency. Coincidence or not, just as Juan Padrós Rubio was the driving force behind the Prince of Asturias Cup, his brother,Carlos Padrós Rubio, was the driving force behind theCopa del Rey.
The squads were selected by the clubs of each region, rather than by regional federations like in the next RFEF tournaments.[1] The teams registered were the Center team (made up of players fromMadrid FC,Gimnástica de Madrid andEspañol), the North team (made up solely byRacing de Irún) and the Military Academies (made up of theInfantry Academy),[7][8] the latter withdrawing before the start of the tournament.[7][9]
The tournament was held inMadrid during the anniversary of the Prince of Asturias on 11 and 12 May 1913. The first leg was won by the North team2–1.[7][10][11] The North won the second leg too, but in a controversial way. With only ten minutes played, it started hailing hard, so the match was temporarily stopped, and when the referee ordered to resume it, the Center players did not return to the pitch, so the North team scored anempty net goal and the match ended.[7][12]
Subsequently, the FECF Assembly agreed to repeat the second leg, ordering the two teams to fix a date and place.[13][14] At the end of June there was still no date fixed.[15] At the beginning of July it was reported that the match would take place at the end of that same month inIrun. Besides the Center team would travel accompanied byRicardo Ruiz Ferry, the then president of the FECF.[16] In fact Ruiz Ferry went toGuipuzkoa in August, but only to meet inSan Sebastian with representatives of theReal Union Española de Clubs de Football (RUECF), a split from the FECF, and negotiate with them the merge of the two federations.[17][18] The presidents of these two entities, Ruiz Ferry andJulián Olave, eventually reached an agreement in September, which culminated in the creation of theRoyal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).[19][20]
After its foundation on 1 September 1913, one of the first initiatives taken by theRoyal Spanish Football Federation, was to promote the creation of a regional team championship that would serve as the first major "showcase" of Spanish football: To help spot the best players of the moment and consequently assemble a group of the players that made the best impression throughout the tournament to establish the bases for the formation of aSpanish team that could compete with other international teams.[3]
The tournament was officially established by the Ordinary Assembly of the RFEF in 1914.[21]
The first edition of this competition was held from 10 to 14 May 1915 in Madrid, and more specifically in thefenced field thatAtlético Madrid had between the streets of Narváez and O'Donnell. The new competition pitted the regional teams ofCatalonia (which encompassedBarcelona,Lleida andTarragona),Castile — under the denomination of the Centro team (which encompassed Madrid and the widerCastile region) — andBasque Country — under the denomination of Norte team (which encompassedBasque Country andCantabria).[22] The opening match between the Catalans and the Castilians was held on 10 May 1915, and was attended by his Majesty King Alfonso XIII, who chatted with the players during the break. The author of the competition's first-ever goal was Catalonia'sPaulino Alcántara, who was only 18 years old at the time, and although Centro fought back and found an equalizer throughRené Petit, it was Catalonia who found the winner viaAntonio Baró to beat the Centro team 2–1, with all the goals coming in the first half.[23]
Two days later the North team entered the fray, and defeated Catalonia with a solitary late goal fromJuan Legarreta, even though Catalonia played better. Finally, the teams from the Center and the North met for the decisive game, and the Basques, who were playing without their biggest starPichichi, managed to go ahead after the break with a goal fromPatricio, but the hosts fought back and equalized shortly after courtesy ofSantiago Bernabéu.[3] René Petit then missed apenalty, which was attributed to the fact that the field was not grass. In any case, the game was formidable and the draw was enough for the Basques to win the cup, although according to the press, they were not the best team.[3] As for the top scorers, there was a six-fold tie at one goal as six different players scored all the goals of this first edition of the tournament. These accolades were also distributed among the three teams, as they all finished tied at two goals each.
Norte's line-up:Eizaguirre,Carrasco,Hurtado,Artola,Belauste I,Peña,Legarreta,Patricio,Belauste II,Pagaza andEchevarría (Pedro Barturen).[24] 4 of these players, Belauste I, Belauste II and Echevarría, played forAthletic Bilbao at the1915 Copa del Rey Final.
Centro's line-up:Pelous,Carruana,Beguiristain,Eulogio Aranguren,Feliciano Rey,Machimbarrena,Quintana,René Petit,Álvarez,Montero,Sotero Aranguren (Bernabéu).[25]
Catalonia's line-up:Luis Bru,Reguera (Santiago Massana),Miguel Matifoll (Casellas),Torralba,Alfredo Massana,Alcántara,Monistrol,Mallorquí,Baró,Peris andMartínez (Kinké).[26]
The following year the competition was held in Madrid again, but this time it did not reach the sporting success and brilliance of the previous one. The title holders, theNorth Team, did not participate because they were unable to gather all their members due todisagreements that occurred within their own regional federation.[a] Thus, the title was contested only by the Catalan and Central teams, even though the triangular format was kept until the last moment.[27][28] This new edition was played on thesame venue as the previous one, with a double confrontation (due to the absence of the Basques) between both teams, the first of which was played on 11 May 1916 with a Catalan victory by 6–3, after showing total superiority over a disappointing local team.[3] The star of the game wasFrancisco Cabedo, who scored the competition's first-ever (and only)hat-trick when he netted 4 goals past Centro'sgoalkeeperJuan de Cárcer, who was thus replaced byJoaquín Pascual for the second leg, which was much more competitive and with a slight local superiority since it found themselves 2–0 up with 20 minute to go, knowing that this win would force a play-off for the title, butKinké wrecked Centro's hopes with a quick late brace that salvaged a 2–2 draw to the Catalans.[29] Catalonia thus won the Prince of Asturias Cup for the first time in their history.[3][2][30]
Centro | 3–6 | Catalonia |
|---|---|---|
Álvarez 15'Bernabéu 40'Larrañaga 80' (pen.) | Report1 Report2 | Cabedo 12',20',35',60' Sampere 30'Kinké 50' |
Because of the absence of theNorthern team, a second match was played between Catalonia and Centro, elucidating the title to a two-legged final.
Catalonia's line-up was exactly the same for both games:Gibert;Pakán,Sampere,Salvó I;Casellas,Prat,Kinké,Monistrol;Cabedo,López andRaich.[31] Four of these players, Gibert, Pakán, Sampere and López, played forEspanyol at the1915 Copa del Rey Final.
Centro's line-ups:Cárcer (Pascual);Erice (La Serna),Carruana;E. Aranguren (Tejedor),René Petit (Castell),Quintana;Álvarez,Santiago Bernabéu,E. Uribarri (Pelous), Larrañaga andDe Miguel.[32] Four of these players, Erice, Petit, Álvarez and De Miguel, played for Madrid FC at the 1917 Copa del Rey final.
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francisco Cabedo | Catalonia | 4 |
| 2 | Kinké | 3 | |
| 3 | Larrañaga | Centro | 2 |
The third edition of the tournament suffered again the absence of theNorthern Team, whoseBasque Football Federation was going through a convulsive period between the teams fromBiscay andGipuzkoa, culminating in a pivotalchampionship match betweenAthletic Bilbao (Biscay) andReal Sociedad (Gipuzkoa) being abandoned,[33] and so, the recently createdFederation of Cantabria took advantage of the absence of the Northern Team that was still in internal disputes, and sentits representation to Madrid to compete with Centro and Catalonia. The 1917 edition was wrapped in controversy because it was allowed to be played on the same day as thefinal of the1917 Copa del Rey between Madrid FC andArenas de Getxo, which prevented the Central Team from having the players of Madrid FC, and thus, in order to assemble a team which could compete, they had to call-up the players fromAthletic Madrid andRacing de Madrid, meaning they sent a weaker team with lesser-known players such as Racing'sPascual,Buylla,Zabala andPablo De Miguel (the brother of Antonio, who had played and scored in the previous edition); and Atlético's Yañez,Miguel Mieg,Quintana,Agüero, andSaturno Villaverde, with thecaptain of this team being Madrid FC's only representative,José María Castell, and yet, against all odds, the "second options" managed to win the tournament for the first time in the team's history.[34]
Centro and Catalonia opened the competition on 9 May 1917, also at O'Donnell's ground, and despite playing away from home, everyone was expecting a comfortable win for the Catalan side, but the Castilian team showed their worth and held the huge favorites to a 2–2 draw,[3] thanks to a brace from Saturno Villaverde. These two sides then both beat the Cantabrians, but while Catalonia did it with a tight 1–0 thanks to a lonely goal fromJosep Gumbau, Centro surprised everyone when they found themselves leading 3–0 at the break with goals from captain Castell, Agüero, and Villaverde, in an eventual 3–2 win (Centro'sgoalkeeper Joaquín Pascual scored anown goal, the competition's first and only, although Centro still won), meaning that a playoff match between the local team and Catalonia had to be played, as both were level on three points.[35] The decisive clash was played at O'Donnell on the 15 May and Centro showed their quality once again by beating its rival 2–0, with second-half goals from Mieg and Agüero,[36] thus winning the tournament, lifting the trophy, and matching the feats achieved by Norte and Catalonia in the previous two editions of the competition.[3][2] However, the game, just like the tournament itself, was wrapped in controversy, because at 2–0 down, Catalonia had a goal fromMonistrol disallowed in the 70th minute for having scored directly from acorner kick, a circumstance not allowed at the time, and that event ledrefereeJulián Ruete to send off a visiting player (probablyArtur Cella) due to the protests, to which the Catalan team left the match in protest.[3] Atlético's Saturno Villaverde was the star of the tournament, being the top scorer with 3 goals - a brace against Catalonia in a 2–2 draw and the winner against Cantabria in a 3–2 win - thus going from an utter unknown of the masses to the tournament's surprise package and a loved hero in Madrid.[citation needed]
Note: Some sources claim that both of Catalonia's goals were actually two first-halfown goals from Centro's Yáñez.[37]
| Centro | 3–2 |   Cantabric[b] |
|---|---|---|
| Castell 20' (pen.) Agüero 30'Villaverde 45' | Report | Felgueroso 50' Pascual 60' (o.g.) |
Pelayo SerranoNote: After the corresponding triangular format, a final playoff game had to be necessary since the Castilians and the Catalans were tied on three points after a draw and a victory each.
Centro's winning squad:Joaquín Pascual,José Luis de Goyarrola,Ricardo Naveda,José María Castell (Yáñez),Ezequiel Montero,Adolfo Buylla (Sócrates Quintana),Ignacio Zabala,José Agüero,Saturno Villaverde,Miguel Mieg (Pablo De Miguel) and Larrañaga (Ricardo Madariaga).[34]
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saturno Villaverde | Centro | 3 |
| 2 | Josep Gumbau | Catalonia | 2 |
| José Agüero | Centro |
After three editions of the Prince of Asturias Cup, the results had not met the expectations generated in the competition. The intransigence of the clubs to allow the transfer of their players meant that few federations could gather a complete team to participate, and when this was achieved, it could not be said that it was made up of the best players in the region. On the other hand, the incompetence of some federative leaders and the calendar of the competition that allowed the 1917 edition to be played on the same day as the1917 Copa del Rey final between Madrid FC and Arenas de Getxo - something that prevented the Central Team from having the best players of Madrid and the Basques would have left them without the contribution of their champions, the Arenas Club - had caused the tournament to lose the splendor of the first two editions. Furthermore, the idea of forming a national team to compete with other countries received a setback because of theFirst World War. Thus, in January 1918, the clubs proposed to theNational Federation the suppression of the competition,[3] and this proposal was accepted in favour of a second category competition, since the tight schedule (in the previous edition the contest coincided with the final phase of the Copa del Rey) and controversies of another nature prevented the participation of the best players.[38] Therefore, the edition that was held in Madrid between 20 and 23 January of that same year, was going to be the last in the first stage of this competition, and only the central team and the Cantabrian team participated, as they were the only ones that could put together a team with which to compete.[3]
The Castilian team won the first leg 3–2 with goals fromSansinenea,Gomar andFeliciano Rey, while the away goals were scored by the Villaverde brothers,Senén andFernando, with the former netting one more in the second leg in yet another loss as Centro won 3–1 thanks to a brace fromRamón Olalquiaga, who had not played the first leg.[39] Both games were dominated by the Centro side, with special mention to Cárcer, Machim, Gomar, who trotted a lot, and De Miguel and Sansinenea, who, although obsessed with doing everything by themselves, played brilliantly.[39] The 6–3 aggregate win meant Centro was proclaimed champions again, thus becoming the last winners of the competition's first stage as well as the first team to win the cup twice, doing so in consecutive editions, although the 1918 games sparked little interest in the fans.[3]
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José María Sansinenea | Centro | 2 |
| Senén Villaverde | Cantabric | ||
| Ramón Olalquiaga | Centro |
Two years later, theSpanish national team made its official debut at the1920 Olympic Games inAntwerp, and despite being their first-ever taste of an international major tournament they still managed to win the silver medal. Notably, the author of Spain's first-ever goal,Patricio, also scored in the first edition of the Prince of Asturias Cup in 1915.[3] This good run by the Spanish side increased football's popularity in the country, and to defend the success achieved and prepare the Spanish team for thenext Olympic Games in 1924, the Spanish FA agreed on 20 July 1922, to reestablish the Prince of Asturias Cup (under the nameCampeonato Interregional) as the basis for the composition of the national team, and this time with the obligatory participation by all member regions on the Spanish mainland. Once again the proposal got an excellent reception among the clubs and the fans.[3] Matches were now played at different venues, but due to logistic and financial problems, it was decided to stop the competition after the third edition, which was played between the winners of the first two with the sole objective of deciding which region obtained the cup to keep.[22]
The first edition of the revived tournament (and fifth overall) was won byAsturias after beating the tournament'ssurprise packageGalicia in thefinal 3–1, courtesy of a second-half brace fromJosé Luis Zabala, who was the star of the tournament andits top scorer with 5 goals, including a last-minute winner againstCatalonia in the semi-finals.[3][40]
| 1922–23 Prince of Asturias Cup winner |
|---|
 Asturias First title |
The second edition of the revived tournament (and sixth overall) was won byCatalonia after beatingCentro 3–2 in the replay of thefinal, after the original game finished in a dramatic 4–4 draw thanks to a last-minute equalizer fromEmili Sagi-Barba.[30][41] Thetop scorer of the tournament was Centro'sJuan Monjardín with 5 goals, of which three came in the final, scoring twice in a 2–3 loss to Catalonia in the replay.Josep Samitier also scored three goals in the final, and despite having failed to net in any other game, he still got the "silver boot".[3]
| 1923–24 Prince of Asturias Cup winner |
|---|
 Catalonia Second title |
The sixth edition of this competition did not achieve the success of the previous one and failed to serve as the basis for forming theSpanish squad for the1924 Summer Olympics and after the Spanish failure inParis, the Prince of Asturias Cup ended up being definitively abolished by theSpanish FA on 26 June 1924.[3]
The last edition of this Inter-regional tournament was played several months later, in September 1926, between the previous two champions,Asturias andCatalonia, for the right to keep the trophy.[3] On 5 September 1926, the first leg of this ultimate final was played inEl Molinón, ending in a 2–0 win for the Catalans, with both goals being scored byDomingo Broto.[30][42] On the 19th of the same month at theCamp del Guinardó, the second leg was held, and Asturias only needed 5 minutes to score the opening goal against the local team, thus setting the scene for an incredible comeback at Barcelona, butForgas killed off their momentum with an equalizer just 5 minutes later, which no longer moved until the break. After the break, the Catalans' game improved, and throughPellicer,Alcántara and Forgas they put the score in a clear 4–1, beingHerrera who, with two goals in the last five minutes, closed the gap and established the final result, another Catalan victory by 4–3.[43] With this win, Catalonia remained in the property of the Prince of Asturias Cup trophy.[30][3]
Asturian side:Benjamín;Quirós,Trucha; Justo, Menéndez,Corsino; Domingo,Morilla,Herrera,Avilesu and Molinuco.
Catalonia side:Pedret;Serra,Montané;Tena I,Pelaó,Mauricio;Piera,Samitier,Sastre,Broto andSagi-Barba.
Catalonia side:Pedret;Serra,Massague;Soligo,Pelaó,Tena I;Pellicer,Broto,Forgas,Alcántara andSagi-Barba. 3 of these players, Serra, Pelaó, and Pellicer, played forCE Europa at the1923 Copa del Rey Final.
Asturias side:Benjamín;Quirós,Cuesta;Bango, Menéndez,Corsino; Matón,Avilesu,Herrera, Braulio andArgüelles (Quirós being replaced by Nico and Benjamín byPicú during the match).
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domingo Broto | Catalonia | 2 |
| Ramón Herrera |  Asturias | ||
| Josep Forgas | Catalonia |
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Third place (If any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | Basque Country | Catalonia | Centro | |
| 1916 | Catalonia | 6–3 and 2–2 | Centro | |
| 1917 | Centro | 2–0 | Catalonia |  [[Cantabria {{{altlink}}}|Cantabria]] |
| 1918 | Centro | 3–2 and 3–1 | [[Cantabria {{{altlink}}}|Cantabria]] | |
| 1922–23 | Asturias | 3–1 |  Galicia | |
| 1923–24 | Catalonia | 3–2 | Centro | |
| 1926 | Catalonia | 2–0 and 4–3 | Asturias |
| Rank | Country | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catalonia | 3 (1916, 1924 & 1926) | 2 (1915 & 1917) |
| 2 | Centro | 2 (1917 & 1918) | 2 (1916 & 1924) |
| 3 | Asturias | 1 (1923) | 2 (1918[d] & 1926) |
| 4 | Norte | 1 (1915) | — |
| 5 | Galicia | — | 1 (1923) |
| Tournament | Name | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | 6 different players | 1 | |
| 1916 | Francisco Cabedo | Catalonia | 4 |
| 1917 | Saturno Villaverde | Centro | 3 |
| 1918 | Senén Villaverde | Cantabric | 2 |
| José María Sansinenea | Centro | ||
| Ramón Olalquiaga | |||
| 1922–23 | José Luis Zabala | Asturias | 5 |
| 1923–24 | Juan Monjardín | Centro | |
| 1926 | Domingo Broto | Catalonia | 2 |
| Josep Forgas | |||
| Ramón Herrera | Asturias |
| Ranking | Name | Team | Goals | Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | José Luis Zabala | Asturias | 5 | 1922–23 |
| Juan Monjardín | Centro | 1923–24 | ||
3 | Francisco Cabedo | Catalonia | 4 | 1916 |
4 | Kinké | 3 | ||
| Saturno Villaverde | Centro | 1917 | ||
| Ramón González | Galicia | 1922–23 | ||
| Josep Samitier | Catalonia | 1923–24 |
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| Rank | Name | Team | Goals | Tournament(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José Luis Zabala | Asturias | 6 | 1922–23 (5) and 1923–24 (1) |
| Juan Monjardín | Centro | 1922–23 (1) and 1923–24 (5) | ||
 Kinké | Catalonia andSouth | 1916 (3), 1922–23 (2) and 1923–24 (1) | ||
| 4 | Josep Samitier | Catalonia | 4 | 1922–23 (1) and 1923–24 (3) |
| Francisco Cabedo | Catalonia | 1916 (4) | ||
| 6 | Saturno Villaverde | Centro | 3 | 1917 (3) |
| Ramón González | Galicia | 1922–23 (3) | ||
 Travieso | Biscay | 1922–23 (1) and 1923–24 (2) | ||
 Eduardo Cubells | Valencian Community | 1922–23 (1) and 1923–24 (2) |
Notable figures with two goals includeSantiago Bernabéu (1 goal in 1915 and 1916),René Petit (1 goal in 1915 and 1923–24),Paulino Alcántara (1 goal in 1915 and 1926),Ramón Polo Pardo (2 goals in 1922–23),Cristóbal Martí (1 goal in 1922–23 and 1923–24) andVicente Piera (2 goals in 1923–24).
From the first official tournament in 1915, until its last 11 years later, only onehat-trick was scored, and curiously, it was actually a poker. The first and last treble of the Prince of Asturias Cup was scored byFrancisco Cabedo on 11 May 1916 in the second edition of the competition in a game betweenfierce rivalsCatalonia and theCentro team, with the former winning 6–3,[44] and interestingly, this is the only game in the competition's history in which a team scored at least 5 goals. Oddly, this was the only time Cabedo found the back of the net in the Prince of Asturias Cup, but despite that his 4-goal haul alone makes him one of theall-time top goal scorer in the competition's history. It's also worth mentioning that some reports listJosé Luis Zabala as the author of the opening goal of the1922–23 final on 25 February 1923, which together with his second-half brace makes for another hat-trick in the competition, and one that handedAsturias a 3–1 win overGalicia atCoia.[45]
| # | Player | G | Time of goals | For | Result | Against | Tournament | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Francisco Cabedo | 4 | 12', 20', 35', 60' | Catalonia | 6–3 | Centro | 1916 Prince of Asturias Cup | 11 May 1916 | [44] |
Zabala and Monjardín, the competition's top scorers, also hold the record for the most braces, with two each. Cubells, Monjardín, and Herrera are the only ones to have scored a brace for a losing side.
Ramón Herrera scored the fastest brace in the competition with 2 goals in 2 minutes, while Josep Samitier's brace needed 3 minutes to be completed. Kinké also scored a very quick brace of around 5 minutes.
Rogelio Barril is the only one to have scored a brace inextra-time with goals in the 125th and 144th.
Although the competition failed to serve as the basis for the formation of aSpanish team, many of the players who participated in this inter-regional competition earned caps for Spain, in fact, a total of 11 players have managed to score at both the Prince of Asturias Cup and at international level for Spain:Patricio,Domingo Acedo,Paulino Alcántara,Manuel Meana,Travieso,Vicente Piera,Juan Monjardín,José Luis Zabala,Josep Samitier,Carmelo andEduardo Cubells, with Patricio and Alcántara being the only ones who scored in the first phase of the Prince of Asturias Cup (1915–18). Only 5 players have managed to score multiple goals on both sides: Alcántara (2/6), Travieso (3/2), Monjardín (6/3), Zabala (6/4), and Samitier (4/2).
The only players to have scored in both phases of the Prince of Asturias Cup are Paulino Alcántara (1915 and 1926),Antonio de Miguel (1916 and 1923–24) andKinké (1916 and 1922–23/1923–24).
Eulogio Aranguren andEnrique Peris hold the peculiar distinction of being the only ones to have participated in the Prince of Asturias Cup as both a player andreferee: Both of them played in the first edition of the competition with Centro and Catalonia respectively, and then, both refereed one quarter-final in the 1922–23 edition.
Joaquín Pascual holds the unwanted distinction of being the only player to have scored anown goal in the competition. He wasCentro'sgoalkeeper and in a game againstCantabric on 11 May 1917, he netted an own goal under unknown circumstances, fortunately, his side managed to hold on to a 3–2 win.
The Prince of Asturias Cup was one of the tournaments that left the most pleasant and lasting memory in the fans, with the added passion of the public for the always latent Hispanic regionalism, however, the selfishness of the clubs and local quarrels did not allow the tournament to take root in Spain. If the cup had persevered and kept its original purpose, the tournament would have grown to become one of the most brilliant events on the Spanish football calendar.[3]
