 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raimundo Pérez Lezama | ||
| Date of birth | (1922-11-29)29 November 1922 | ||
| Place of birth | Barakaldo, Spain | ||
| Date of death | 23 July 2007(2007-07-23) (aged 84) | ||
| Place of death | Laguardia, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Southampton | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1939–1940 | Southampton | 0 | (0) |
| 1940–1941 | Arenas Getxo | ||
| 1941–1957 | Athletic Bilbao | 197 | (0) |
| 1955 | →Barakaldo (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1957–1958 | Indautxu | 1 | (0) |
| 1958–1960 | Sestao | 34 | (0) |
| 1960–1961 | Arenas Getxo | ||
| Total | 237 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1947 | Spain | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Raimundo Pérez Lezama (29 November 1922 – 23 July 2007) was a Spanishfootballer who played as agoalkeeper.
After beginning his professional career in England, he returned to his country, going on to later represent, mainly,Athletic Bilbao.
Lezama was born inBarakaldo,Biscay but moved to England as a refugee at the age of 14. He entered at the port ofSouthampton on board theHabana on 23 May 1937, he and his brother Luis being among 3,889Basque children fleeing theSpanish Civil War;[1] some of the other refugees also became footballers, includingEmilio Aldecoa,Sabino Barinaga andJosé Gallego.[2][3][4]
While in Southampton, Lezama played for his school Nazareth House (less than half a mile fromThe Dell), where he was spotted bySouthampton and signed for the club as a trainee, eventually progressing to the reserves before making his first-team debut on 1 June 1940 in a 0–5 away defeat againstArsenal. His next game was atCraven Cottage, when the "Saints" fielded five Arsenal players (Ernie Collett,Leslie Compton,Eddie Hapgood,Leslie Jones andBernard Joy) in a 2–1 victory overFulham,[5] with both goals for the victors being scored by local boyEric Webber despite the plethora of stars.[6]
Lezama played one further match, a 1–3 defeat atCharlton Athletic at the end of an extended wartime season. Despite being underage, he briefly worked as a driver for theRoyal Air Force.[5]
On returning to Spain in 1940, Lezama joinedArenas Club de Getxo inSegunda División.[7] In 1941 he signed forAthletic Bilbao, and made hisLa Liga debut on 27 September 1942 in a 5–0 home win overReal Betis.[8] The1942–43 season saw the side, with a team that also includedTelmo Zarra,José Luis Panizo andAgustín Gaínza, win adouble (league andCopa del Rey); he helped Athletic retain the cup in both 1944 and 1945, winning it again in 1950.
While at Bilbao, Lezama also won theRicardo Zamora Trophy as best goalkeeper during1946–47.[9] He added his only cap forSpain on 26 January 1947, when he was a second-halfsubstitute forJosé Bañón in a 1–4 away defeat againstPortugal.[10]
Throughout the rest of his career at Athletic, Lezama was only a squad player, making only 12 league appearances in his last five campaigns combined. After playing 197 league matches (261 in all competitions[7]), he left the club in 1957.
In 1957, Lezama joinedSD Indautxu in the second level, where his teammates included emerging youngstersChus Pereda andMiguel Jones. He spent two further seasons in that tier withSestao Sport Club, before rejoining first team in Spain Arenas de Getxo in 1960.
Lezama died of heart failure inLaguardia, Álava, at the age of 84.[9] It was sometimes thought that Athletic'straining facilities were named after him, but in fact these were named for their location, the village ofLezama near Bilbao.[11]
Athletic Bilbao[9]