_(cropped).jpg) Busto in 1950 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José María Busto Llano | ||
| Date of birth | (1923-11-12)12 November 1923 | ||
| Place of birth | Portugalete, Spain | ||
| Date of death | 27 May 2012(2012-05-27) (aged 88) | ||
| Place of death | Sevilla, Spain | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Patria de Barakaldo | |||
| Athletic Bilbao | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1940–1941 | Athletic Bilbao | 0 | (0) |
| 1941–1942 | Barakaldo | 12 | (0) |
| 1942–1958 | Sevilla | 338 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1954 | Spain B | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1963 | Sevilla | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
José María Busto Llano (12 November 1923 – 27 May 2012), was a Spanishfootballer who played as agoalkeeper forAthletic Bilbao[1] andSevilla in the 1940s and 1950s.[2][3][4] He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the history of Sevilla.[4][5]
He later brieflycoached Sevilla in 1963.[6]
Born on 12 November 1923 inPortugalete,Biscay, Busto began playing football in school with his friends, and thanks to his good manners, he was soon recruited into the youth ranks of Athletic Bilbao.[7] On 15 September 1940, just two months shy of his 17th birthday, Busto earned his first (and only) appearance for the first team in a pre-seasonfriendly match against Bilbao AC, in which he became off the bench for the second half in an eventual 4–0 win.[1][8] He spent nearly the entire season with the club's amateur team, so he decided to leave Athletic at the end of season to join another Biscay-based team,Barakaldo, where he quickly stood out from the rest and was signed by Sevilla at the end of the season.[7][9]
In his first season at the club in1942–43, Busto helped his side finish asLa Liga runners-up, only three points behind his former club Athletic Bilbao. With Sevilla, he formed a great back line withdefendersDiego Villalonga andJoaquín Jiménez, one of the best in the club's history, which played a crucial role in the team's success in the late 1940s, winning theCopa del Rey title in1948, starting in thefinal againstCelta de Vigo atChamartín (4–1),[7][10] and winning the league in1945–46, the only such title in the club's history, where he was once again fundamental as he played every minute of the competition, including the decisive last matchday againstFC Barcelona atLes Corts, in which he helped his team hold Barça to a 1–1 draw.[7][11]
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In the 1950s, Busto helped his side to a further two runner-up finishes in the league,1950–51 and1956–57,[7] as well as another Cup final in1955, which ended in a 1–0 loss to his former club Athletic Bilbao, courtesy of a second-half goal fromIgnacio Uribe.[12] Mainly thanks to Busto, Sevilla ended the 1950–51 season with the fewest goals conceded in La Liga, with only 46, narrowly ahead ofJuan Acuña'sDeportivo de La Coruña;[7] however, it was the latter who won theRicardo Zamora Trophy, having conceded 36 goals in the 26 matches that he played.[13] Their runner-up finish in 1957 allowed Sevilla to play in a European competetion for the time in its history, the1957–58 European Cup, as Spanish championsReal Madrid had already qualified as holders, and these two Spanish sides went on to meet in the quarter-finals, the first time two sides from the same country played against each other in the competition; in the first leg at theSantiago Bernabéu on 23 January 1958, the 34-year-old Busto conceded eight goals in a resounding 8–0 loss, including four fromAlfredo Di Stéfano.[7][14] This humiliation caused the then coachHelenio Herrera to deprive him of playing in the match celebrating Sevilla's Golden Anniversary.[7][11]
He was known for his ability to block unlikely balls and for his non-pompous style between the posts,[7] as well as his positioning, reflexes, and composure,[4] which, coupled with his remarkable consistency, allowed him to remain as Sevilla's starting goalkeeper for 16 seasons from 1942 until 1958, establishing the club record for the most seasons between the posts.[4] He is considered, along withGuillermo Eizaguirre, the best goalkeeper in Sevilla's history.[4][11] He is also the only goalkeeper who saved a penalty fromPaco Gento in an official match, doing so in the1956–57 La Liga, when he was already in his mid-30s.[7] In total, Busto played 401 matches for Sevilla,[4] including 338 La Liga matches.[3]
Busto was called up to theSpanish national team on several occasions, but he was never able to make his international debut because of the presence ofIgnacio Eizaguirre,Antonio Ramallets, andCarmelo Cedrún.[11] However, he earned onecap for theSpanish B team in March 1954, in which he helped his side to keep a clean-sheet in a 2–0 win overFrance B in the opening match of the1953–58 Mediterranean Cup.[11][15] Spain eventually won the tournament.
After his career as a player ended, Busto remained closely linked to Sevilla, now as a director, and he even briefly served as the team's coach in 1963, overseeing only three La Liga matches during the transition betweenAntonio Barrios andOtto Bumbel.[6][11]
Busto died inSeville on 27 May 2012, at the age of 88.[6][11] At the time of his death, he was the last living member of the Sevilla team who had won the league in 1946.[11]