| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Quirante Pineda | ||
| Date of birth | (1883-05-10)May 10, 1883 | ||
| Place of birth | Alicante,Valencian Community,Spain | ||
| Date of death | May 30, 1964(1964-05-30) (aged 81) | ||
| Place of death | Barcelona, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| FC Barcelona | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1901–1911 | FC Barcelona | 40 | (18) |
| 1906–1908 | Real Madrid | 46 | (17) |
| 1910 | RCD Espanyol | 12 | (5) |
| 1911–1912 | Universitary SC | ||
| 1912–1913 | FC Casual | ||
| International career | |||
| 1904–1912 | Catalonia | 4 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1928–1929 | Unión Sporting Club de Madrid | ||
| 1929–1930 | Real Madrid CF | ||
| 1930–1933 | Sevilla FC | ||
| 1933–1935 | Real Murcia | ||
| 1939 | Athletic Madrid | ||
| 1939–1940 | Hércules CF | ||
| 1940–1941 | Málaga CF | ||
| 1941–1942 | Cádiz CF | ||
| 1947–1948 | Real Betis | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
José Quirante Pineda (10 May 1883 inAlicante,Spain – 30 May 1964 inBarcelona, Spain) was afootballer who played as amidfielder, being one of the first players to play for bothFC Barcelona andReal Madrid.[1] He is also remembered for being one of the firstprofessional players of the still growing sport. Quirante was one of the most important players in the amateur beginnings ofFC Barcelona, playing with them for a whole decade between 1901 and 1911.
He was an outstandingathlete andcyclist and, after his sports retirement, he had a prolific career and long career as acoach for numerous clubs throughout Spanish geography. He was the coach ofReal Madrid during thefirst Spanish league season in 1929.[2] He was also one of the founders ofCasual SC.
Quirante was born inValencian Community, but moved toBarcelona as a child, where he began to develop an interest in football. He began his career as amidfielder at his hometown clubFC Barcelona during the 1901–02 season, being a member of the Barcelona team that won its very first trophy, theCopa Macaya in1901–02, netting one goal on the final matchday on 23 March 1902 in a 15–0 victory overCatalà SC.[3] The Copa Macaya is now recognized as the firstCatalan championship. He then helped the club win theCopa Barcelona in 1902–03, and played a pivotal role in helping Barça win the Catalan championship in 1904–05.[2]
During his trips to the capital of Spain due to work obligations, he did not give up on his passion for football and kept playing, doing so for two years (1906–08) with Real Madrid without ever abandoning the Barça ranks.[4]
Quirante was part of the club's first great team in the early 1910s, which had the likes ofMassana,Amechazurra,Peris,Paco Bru and the Wallace brothers (Charles andPercival). He helped this side win theCatalan championship three times in a row between 1909 and 1911. Also in this period, in 1910, he was a member of the Barcelona side that won theinaugural edition of thePyrenees Cup, starting in the final in which he helped his side beatReal Sociedad 2–1, thus contributing in the club's first piece of international silverware.[5][6]
He remained loyal to the club until 1911, the date on which he was expelled from the club due to discrepancies with the board:Joan Gamper had always strongly opposedprofessionalism in Barça, however, Quirante together withManuel Amechazurra,José Irízar andAlfredo Massana, started to get paid in disguise (numerous reasons), thus becoming the club's first undercover professional as well as Spain's first professional players along withJoaquín Yarza ofSporting de Vigo. After a brief appearance atUniversitary SC, Quirante decided to found his own club in 1912,Casual SC, together with other dissidents from FC Barcelona, some of which decided to leave Barça for feeling that Quirante's expulsion was unfair and the other left the club due to financial differences, among whomPaco Bru,Carles Comamala orCharles Wallace.[7] In 1913 Casual folded due to financial reasons and Quirante, together with Carles Comamala, decided to retire.
Like many other FC Barcelona players of that time, he played several matches for theCatalonia national team between 1904 and 1912, however, due to the little statistical rigor that the newspapers had at that time, the exact amount ofcaps he earned is unknown. On 8 December 1912, Catalonia faced a selection of foreigners at theCamp de la Indústria in a benefit match for theSindicat de Periodistes, and Quirante started in a 5–2 win over the foreigners.[8] He was also one of the eleven footballers who played in the team's first-ever match on 30 May 1904.
His extensive knowledge of the game led him to dictate the tactics to be followed and Barcelona's game plans, thus basically performing the functions of Barça's coach between 1903 and 1907.[2] However, his official managerial career only began 20 years later, in 1927, when the now retired Quirante was appointed as the new coach ofRCD Espanyol. With them, he played that season'sCatalan championship almost in its entirety, but he was then replaced at the beginning of 1928 byJack Greenwell. After another unsuccessful brief spell, this time withUnión Sporting Club, Quirante become the coach ofReal Madrid CF, which is the highlight of his managerial career, finishing as runners-up of thefirst-ever Spanish league season in 1929, winning twoCentro Regional Championship and even aCopa del Rey runner-up medal in1929.[9] Despite the good performance shown, a draw and four defeats in thesecond edition of the league earned him his dismissal.
After his golden years at Madrid (1929–1930), he ended up inSevilla FC, joining them during the 1930–31 season. In his first season in charge of the club the team finished in 3rd, the club's best position, however, they got 8th in 1931–32 and 9th in 1932–33.[10]
He also coachedReal Murcia before the outbreak of theSpanish Civil War. After the war, he was hired byAthletic Madrid in 1939, leading the team in a few matches of the1939 Mancomunado, which was won byClub Aviación Nacional, whose manager wasRicardo Zamora. Shortly after the tournament, the Atletico leaders and the military society agreed on the merger of both entities, which became known as the Athletic-Aviation Club, and it was Zamora who managed the club for the rest of the season, ousting Quirante toHércules Alicante.[11] Throughout the 1940s he also coached the likes ofMálaga CF,Cádiz CF andReal Betis.[12]
As a player[edit]FC Barcelona
| As a coach[edit]Real Madrid FC
Sevilla FC
|