| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luis Bergareche Maruri | ||
| Date of birth | (1910-05-16)16 May 1910 | ||
| Place of birth | Balmaseda,Biscay, Spain | ||
| Date of death | 9 September 1994(1994-09-09) (aged 84) | ||
| Place of death | Bilbao,Biscay, Spain | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1924–1925 | Deusto | ||
| 1925–1926 | Athletic Bilbao | 41 | (0) |
| 1926–1927 | Sociedad Gimnástica | ||
| 1928–1929 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| 1929–1930 | Real Madrid | ||
| 1930–1931 | Racing de Madrid | ||
| 1934–1936 | Getxo | ||
| 1940–1941 | Indautxu | ||
| 1943–1944 | Arenas de Getxo | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Luis Bergareche Maruri (16 May 1910 – 9 September 1994) was a Spanish businessman andfootballer who played as amidfielder forAthletic Bilbao[1][2] andReal Madrid in the 1920s.[3][4][5][6] He is best known for scoring Athletic's first-ever goal inLa Liga in 1929.[7]
Luis Bergareche was born on 16 May 1910 inBalmaseda,Biscay, as the son of Santiago Bergareche, the director of a beret factory, and Adelaida Maruri, who moved toDeusto when he was a child.[7][8]
During his youth, Bergareche developed a deep passion not only for football, going as far as to lie about his age to participate in a youth championship in 1922, aged 12, but also forcycling, going as far as to have a fall that left him in a coma for three days in 1927, aged 17.[7]
In 1924, the 14-year-old Bergareche joined the ranks of his hometown clubDeusto, becoming the youngest player in Spain to debut in a Serie A regional championship match, ahead of the likes ofJosep Samitier andRicardo Zamora, who did so at 15.[7] His career, however, did not look promising, as Deusto was a modest club, so the duty of caring for eleven siblings forced him to leave for the United States, specifically toAkron, Ohio, where he put his studies in mercantile professorship and business teaching to good use, training in the management of large companies, and working at Firestone.[7][8] Bergareche went on to become a Athletic Bilbao player in the 1925–26 season, but due to his tender age of 15, he was unable to make a single official appearance for the club's first team.[1] In 1926, he joinedSociedad Gimnástica, with whom he played in the 1926–27Centro Regional Championship, starting as adefender on the first matchday, which ended in a 6–0 loss to his future club Real Madrid.[9]
In 1928, Bergareche returned to Athletic, for whom he only played five official matches, all of whom within a period of just two months, in January and February 1929, starting in the two legs of both the quarterfinals and the semifinals of the1928–29 Copa del Rey, and then playing the opening match of theinaugural edition ofLa Liga on 10 February, in which he scored a first-half equaliser to help his side to a 1–1 draw withReal Sociedad at theAtotxa Stadium, thus going down in history as the author of the first-ever La Liga goal in the club's history.[7][10][11] However, contemporary accounts disagreed on who scored the goal, withMundo Deportivo stating that it wasVictorio Unamuno, whileLa Vanguardia attribute it to Bergareche, and theABC did not even named the goalscorer, describing it as "a cross fromLafuente give rise to a small melee, with the goalkeeper coming out and thus leaving the goal empty. Several players come to the shot, and finally, we see a header that sends the ball into the goal, achieving the tie, despite the clearoffside that the referee doesn't want to see".[7]
Bergareche never again played for Bilbao as he was then forced to move to Madrid to help his father with a newly opened business, and as soon as he arrived in the capital, he was sought after by bothAtlético Madrid and Real Madrid, but he ended up joining the latter because his friend Ochandiano was already there.[7] He made his debut for the club in afriendly match against Atlético on 15 September 1929, scoring a brace to help his side salvage a 4–4 draw.[12] In his first (and only) season at the club, he played a total of four official matches,[3][4][12] one in the regional championship, one in the Copa del Rey, and two in the league.[3][12] In total, he scored 1 goal in three La Liga matches for Bilbao and Madrid.[2]
Bergareche was failing to balance training with work obligations, so even though he had signed a professional contract with Madrid worth 500pesetas per month, his father ordered him to hang his boots.[7] In partnership with his brother Ignacio, he worked atBergareche y Compañía SA.[8] Returning to his home region in 1934, he played some more football forGetxo (1934–36) andIndautxu (1940–41), having founded the latter withJaime Olaso.[7]
In 1940, Bergareche was aboxing promoter, and in 1944, he was a state runner-up inPala corta [es], a form ofBasque pelota.[8] He also presided over the Fishing Club ofLekeitio, which hosted the Spanish tuna fishing championship.[8]
Bergareche also served as the treasurer of the International Association of Cyclist Course Organizers, or in other words, the general director of theVuelta a España, a position that he held for over two decades.[7][8] Thus, in the 25th anniversary of this race in 1970, he was awarded the gold medal for cycling.[8] He was also a member of the board of directors of theSpanish Cycling Federation.[8]
In 1942, Bergareche married Josefa Busquet, with whom he had at least one son, who married the daughter ofRamón Mendoza, presient of Real Madrid from 1985 to 1995, and the couple had at least one son, Jacobo, a screenwriter and entrepreneur.[13]
In 1945, Bergareche entered the world of journalism when he joined the companyBilbao Editorial SA, a supporter ofEl Noticiero Bilbaino linked to Bergareche, and a few weeks later, he was appointed advisor toEl Correo Español.[8] Three years later, in 1948, he became a councilor ofVascongada de Publications as well as an editor ofEl Diario Vasco fromDonostia, becoming president of the latter in 1970.[8]
In 1968, Bergareche was a founding president ofServicios Auxiliares de Prensa Independiente, and in 1977, he replaced the murdered Javier Ybarra as the new editor ofEl Diario Vasco, the largest news agency in Vasconia.[8] In that same year, he was also named president of theBilbao Editorial SA, a position that he held for 12 years, from 1977 until June 1989, when he was replaced bySantiago de Ybarra, being later named as its honorary president, a position that he held until he died on 9 September 1994, at the age of 84.[8][14]
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