British coaches in the Copa

The development of Spanish Football was always heavily influenced by Britons. As was so often the case they founded the earliest clubs and spread the enthusiasm for the Association game among the locals.
English players (and officials) were very much in evidence in the formative years of the game in Spain. In the 1910s, when the game was more solidly established and less and less English names appeared on the teamsheets, Englishmen showed their influence in another sphere- appearing as coaches at the leading Spanish clubs.
Looking at the teams competing in the Copa del Rey (and later the Copa del Presidente de la República) shows us the following coaches from the United Kingdom.

1916
Athletic Club (Bilbao) defeated Madrid FC (later Real Madrid) 4-0 in the final. Both teams were led by Englishmen.

Barnes

Billy Barnes was at the helm for Athletic. Born in London in 1879 Barnes played for Thames Ironworks, Sheffield United, West Ham United, Luton Town, Queen's Park Rangers and Southend United.
He scored the winning goal for Sheffield United in the replay of the 1902 FA Cup Final.
He managed Athletic from 1914 to 1916 and again from 1920-21.

Johnson

The man in charge of Madrid FC was Arthur Johnson. He was Madrid's first full time coach. Appointed in 1910, he served until 1920. He had also been a player with the club, appearing in their first ever fixture and played in 4 winning Copa del Rey teams. Johnson, who was also born in 1879, later managed Athletic Club.

1917
Madrid beat Arenas Club de Guecho in extra time of the replayed final, giving Arthur Johnson a Copa win as a coach to add to his 4 as a player.

1918
Johnson led Madrid to a third successive Copa final, but they lost 2-0 to Real Unión.

Greenwell

1919
Barcelona were beaten 5-2 in the final by Arenas Club de Guecho. 
The manager  of Barcelona was the former Crook Town wing half Jack Greenwell.  Greenwell had also played in the West Aukland team that won the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy in 1909. 
He joined Barcelona as a player in 1912, became coach in 1917.six Catalan titles and two Copa del Rey victories.
As well as 2 spells at Barcelona Greenwell coached Unió Esportiva Sants, Club Deportivo Castellón,  Español, R.C.D Mallorca, Valencia, and Real Sporting de Gijón. He then moved on to Peru. 

1920
Greenwell and Barnes were the adversaries as Barcelona beat Athletic Club 2-0 in the final. 

1921
Barnes was in charge of Athletic Club , who ran out 4-0 winners against Atlético Madrid. Some sources mistakenly identify the manager of the Madrid side as former Manchester United defender Vince Hayes However, Hayes was engaged at Preston North End until 1923. 

1922
Another win for Greenwell- Barcelona beating Real Union 5-1.

1923
Athletic Club won their ninth  Copa, beating Barcelona's Club Deportivo Europe 1-0. Both sides were led by Englishmen.
Fred Pentland won 5 England caps in 1909 (including 3 on a tour of Austria-Hungary) and played most of his  League football for Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough. he was interned at Ruhleben during the war, having gone to Germany to coach the national side. After the war his managerial career resumed, following a rather strange trajectory- he led France in the 1920 Olympics and retired as manager of Barrow 20 years later. in the interim he had spells coaching Racing  Santander, Athletic Club Bilbao (2 ), Atlético Madrid (3) and Real Oviedo. 

In charge of  Club Deportivo Europe was Conyers 'Ralph' Kirby, a winger who made 1 league appearance for Birmingham. He later joined Barcelona. 


1924
Real Unión Club (Irun) beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the final.Real Unión Club was coached by Steve Bloomer, the legendary Derby County and England goalscorer. 

Steve Bloomer

1926
Barcelona beat Atlético Madrid 3-2 in the final, which featured the same managers as 1923- Kirby leading Barcelona and Pentland Atlético.

1932
Spain was now a Republic, and the national cup competition was rebranded as Copa del Presidente de la República. A final between Athletic Club (who won their 12th Copa with a 1-0 win) and Barcelona saw 2 by now familiar faces in charge. Pentland (Athletic Club) and Greenwell (Barca). 

Valencia

A lovely, dynamic poster from the pre Civil War era. A balletic Valencia player heads the ball under pressure. 

A friendly in April 1929 against a selection from The Royal Navy. The Navy were great ambassadors for football, and there are records of them playing numerous matches in Spain in the 1920s.

Valencia used this poster throughout the 1920s and 30s. The games advertised were played at the Mestalla. Inaugurated in 1923 the grand stadium was developed during the 20s, the capacity growing from 17,000 to 25,000. During the Civil War the ground fell into disrepair when it was used as a prison camp. 

This match ended in a 1-1 draw. Real Madrid were officially Madrid Football Club at the time, as Spain was a republic. Madrid went on to win the title.  

Valencia's goal was scored by Sanchez Pia.

A 0-0 draw was the outcome of this match. Barcelona finished 3rd in the league, and Valencia 7th (from 10),

Capillas was Valencia' leading scorer in the 1931-32 season (9 goals in 10 matches).

Former Derby County player Randolph Galloway was the manager. 

Ricardo Zamora

He liked a drink (Cognac) and he liked a smoke (60 a day or Havana cigars, which he was once arrested for smuggling into Spain). Noted for spectacular saves and a trademark white sweater, Ricardo Zamora Martínez was probably the greatest goalkeeper of the first half of the 20th century. 

Club career:

RCD Espanyol  (1916–1919) Zamora's first success came in 1918 when Espanyol won the Campionat de Catalunya . He argued with the club directors and was transferred to Barcelona.

Barcelona (1919–1922)  At Barcelona  Zamora enjoyed 3 great years in which they won the Campionat de Catalunya 3 times (1919–20, 1920–21, 1921–22) and the Copa del Rey twice (1920, 1922).

RCD Espanyol (1922–1930) During Zamora's second spell at Espanyol he enjoyed another Campionat de Catalunya / Copa del Rey double (1928–29). He had begun inauspiciously though- suspended for a year for tax evasion relating to his signing on fee. 

Real Madrid (1930–1936) From 1931 onward the club was known as Madrid Football Club (during the Second Spanish Republic). The Copa del Rey became known as Copa de España: Madrid were winners in 1934 and 1936. They also won  La Liga twice (1931–32, 1932–33).

Catalunya
 Zamora played for the Catalunya team on a regular basis in the 1920s, winning the Copa Princep de Asturies 3 times (1922, 1924, 1926).

Spain
Zamora made his international debut in Spain's first official international- the 1-0 defeat of Denmark at the 1920 Olympics. Zamora's performances won him rave reviews during the tournament , but in only his 4th game, against Italy, he was sent off in the 79th minute for striking an opponent. Following the chaos of the final , Spain played Netherlands for the silver medal and won 3-1.
In the 1934 World Cup Spain beat Brazil in the first round. They then held hosts Italy to a 1-1 draw. Italy's roughhouse tactics put Zamora out of the replay (which, of course, Italy were never going to lose).

Zamora won 46 caps for Spain (W31-D7-L8). He conceded 42 goals and kept 20 clean sheets.

Despite being awarded the Order of the Republic in 1934, Zamora was not a Republican or a Catalan nationalist. 
During the Fascist war against the Republic the Fascists promoted the rumour that Zamora had been killed by Republicans. He was later taken prisoner by the Republicans (accused of having Fascist sympathies) and went into exile in France. 

La Liga 1929 - 1936

A director of the Basque club Arenas Club de Getxo first proposed a national league for the whole of Spain. 

The Real Federación Española de Fútbol selected 10 clubs to make up the original Primera División:  

Barcelona Real Madrid Athletic Bilbao Real Sociedad Arenas Club de Getxo Real Unión Irun	Selected as previous winners of the Copa del Rey
Atlético Madrid Espanyol Europa	Selected as previous runners up in  Copa del Rey
Racing de Santander	Qualified via tournament

1928-29 Barcelona
No Camp Nou (les Courts) or Bernabau (Estadio Chamartín), but a familiar look to the top of the first ever La Liga table, with Barcelona beating Real Madrid by two points. 

1929–30 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao were to emerge as the dominant team of the era. They won La Liga by 7 points from Barcelona,with a goal difference of +35 in an undefeated season.

1930–31 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Racing de Santander all finished the season on 22 points, but a goal difference of +40 ensured that Bilbao retained the title. 

1931–32 Madrid CF (Real Madrid)
Madrid  (no longer 'Royal' due to Spain becoming a Republic) won La Liga for the first time, going through the season undefeated with 28 points. 

1932–33  Madrid CF (Real Madrid)
28 points again won it for Madrid.

1933–34 Athletic Bilbao
Having finished runners up to Madrid in the two previous seasons Bilbao turned the tables, scoring 61 goals in the process (goal difference +34).

1934–35 Betis Balompié 
La Liga was expanded to 12 teams.
Managed by Patrick O'Connell, (an Irish international who had played for The Wednesday, Hull City and Manchester United) the side now known as Real Betis won their only La Liga title to date.

1935–36 Athletic Bilbao
A return to form for  Athletic Bilbao. They beat reigning champions Betis 7-0 at home (Bilbao scored 4 or more goals in 7 of their 11 home games).
Betis finished only 7th as they lost players to more affluent clubs. 
Real Oviedo's Isidro Lángara was top scorer for the third consecutive season (an aggregate of  81 goals in 61 league games).

The Fascist invasion of Republican Spain then led to The Civil War. Football was suspended and on its resumption in 1940 many surviving players who had supported the Republic were forced into permanent exile in South America.

Madrid Football Club

 1902

The first football club in Madrid was Football Club Sky, founded in 1897 by students (including some Cambridge and Oxford University graduates) from the Institución libre de enseñanza. 
In 1900 FC Sky dissolved, and two new clubs emerged- New Foot-ball Club de Madrid and Club Español de Madrid. The latter was founded by Julián Palacios who in 1902 was involved in the formal foundation of a new club, Madrid Football Club. The driving forces behind Madrid Football Club were (ironically) two Catalan brothers, Juan and Carlos Padrós .

Madrid Football Club chose their colours in honour of the famous English amateur club Corinthians- white jerseys and knickers, blue stockings and cap, and a purple sash with the emblem of Madrid.
Three days after the club's foundation a trial match was played between 'Reds' and 'Blues': 
Reds: J. Giralt, Melendez, Molera, Salvador, Valcárcel, Spottorno, Stampher, J. Palacios, Varela, Celada,Good.
Blues: Meléndez, J. Padrós, Spottorno, Gorostizaga, Mendía, Paramo, Neyra, A. Giralt, F. Palacios, Martens, Rodero.
The Blues won 1-0.

Carlos Padros, inspired by the Catalan Copa Macaya, initiated  the Copa de la Coronación in 1902. It was in this tournament that on May 13th, 1902, Madrid played their first ever game against their arch rivals Barcelona, losing 3-1.
On April 18th 1905 Madrid sealed their first Copa del Rey victory when they beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 (the first time Athletic Bilbao had lost a Copa fixture). This was the first of four successive Copa wins for Madrid.

1905

  In 1920 King Alfonso XIII awarded the club the title Real (Royal) .

Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol 1903

Athletic Bilbao 1903: Alejandro Acha, Luis Silva, Amado Arana , Enrique Goiri, George Cockran (England), Manuel Ansoleaga, Alejandro de la Sota, Eduardo Montejo, Juan de Astorquia, Cazeaux, Walter Evans (England).

 Following on from 1902's Copa de la Coronación, 1903 saw the first edition of the Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol- popularly known as the Copa del Rey.

This Round Robin tournament was contested by three teams from three provinces. All matches were played at the Hipódromo in Madrid.

Españyol were beaten 4-0 by Madrid and 4-1 by Bilbao.

In the deciding match a crowd of 5,000 saw Madrid take a 2-0 lead before Bilbao hit 3 second half goals.

Copa de la Coronación 1902

 Club Bizcaya 1902

Football was introduced to Spain as early as 1889, the first club,  Recreativo de Huelva  , being formed  by  British workers employed by the Rio Tinto Company. The first official game played in Spain took place in Seville on March 8, 1890. Sevilla FC (a team made up of eleven British workers from the Seville Water Works) played Recreativo de Huelva (9 British and 2 Spanish players). 

The first national competition was introduced in 1902. Some sources cite this as being the inaugral season of the Copa del Rey, but in fact the Copa de la Coronación, to celebrate the coronation of King Alfonso XIII,was a distinct, one-off event.

Five teams were represented:
Madrid FC (later to become Real Madrid)
FC Barcelona
Club Español de Foot-Ball (also of Barcelona)
New Foot-Ball de Madrid
Club Bizcaya* (a team made up of players from Athletic Club and Bilbao FC)

The two Bilbao clubs were founded in 1898 and 1900 respectively. They merged in 1903, becoming Athletic Bilbao.

In the Copa de la Coronación Club Bizcaya played their 3 matches on successive days, beating  Español 5-1, New Football 8-1 and overcoming Barcelona 2-1 in the final.

Despite Bilbao's strong connections with Britain, only 2 British players featured in the Club Bizcaya line up, the rest being Basques:

L. Arana, E. Careaga, P. Larrañaga, L. Silva, A. Arana, Goiri,Cacaeaux, Astorquia, Dyer, R. Silva, Evans

* or Vizcaya. The Province of  Biscay in Spanish is Vizcaya and in Basque it is Bizkaia. The name Bizcaya appears to be something of a hybrid.