Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan
Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Muñoz (Seville, December 21, 1900 - October 28, 1956) was a Sevillian lawyer known for being president of the Sevilla Fútbol Club football team for 17 years, in 2 different stages: 1932-1942, 1948-1956.
Biography
In 1923, at the age of 23, President Manuel Blasco Garzón appointed him a director with the position of secretary, and he continued in the same position with Juan Domínguez y Pérez de Vargas (Barón de Gracia Real), replacing him in the presidency on February 16, 1932, and holding the position of president until his departure to the Spanish Football Federation with the position of vice president on December 5, 1941. From the beginning he proved to be a very qualified, upright president, and with an overwhelming personality.
Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán belonged to the liberal party, rival of the conservative party, although he never linked his political opinions to his management at the head of Sevilla. A lawyer by profession, he always wanted to defend causes despite not being paid for it on many occasions. From the beginning he began to strengthen the team with the fixed idea of promoting to the highest category. That season, Sevilla signed Deva and Fede, from Alavés, Segura from Málaga, Silvosa from Racing de Ferrol and Torrontegui from Malagueño. However, that season Sevilla achieved a poor classification, so, for the following campaign, Seville made more additions: Euskalduna from Alavés, Pepe López from Atlético de Madrid and Tache from Barakaldo, among others. In the 1933/34 season, Sevilla became champions of the Second Division and was promoted to the First Division.
In the top category, the club's transfer policy does not change and reinforcements continue to arrive: Ayuela from Sestao, Epelde from Zaragoza, Palencia from Betis and Viri from Melilla. Sevilla finished the season in fifth place, but it would be in the Spanish Cup where success would be total when they were proclaimed Champion of 1935, in the final played in Madrid against Sabadell.
Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, in the face of the military uprising that led to the Spanish Civil War, apart from preserving the entire squad to prevent them from going to the front, with the help of Antonio Sánchez Ramos and coach Pepe Brand they put together a great squad of players capturing those who after the war would form the most important forward in the history of Sevilla; The “stuka” forward with López, Pepillo, Campanal, Raimundo and Berrocal, during the war, played more than 80 games throughout the so-called National Zone (area controlled by the fascist side), most of these games were charitable, for the of soldiers, orphaned children, soup kitchens, etc.
In 1939, under his mandate, Sevilla won its second Spanish Cup, this time against Rácing de Ferrol in a final played at the Montjuic stadium. In the 1939/40 season, Sevilla finished second in the League. The last season that Sánchez-Pizjuán - in this first stay - remained at Sevilla, the team was in fifth place in the General League, becoming the top scorer in the category with seventy goals scored, thanks to results as surprising as the victories over the Barcelona 11-1; over Valencia 10-3; over Hércules 8-3 or against Real Madrid 5-4. When the president of the Spanish Federation, Javier Barroso Sánchez-Guerra, asks Sánchez-Pizjuán to go to Madrid to take up the position of vice president of the federative body, Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán accepts because he believes that he is leaving Sevilla in good hands and that From Madrid he could continue helping Sevilla, as happened.
After occupying the vice presidency of the Spanish Football Federation, although also commanding from a distance, Sánchez-Pizjuán decides to end his stay in Madrid and return to Seville. Without a doubt, Sánchez-Pizjuán's return to Seville was motivated by his fatigue as a member of the federation and because the Marquis of Contadero, president of Sevilla, also feels tired and decides to abandon the position of Sevilla's top leader. What Sánchez-Pizjuán does not expect when he returns to Seville is that his right-hand man Antonio Sánchez Ramos will also compete with him for the seat of the presidency of Seville. The main powers of the club advise Sánchez Ramos to withdraw in his attempt to run for the presidency and he even accepts but, Sánchez-Pizjuán being aware of Sánchez Ramos' wish, he refuses to take command of the Sevillian ship if Before that, democratic elections are not held, so that the presidency of Seville can be occupied according to the will of the Sevillistas in an election. Once these were held, Sánchez-Pizjuán was elected by an almost absolute majority.
On May 5, Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán is elected president and on those dates, once the league championship is over, Sevilla moves firmly into the Cup with the purpose of proclaiming itself champion, something it happily achieves just two months after the new president having taken office. In this way, three of the four most important achievements achieved by Sevilla - the three Spanish Cups - are achieved with Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán as president. The League championship achieved in the 1945/46 season was achieved by Sevilla with the Marquis of Contadero in the presidency and Sánchez-Pizjuán in the Spanish Football Federation.
Other successes achieved by Sevilla under the mandate of its most emblematic president is a runners-up finish in the league in the 1950/51 season, that championship that eluded Sevilla due to the controversial alleged error by referee Azón in the last game of league in Nervión, validating a splendid goal scored by Araujo and minutes later invalidating it at the request of his linesman Saz. That season in Nervión the best three were defeated by four goals to zero: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Sevilla also scored a runner-up finish in the Cup, losing in the final to Athletic Club de Bilbao 1-0 in the 1955 final.
Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán placed Helenio Herrera on the Sevilla bench. After passing through the best teams in the world, shortly before his death in Venice he uttered the following phrase: «Of all the presidents I have known, without a doubt, the best has been Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, president of Sevilla»
The funeral, which was an outcry because of how much many Sevillistas and Sevillians loved him, will be remembered over the years in the same way that the phrase uttered by his predecessor as president of the Club - Ramón is remembered. by Carranza Gómez Pablo – at the funeral: «Dear Ramón, now we are going to give you your friends, among whom I am honored, a Christian burial, and the next day after delivering your body to the earth, we will get to work, and your dream of Sevilla FC having a great stadium will come true. Ramón, go calmly to heaven, your wishes will be fulfilled.
He planned the construction of the new stadium for Sevilla FC which, after his death, took his name: Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.
During his tenure, Sevilla FC won three Spanish Cups (1935, 1939 and 1948).