Ricardo Zamora

Ricardo Zamora Martínez (Barcelona, January 21, 1901-Ibid., September 8, 1978) was a Spanish footballer and coach of the first third of the century xx that achieved great relevance throughout his career. Historical goalkeeper of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol and Real Club Deportivo Español, he is considered the first crack of Spanish football, and in his honor the "Zamora Trophy" was instituted in 1959, which rewards the goalkeeper with the least thrashed every season in the league championship.

After finishing his career as a soccer player, he developed an extensive career as a coach where two league titles won with Club Atlético de Madrid (which at that time was called Athletic-Aviación Club) stand out, the first in its history. When he totally retired from soccer, he worked as an employee of the Spanish club until, practically, the day of his death.

During the 1920s and 1930s, he was considered one of the best players in the world, as well as one of the first cases of a "media player" in the history of Spanish football. He even starred in two feature films, Zamora finally gets married (1926) and Campeones (1942).

He has a square with his name in Barcelona, in the Sarriá neighborhood, next to the now-defunct Sarriá Stadium. He was posthumously awarded Spain's Gold Medal for Sports Merit His son, Ricardo Zamora de Grassa was also a footballer (and goalkeeper), playing several seasons in the First Division and being known as Ricardo Zamora II.

He also gives his name to a curious goalkeeper clearance movement with the elbow, invented by him and which has since been known as zamorana.

Due to his performances, achievements and career, he was posthumously inducted by FIFA into the Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012, being the second goalkeeper to be recognized after Lev Yashin.

Trajectory

Beginnings and consecration in Spain

When Ricardo Zamora was born, soccer was still in its infancy in Spain, with just a handful of clubs set up to practice it. In 1916, at the age of fifteen, he signed for the Real Club Deportivo Español, after playing a series of friendly matches with the club. He had previously played four games in the Catalan Championship with the Universitary Sport Club. As a Spanish supporter, he played his first game on April 23, 1916 against Madrid Football Club, which ended in a goalless tie.

Ricardo Zamora in a match with the Spanish.

In 1919 he decided to resume his studies, at the request of his family who wanted him to study medicine like his father, so he abandoned the Spanish discipline. However, and in the face of family opposition, he resumed activity after a large offer from the city's rival club, Football Club Barcelona, which he accepted after an anger with the Spanish board, as Zamora himself explained years later:

“I had promised my parents that I would leave football to finish my studies. But I kept meeting friends to play and the Barça board came to talk to me. Little did it cost them to convince me to take the boots and gloves again.”.

Ricardo Zamora.

He was a Barça player for three seasons, with which he won his first title in 1920: the 1920 Spanish Cup Championship by beating Athletic Club 2-0, and which he repeated in the 1922 edition by winning by 5-1 to Real Union Club. The anniversary of his first Cup was in the same year that the Spanish team was formed with a view to participating in the Antwerp Olympic Games and Zamora was not only part of it, but also became the figure of the team and achieved recognition for part of other countries, which helped him to consecrate himself internationally. Spain achieved the silver medal in those Games, which for decades was the most relevant title achieved by Spanish football.

After asking the club for a file increase and not obtaining it, he returned to the Spanish team, where he stayed for another eight years. It was with them that he made his debut in what eventually became the highest club competition in the country, the League Championship, since it was finally established in the 1928-29 season, and after an unsuccessful attempt the previous year. He repeated as Cup champion in the 1929 edition after beating Real Madrid Football Club 2-1 in the final, which would be his next team.

It was in 1930 when Ricardo Zamora signed for the Madrid team, who paid 150,000 pesetas for him, one of the highest prices of the time.. The president of R. C. D. Español never believed that when requesting that price in a possible transfer there would be a team willing to accept, but the then Madrid president Luis Usera did. He came to the club along with Ciriaco Errasti and Jacinto Quincoces, historical and international defenders, making up one of the great defenses in Spanish football. He made his debut with the Madrid club on October 5 against Racing Club de Madrid in a Central Regional Championship match. A week later, the player was seriously injured when he broke his clavicle in the match against Athletic Club (Madrid Branch) and was away from the pitch until January 25, 1931. It was the first of the six seasons he played in the capital and where he played a total of 152 matches in all competitions. Like them, he won two League Championships in 1931-32 and 1932-33, and another two Cup Championships —for a total of five to his credit— in the 1934 and 1936 editions. Zamora in discount time of the match, marked as the culmination of his career and which was followed by his sports retirement. This was cut short by a convulsive political situation in the country that led to the outbreak of the Civil War and which led to the suspension of sports activities between 1936 and 1939. Unfortunately, Zamora was one of those who suffered it in the first person.

Exile in France

At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and after spending a few weeks in hiding, he was arrested by the Government of the Republic. Despite the fact that there were rumors of his execution, after the intercession of the Argentine government he was released. He went into exile in January 1937 aboard the steamer Tucumán that left Valencia for Marseilles, where he arrived on January 28. On the trip, some journalists from the newspapers ABC, Ya and other Madrid media left Spain. Zamora settled in the French city of Nice in March 1937, where together with another Spanish footballer, José Samitier, joined the ranks of the local team, the Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice. There he played his last year and a half in sports, combining his position with that of coach in the 1937-38 season.

Career as a coach

After the war ended on April 1, 1939, he returned to Spain where he began his career as a coach.

For seven seasons he was in charge of Atlético de Madrid (known then as Athletic-Aviación Club), winning two league titles. Later he occupied the benches of the Real Club Celta de Vigo for eight seasons in three different stages, the now-defunct Club Deportivo Málaga and the Real Club Deportivo Español, the club of his life. He was also the Spain coach in 1952 and technical director of the La Salle Fútbol Club in Caracas, Venezuela in 1953. He reached two other finals of the Spanish Cup Championship (then called the Generalísimo Cup), one with the team from Vigo in 1948 and another with the Spanish in 1957.

Statistics

Clubs

Updated data to end of sports career.

In the 1915-16 season he was a member of the Universitary Sport Club, but at the end of it he toured Spain with the Real Club Deportivo Español, before officially signing, making his debut in the 1916-17 academic year. Halfway through the 1937 season he joined the Olympique Gymnaste Club in Nice —where José Samitier played—, and the following season he participated in the French club as a player-coach, playing only four games.

Club	Season	Div.	League		Cup		Regional		Total		Media Shotgun
			Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Universitary S. C.	1915-16	1.a C.	Non-existent		-	-	4	-7	4	-7	1.75
R. C. D. Spanish	1916-17	1.a C.	Non-existent		-	-	15	-10	15	-10	0.67
R. C. D. Spanish	1917-18		Non-existent		3	-3	10	-10	13	-13	1
R. C. D. Spanish	1918-19		Non-existent		-	-	4	-2	4	-2	0.50
F. C. Barcelona	1919-20	1.a C.	Non-existent		3	-4	10	-5	13	-9	0.69
F. C. Barcelona	1920-21		Non-existent		-	-	12	-11	12	-11	0.92
F. C. Barcelona	1921-22		Non-existent		5	-5	6	-7	11	-12	1.09
Total F. C. Barcelona			0	0	8	-9	28	-23	36	-32	0.89
R. C. D. Spanish	1922-23	1.a C.	Non-existent		-	-	2	-2	2	-2	1
R. C. D. Spanish	1923-24		Non-existent		-	-	9	-8	9	-8	0.89
R. C. D. Spanish	1924-25		Non-existent		-	-	13	-14	13	-14	1.08
R. C. D. Spanish	1925-26		Non-existent		7	-9	7	-2	14	-11	0.79
R. C. D. Spanish	1926-27		Non-existent		-	-	8	-9	8	-9	1.13
R. C. D. Spanish	1927-28		Non-existent		-	-	14	-11	14	-11	0.79
R. C. D. Spanish	1928-29	1. a	15	-24	9	-15	7	-2	31	-41	1.32
R. C. D. Spanish	1929-30		11	- 20	7	-6	9	-14	27	- 40	1.48
Total R. C. D. Spanish			26	- 44	26	- 30	98	- 84.	150	-158	1.05
Real Madrid F. C.	1930-31	1. a	12	-13	5	-5	2	-3	19	-21	1.11
Madrid F. C.	1931-32		17	-15	-	-	8	-6	25	-21	0.84
Madrid F. C.	1932-33		18	- 17	9	-6	10	-7	37	- 30	0.81
Madrid F. C.	1933-34		12	- 20	9	-7	9	-10	30	-37	1.23
Madrid F. C.	1934-35		16	-24	1	-	9	-10	26	34	1.31
Madrid F. C.	1935-36		7	-11	6	-5	2	-	15	-16	1.07
Total Madrid F. C.			82	- 100	30	-26	40	- 36	152	-162	1.07
O. G. C. Nice	1936-37	2. a	-	-	-	-	Non-existent		0	0	0
O. G. C. Nice	1937-38		4	?	-	-	Non-existent		4	?	?
Total career			112	-144	64	- 65	170	- 150	346	-359	1.04
↑ There was no League Championship (1914-27). 1.a category clubs by the Catalan Federation. ↑ Includes data from the Spanish Cup (1914-27). ↑ Includes data from the Central Regional Championship (1914-27). ↑ It does not include goals in friendly matches.

As a coach

Club	Country	Year
O. G. C. Nice	France	1937-38
Athletic-Aviation	Spain	1939-46
R. C. Vigo Celt	Spain	1946-49
C. D. Malaga	Spain	1949-51
Selection of Spain		1952
La Salle FC	Venezuela	1953
R. C. Vigo Celt	Spain	1953-55
R. C. D. Spanish	Spain	1955-57
R. C. Vigo Celt	Spain	1957-60
R. C. D. Spanish	Spain	1960-62

Honours of Prizes

As a player

Title	Club	Year
Cup	F. C. Barcelona	1920
Cup		1922
Cup	R. C. D. Spanish	1929
League Championship	Madrid F. C.	1932
League Championship		1933
Cup		1934
Cup		1936

As a coach

Title	Club	Year
League Championship	Athletic-Aviation Club	1940
League Championship		1941

Individual awards