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Josep Samitier Vilalta (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛp səmitiˈe]; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, the Catalan XI, and Spain. He later coached Atlético Madrid, Nice and Barcelona and worked as a scout for both Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Josep Samitier

Samitier in 1928
Personal information
Full name	Josep Samitier Vilalta
Date of birth	(1902-02-02)2 February 1902
Place of birth	Barcelona, Spain
Date of death	4 May 1972(1972-05-04) (aged 70)
Place of death	Barcelona, Spain
Position(s)	forward
Youth career
1914–1916	Internacional
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1917–1919	Internacional	18	(1)
1919–1932	Barcelona	174	(133)
1932–1934	Real Madrid	14	(7)
1936–1939	Nice	48	(21)
National team
1920-1936	Catalan XI	26	(20)
1920–1931	Spain	21	(2)
Teams managed
1936	Atlético Madrid
1942	Nice
1944–1947	Barcelona
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain
Olympic Games
	1920 Antwerp	Team competition

During his playing career with Barcelona, Samitier scored 187 official goals and was the club's all-time highest goalscorer at the time of his retirement. As of 2020, he is the club's fifth all-time top goalscorer behind Luis Suárez, László Kubala, César, and Lionel Messi. As a player, Samitier pioneered the midfield general role and was nicknamed Surrealista (The Surrealist) and Home Magosta (The Grasshopper Man)[1] due to his style.

As a manager, he led Barcelona to a title in La Liga in 1945, and as a scout he recruited another Barcelona legend, László Kubala. However, Samitier was later accused of acting as a double agent when the club tried to sign Alfredo Di Stéfano, and in the 1960s, he fell out with Helenio Herrera and went to work for Real Madrid. Despite his role in the Di Stéfano affair,[1] twice defecting to Real Madrid, and his friendship with Francisco Franco,[1] Samitier remained a legendary figure of FC Barcelona.^{[citation needed]} When he died in 1972, he was given a state funeral and a street that leads to Camp Nou.[1]

Club career

Early life

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Samitier played as a junior for FC Internacional before, at the age of 17, he made his debut for FC Barcelona in 1919. As his signing-on bonus, he received a luminous watch and a three-piece suit. Among his teammates at the club was his childhood friend Sagibarba. During holidays at the Catalan resort of Cadaqués, Samitier and Sagibarba had played football with, among others, Salvador Dalí. He was also friends with the famous Spanish artist Salvador Dali.[2]

FC Barcelona

By 1925 Samitier was the highest paid player in Spain. He was a member of the legendary FC Barcelona team, coached by Jack Greenwell, that, apart from Sagibarba, also included Paulino Alcántara, Ricardo Zamora, Félix Sesúmaga and, later, Franz Platko. Between 1919 and 1933 he won twelve Campionat de Catalunya titles, five Copa del Rey and the very first La Liga title. Among the goals he scored were four in the Copa del Rey finals of 1922, 1925, 1926 and 1928.

Madrid CF

In 1933 an aging Samiter found himself in dispute with the FC Barcelona management and he was dropped from the first team. Real Madrid, then known as Madrid CF, were quick to take advantage of the situation. Samitier was reunited with both his friend Ricardo Zamora and then Francisco Bru. Although his career with the Madrid club was short, he did help them win a title in La Liga 1932–33 and the Copa de España in 1934.

Samitier Tribute

May 13, 1934. Tribute to Samitier. In Madrid (Chamartin) MADRID FC - español 8-2 Referee: Canga Arguelles Goals: 1-0 Samitier 7´, 2-0 Eugenio 14´, 2-1 Iriondo 15´, 3-1 Hilario 34´, 4-1 l. Regueiro 36´, 5-1 Olivares 51´, 5-2 Padrón 62´, 6-2 Lazcano 78´, 7-2 Eugenio 85´, 8-2 Samitier 88´. Madrid: Zamora (Cayol 45´); Quesada, Maciá, P. Regueiro (Sauto), Bonet, Gurruchaga, (Valle 45´), Lazcano, L. Regueiro (Olivares 45´) Samitier, Hilario, Eugenio, Español: Martorell (Eizaguirre 45´); Mas, Pérez, Cifuentes, Solé (Antero 45´), Cristiá, Prat, Edelmiro, Iriondo, Padrón, Bosch.

Exile in France

In 1936 Samitier made a brief start to his career as a coach. He succeeded Fred Pentland at Atlético Madrid in the middle of the season, but failed to prevent them from being relegated. However Samitier's new career and Atlético's relegation were postponed with the start of the Spanish Civil War. He found himself arrested by an anarchist militia, but was eventually released and left for France on a warship. His escape was later used by the Nationalist side in an account printed in Marca. In October 1936 he joined OGC Nice as a player, where he was reunited once again with Ricardo Zamora. He subsequently scored 21 goals in 48 matches for the French team.[3] He eventually retired as a player in 1939 and was briefly coach at OGC Nice in 1942.

Return to Barcelona

Samitier returned to Spain and became manager of CF Barcelona in 1944. In 1945 he guided them to only their second ever La Liga title. Then they beat the Copa del Generalísimo winners Atlético Bilbao to win the Copa de Oro Argentina. Samitier subsequently worked as the clubs chief scout and was instrumental in the recruitment of another CF Barcelona legend Ladislao Kubala.

In the summer of 1950 Kubala arrived in Spain with his own team, Hungaria. The team was made up of fellow refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. They played a series of friendlies against a Madrid Select XI, a Spain XI and RCD Español. During these games, Kubala was spotted by both Real Madrid and Samitier. Kubala was offered a contract by Real but was then persuaded by Samitier to sign for CF Barcelona. It has been suggested that Samitier used his connections within Francoist Spain to help arrange the transfer. In the midst of the Cold War, Kubala's escape to the West was used by Francoist Spain and was made into a film The Stars Search for Peace which saw Kubala and Samitier playing themselves.

Club stats

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Regional championship		Totals		Ref.
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Internacional	1916–17	La Liga	0	0	0	0	5	0	5	0	[4]
	1917–18		0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0	[4]
	1918–19		0	0	0	0	9	1	9	1	[4]
	Total		0	0	0	0	18	1	18	1	–
FC Barcelona	1919–20	La Liga	0	0	3	0	10	0	13	0
	1920–21		0	0	0	0	12	1	12	1	[4]
	1921–22		0	0	5	2	6	0	12	2	[4]
	1922–23		0	0	0	0	10	0	10	0	[4]
	1923–24		0	0	7	4	10	14	17	18	[4]
	1924–25		0	0	8	10	12	10	20	20	[4]
	1925–26		0	0	5	8	10	7	15	15	[4]
	1926–27		0	0	7	4	14	21	21	25	[4]
	1927–28		0	0	15	21	10	16	25	37	[4]
	1928–29		13	7	7	5	4	2	24	14	[4]
	1929–30		2	3	8	7	9	2	19	12	[4]
	1930–31		1	0	1	3	4	5	6	8	[4]
	1931–32		12	10	8	1	12	14	32	25	[4]
	1932–33		0	0	0	0	6	10	6	10	[4]
	Total		28	21	75	64	129	102	232	187	–
Real Madrid CF	1932–33	La Liga	6	3	0	0			6	3	[4]
	1933–34		2	1	8	5	5	3	15	9	[4]
	Total		8	4	8	5	5	3	21	12	–
Career total			36	25	83	69	152	106	271	200	–

International career

In 1920 together with Ricardo Zamora, Félix Sesúmaga, Pichichi and José María Belauste, Samitier was also a member of the first ever Spanish national squad. The squad, coached by Francisco Bru, won the silver medal at the 1920 Olympic Games.[5] He subsequently made 21 appearances and scored 2 goals for Spain.

Samitier also played 26 games and scored at least 20 goals for the Catalan XI. However records from the era do not always include accurate statistics and he may have played and scored more. Together with Paulino Alcántara, Sagibarba and Ricardo Zamora he helped the Catalan XI win an inter-regional competition, the Copa Princep de Asturies, three times during the 1920s. In the 1924 final he scored twice in a 4–4 draw against a Castile XI and scored again in the 3–2 replay. His last game for the Catalan XI was his own testimonial on 19 January 1936 at the Les Corts. He scored in a 1–1 draw with SK Sidenice of Czechoslovakia.

International stats

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Samitier goal.^{[citation needed]}

List of international goals scored by josep samitier

No.	Date	Venue	Appearance	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	21 December 1924	Camp de Les Corts, Barcelona, Spain	11	Austria	2–1	2–1	friendly
2	13 December 1931	Dalymount Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	21	Republic of Ireland	4–0	5–0

Honours

Player

Club

FC Barcelona

• La Liga: 1929
• Copa del Rey (5): 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928
• Catalan Championship (12): 1918–19, 1919–20, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32

Madrid CF

• La Liga: 1932–33
• Copa del Rey: 1934

International

Spain

• Olympic Games Silver medal: 1920

Catalan XI

• Copa Princep de Asturies: 1922, 1924, 1926

Manager

CF Barcelona

• La Liga: 1944–45
• Copa de Oro Argentina: 1945

Citations

References

• Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (2003), Phil Ball.
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Josep Samitier". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.

External links

• Samitier at www.fcbarcelona.com
• La Liga player stats
• Spain stats
• La Liga manager stats
• Josep Samitier at BDFutbol

На других языках

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- [en] Josep Samitier

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[es] José Samitier

José Samitier Vilalta[1] o Josep Samitier Vilalta[2] (Barcelona, 2 de febrero de 1902-ibídem, 4 de mayo de 1972) fue un jugador y entrenador de fútbol español, que desarrolló la mayor parte de su carrera deportiva en el Fútbol Club Barcelona antes de pasar dos años al Real Madrid Club de Fútbol y finalizar su carrera en el Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice francés.

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[fr] Josep Samitier

Josep Samitier Vilalta souvent appelé Pepe Samitier, né le 2 février 1902 à Barcelone et mort le 4 mai 1972 dans sa ville natale, est un footballeur international espagnol reconverti entraîneur, qui passe la plus grande partie de sa carrière au FC Barcelone.

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[it] Josep Samitier

Josep Samitier Vilalta (Barcellona, 2 febbraio 1902 – Barcellona, 5 maggio 1972) è stato un calciatore e allenatore di calcio spagnolo.

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[ru] Самитьер, Хосеп

Хосе́п[1] Самитье́р-и-Вила́льта (кат. Josep Samitier i Vilalta; 2 февраля 1902, Барселона — 5 мая 1972, там же) — испанский футболист и тренер. По общему количеству голов за «Барселону» занимает пятое место в истории клуба. В составе каталонского клуба выиграл первый в истории чемпионат Испании и стал пятикратным обладателем национального кубка. Также по разу выигрывал чемпионат и кубок в составе мадридского «Реала». Вернувшись в «Барселону» в качестве главного тренера, выиграл чемпионат и тогдашнюю вариацию современного Суперкубка — Золотой Кубок Аргентины (первый и последний в истории). В составе национальной сборной Испании Самитьер становился серебряным призёром Олимпийских Игр 1920 в Антверпене. В составе сборной Каталонии трижды выигрывал Кубок Принца Астурийского — престижный в своё время турнир, проводившийся между сборными испанских провинций. Известный историк Хосеп Термес называет Самитьера «социальным явлением»[2] в испанском и каталонском футболе 1920-х гг.

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