View source for Josep Samitier

{{Short description|Spanish football player and manager (1902–1972)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{family name hatnote|Samitier|Vilalta|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Josep Samitier
| image          = Josep Samitier.jpg
| caption        = Samitier in 1928
| fullname       = José Enrique Ignacio Samitier Vilalta<ref name="eufootball">{{cite web |title=José Samitier, international footballer |url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=18381 |website=eu-football.info |access-date=19 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1902|2|2|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Barcelona]], Spain
| death_date     = {{Death date and age|1972|5|4|1902|2|2|df=y}}
| death_place    = Barcelona, Spain
| currentclub    = 
| position       = [[Forward (association football)|Forward]]
| youthyears1    = 1914–1916
| youthclubs1    = Internacional
| years1         = 1917–1919
| years2         = 1919–1932
| years3         = 1932–1934
| years4         = 1936–1939
| clubs1         = [[FC Internacional]]
| clubs2         = [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]]
| clubs3         = [[Real Madrid CF|Real Madrid]]
| clubs4         = [[OGC Nice|Nice]]
| caps1          = 18
| caps2          = 174
| caps3          = 14
| caps4          = 48
| goals1         = 1
| goals2         = 133
| goals3         = 7
| goals4         = 21
| totalcaps      = 254
| totalgoals     = 162
| nationalyears1 = 1920–1936
| nationalyears2 = 1920–1931
| nationalteam1  = [[Catalonia national football team|Catalan XI]]
| nationalteam2  = [[Spain national football team|Spain]]
| nationalcaps1  = 26
| nationalcaps2  = 21
| nationalgoals1 = 20
| nationalgoals2 = 2
| manageryears1  = 1936
| manageryears2  = 1942
| manageryears3  = 1944–1947
| managerclubs1  = [[Atlético Madrid]]
| managerclubs2  = [[OGC Nice|Nice]]
| managerclubs3  = [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]]
}}
{{MedalTableTop | name = no | medals = 
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Association football|football]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{ESP}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Antwerp]] | [[Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics|Team competition]] }}
}}

'''Josep Samitier Vilalta''' ({{IPA|ca|ʒuˈzɛp səmitiˈe}}; 2 February 1902<ref>{{Cite web |title=Registro de nacimientos 1902 |url=https://catalegarxiumunicipal.bcn.cat/ms-opac/image-file/byte?f=/opt/baratz/mediasearch/cache/raw/1/000005b7/1463280/2910028111111.pdf#page=7 |access-date=27 March 2023}}</ref> – 4 May 1972), also known as '''José Samitier''', was a Spanish [[Association football|football]] player, manager and scout who played as a [[midfielder]] for [[FC Barcelona]], [[Real Madrid CF|Real Madrid]], [[OGC Nice]], the [[Catalonia national football team|Catalan XI]], and [[Spain national football team|Spain]]. He later coached [[Atlético Madrid]], Nice and Barcelona and worked as a scout for both Barcelona and Real Madrid.

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 Rodríguez Álvarez|César]], and [[Lionel Messi]]. As a player, Samitier pioneered the ''midfield general'' role and was nicknamed ''Surrealista'' (''The Surrealist'') and ''Home Llagosta'' (''The Grasshopper Man'')<ref name=FP /> 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,<ref name="FP">{{cite web|url=https://www.footballparadise.com/josep-samitier/ |title=Salvador Dali's Favourite Footballer – Surrealista, Josep Samitier |last=Das |first=Srijandeep |date=28 November 2017 |access-date=8 January 2018 |work=[[Football Paradise]] }}</ref> twice defecting to [[Real Madrid]], and his friendship with [[Francisco Franco]],<ref name="FP" /> Samitier remained a legendary figure of FC Barcelona.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} When he died in 1972, he was given a state funeral and a street that leads to [[Camp Nou]].<ref name="FP" />

==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 [[Emilio Sagi Liñán|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 Dalí.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C7zKauiqMG8C|title=El fútbol tiene música|last=Martín Otín|first=José Antonio|publisher=Córner|year=2011|isbn=978-8415242000|chapter=Un tanguito de arrabal}}</ref>

===FC Barcelona===
By 1925 Samitier was the highest-paid player in [[Football in Spain|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 [[Catalan football championship|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 [[1932–33 La Liga|La Liga 1932–33]] and the [[Copa de España]] in 1934.

=== Samitier Tribute  ===
The tribute match to Samitier was held on 13 May 1934 at [[Estadio Chamartín]] in [[Madrid]], between Madrid FC and [[RCD Espanyol|Espanyol]], and Samitier scored both the first and the last goals of an 8–2 win. Other Madrid goalscorers include the likes of [[Eugenio Hilario|Eugenio]], [[Hilario (footballer, born 1905)|Hilario]], [[Luis Regueiro]] and [[Jaime Lazcano|Lazcano]], while [[José Padrón]] scored one of Espanyol's consolation goals.

'''Madrid''': [[Ricardo Zamora|Zamora]] ([[Gilberto Cayol|Cayol]] 45´); [[Félix Quesada|Quesada]], Maciá, [[Pedro Regueiro|P. Regueiro]] ([[José Ramón Sauto|Sauto]]), [[Antonio Bonet (footballer)|Bonet]], [[Manuel Gurruchaga|Gurruchaga]], ([[Luis Valle Benítez|Valle]] 45´), [[Jaime Lazcano|Lazcano]], [[Luis Regueiro|L. Regueiro]] ([[Manuel Olivares|Olivares]] 45´) Samitier, [[Hilario (footballer, born 1905)|Hilario]] and [[Eugenio Hilario|Eugenio]].

'''Espanyol''': [[Alberto Martorell (footballer)|Martorell]] ([[Agustín Eizaguirre|Eizaguirre]] 45´); [[Enrique Mas|Mas]], Pérez, [[Esteban Cifuentes|Cifuentes]], [[Pedro Solé|Solé]] (Antero 45´), [[José Cristià|Cristià]], [[Pachuco Prats|Prats]], [[Edelmiro Lorenzo|Edelmiro]], [[Francisco Iriondo|Iriondo]], [[José Padrón|Padrón]] and [[Crisant Bosch|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 faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist side]] in an account printed in [[Marca (newspaper)|''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.<ref>{{cite web |title=La fiche de Josep Samitier |url=https://www.ogcnice.com/fr/fiche/3319/josep-samitier.html |website=OGC Nice |language=fr}}</ref> 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 [[La Liga 1944–45|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 [[FC Barcelona|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 national football team|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.

==International career==
In 1920, together with [[Ricardo Zamora]], [[Félix Sesúmaga]], [[Pichichi (footballer)|Pichichi]] and [[José María Belauste]], Samitier was a member of the first ever [[Spain national football team|Spain national team]]. The squad, coached by [[Francisco Bru]], won the silver medal at the [[Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics|1920 Olympic Games]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/24947 |title=Josep Samitier |work=Olympedia |access-date=15 August 2021}}</ref> He subsequently made 21 appearances and scored 2 goals for Spain.<ref name="eufootball"/>

Samitier also played 26 games and scored at least 20 goals for the [[Catalonia national football team|Catalan XI]].{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} However, records from the era do not always include accurate statistics and he may have played and scored more. Together with [[Paulino Alcántara]], [[Emili Sagi-Barba|Sagibarba]] and Zamora, he helped the Catalan XI win the [[Prince of Asturias Cup]] twice in the 1920s, winning the inter-regional competition in [[1923-24 Prince of Asturias Cup|1923–24]] and [[Prince of Asturias Cup#Prince of Asturias Cup VII|1926]]. In the [[1924 Prince of Asturias Cup Final|1924 final]], he scored twice in a 4–4 draw against [[Madrid autonomous football team|Castile/Madrid XI]] and scored again in the replay as the Catalan team won 3–2.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cihefe.es/cuadernosdefutbol/2009/09/la-copa-principe-de-asturias/ |title=La Copa Príncipe de Asturias |trans-title=The Prince of Asturias Cup |language=es |publisher=[[:es:Centro de Investigaciones de Historia y Estadística del Fútbol Español|CIHEFE]] |author=Vicente Martínez Calatrava |date=17 August 2009 |accessdate=11 June 2022 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414023118/http://www.cihefe.es/cuadernosdefutbol/2009/09/la-copa-principe-de-asturias/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Catalonia faced [[Czechoslovakia national football team|Czechoslovakia]] twice in 1925 and 1926, and Samitier managed to score in both games, a 2–1 win and a 2–1 defeat, respecteviely.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/1925/12/14/pagina-1/623985/pdf.html#&mode=fullScreen |title=Cataluna batió Praga por 2 goals a 1 |trans-title=Catalonia beat Prague 2–1 |language=es |publisher=Hemeroteca |website=hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com |date=14 December 1925 |accessdate=24 June 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/1926/07/08/pagina-1/623126/pdf.html#&mode=fullScreen |title= Praga batió Cataluna por 2 goals a 1 ayer |trans-title=Prague beat Catalonia 2–1 yesterday |language=es |publisher=Hemeroteca |website=hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com |date=8 July 1926 |accessdate=24 June 2022 }}</ref> His last game for the Catalan XI was his own testimonial on 19 January 1936 at the [[Camp de Les Corts|''Les Corts'']]. He scored in a 1–1 draw with SK Sidenice of [[Czechoslovakia]].

==Career statistics==
===Club===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|[[La Liga|League]]
!colspan="2"|[[Copa del Rey|Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[Catalan football championship|Regional]]
!colspan="2"|Friendly 
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="4"|Internacional 
|1916–17
|rowspan="3"|[[La Liga]]
|0||0||0||0||5||0||||||5||0
|-
|1917–18
|0||0||0||0||4||0||||||4||0
|-
|1918–19
|0||0||0||0||9||1||||||9||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!0||0||0||0||18||1||||||18||1
|-
|rowspan="18"|[[FC Barcelona]]
|1918–19
|rowspan="17"|La Liga
|0||0||0||0||0||0||1||1||1||1
|-
|1919–20
|0||0||3||0||10||0||30||2||43||2
|-
|1920–21
|0||0||0||0||12||1||33||0||45||1
|-
|1921–22
|0||0||5||2||7||0||37||22||49||24
|-
|1922–23
|0||0||0||0||10||0||48||21||58||21
|-
|1923–24
|0||0||7||5||10||14||27||41||44||60
|-
|1924–25
|0||0||8||10||12||10||17||12||37||32
|-
|1925–26
|0||0||4||8||10||7||6||3||21||17
|-
|1926–27
|0||0||7||3||14||21||25||23||46||47
|-
|1927–28
|0||0||15||21||10||16||10||13||35||50
|-
|1928–29
|13||7||7||4||4||2||6||4||30||17
|-
|1929–30
|2||3||9||7||9||2||8||8||28||20
|-
|1930–31
|1||0||3||2||4||5||12||19||20||26
|-
|1931–32
|12||11||7||1||12||14||5||2||36||28
|-
|1932–33
|0||0||0||0||6||10||4||3||10||13
|-
|1934–35
|0||0||0||0||0||0||1||2||1||2
|-
|1935–36
|0||0||0||0||0||0||1||3||1||3
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!28||21||73||63||130||102||271||179||504||365
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Real Madrid CF]]
|1932–33
|rowspan="2"|La Liga
|6||3||0||0||||||||||6||3
|-
|1933–34
|2||1||8||5||5||3||||||15||9
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!8||4||8||5||5||3||||||21||12
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!36!!25!!81!!68!!153!!106!!271!!179!!543!!378
|}

===International===
:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Samitier goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Josep Samitier<ref name="eufootball"/>
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Appearance
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| align="center"|1 || 21 December 1924 || [[Camp de Les Corts]], [[Barcelona]], Spain || align="center"|11 || {{fb|AUT}} || align="center"|2–1 || align="center"|2–1 || rowspan=2 | [[Exhibition game|Friendly]]
|-
| align="center"|2 || 13 December 1931 || [[Dalymount Park]], [[Dublin]], Republic of Ireland|| align="center"|21|| {{fb|IRL}} || align="center"|4–0 || align="center"|5–0
|}

==Honours==
===Player===
====Club====
'''FC Barcelona'''
*[[La Liga]]: [[1929 La Liga|1929]]
*[[Copa del Rey]] (5): [[1920 Copa del Rey|1920]], [[1922 Copa del Rey|1922]], [[1925 Copa del Rey|1925]], [[1926 Copa del Rey|1926]], [[1928 Copa del Rey|1928]]
*[[Catalan football championship|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 La Liga|1932–33]]
*Copa del Rey: [[1934 Copa del Presidente de la República|1934]]

====International====
'''Spain'''
*[[Football at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] Silver medal: [[Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics|1920]]

'''Catalan XI'''

*[[Prince of Asturias Cup]]: [[1923-24 Prince of Asturias Cup|1923-24]] and [[Prince of Asturias Cup#Prince of Asturias Cup VII|1926]]

===Manager===
'''CF Barcelona'''
* La Liga: [[1944–45 La Liga|1944–45]]
* [[Copa de Oro Argentina]]: 1945

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* ''Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football'' (2003), Phil Ball. [https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0954013468]
* {{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sa/samitier-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418085340/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sa/samitier-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-04-18}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061020111816/http://www.fcbarcelona.com/eng/historia/historia/josepsamitier.shtml   Samitier at www.fcbarcelona.com]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070122011958/http://www.lfp.es/historico/primera/plantillas/historial.asp?jug=0036 La Liga player stats]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070308063559/http://futbol.sportec.es/seleccion/ficha_jugador.asp?j=583&n=samitier%2Fjose%2Fsamitier%2Fvilalta   Spain stats]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070122012117/http://www.lfp.es/historico/primera/entrenadores/historial.asp?ent=032  La Liga manager stats]
*{{BDFutbol|10194}}

{{Navboxes
| title = Spain squads
| bg = #C60B1E
| fg = #FFC400
| bordercolor = #000033
| list = 
{{Spain football squad 1920 Summer Olympics}}
{{Spain football squad 1924 Summer Olympics}}
}}
{{La Liga winning managers}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Managerial positions
| list = 
{{Atlético Madrid managers}}
{{OGC Nice managers}}
{{FC Barcelona managers}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samitier, Josep}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:Spanish men's footballers]]
[[Category:Spanish football managers]]
[[Category:Spain men's international footballers]]
[[Category:La Liga managers]]
[[Category:Atlético Madrid managers]]
[[Category:FC Barcelona managers]]
[[Category:OGC Nice managers]]
[[Category:La Liga players]]
[[Category:Real Madrid CF players]]
[[Category:FC Barcelona players]]
[[Category:OGC Nice players]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic footballers for Spain]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for Spain]]
[[Category:Footballers from Barcelona]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in football]]
[[Category:Spanish expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Spanish expatriate football managers]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in France]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in France]]
[[Category:Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:Catalonia men's international footballers]]
[[Category:20th-century Spanish sportsmen]]