Agustín Peris de Vargas

Agustin Peris de Vargas (1880 – 27 August 1948) was a Spanish sports journalist and pioneer of baseball and football in Catalonia, who held managerial positions in the respective federations as a founder and the first president of the (1929–1939) and the treasurer of the Catalan Football Federation.

He played both sports in his youth, participating in the very first documented baseball match held in Spain in 1901 Apart from playing football and baseball, a sport he practiced until he was over fifty years old, he was also a swimmer and an athlete and worked as a journalist in several publications of his time, including the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, in which he signed the chronicles under the pseudonym "Strike".

Early life Peris was born in 1880 in Cuba, to a Valencian father, Joaquín Peris Serrano, a military man, and an Asturian mother. He was the second son of seven children, including three brothers, Joaquín, Lisandro and Enrique. The four Peris de Vargas brothers were all great athletes, standing out mostly as footballers, but Agustin differs from the other brothers in that, in addition to playing football, he also pioneered baseball in Spain. In 1906, the club had to suspend its activities due to a lack of players, so most of the remaining FCI players, including his brother, joined FC Barcelona for the 1906–07 season, but Peris took a different path as he instead decided to join Barça's city rivals, Sport Club Català. This was his second appearance for the Blaugrana club, having already played a friendly with them in the 1906–07 season. Peris played his last season as a footballer with Català, in 1914–15, aged 35. He later organized a sports festival to collect funds in the field of FC Barcelona, donating them to the infantry regiment number 73 of the Battalion of the Badajoz, which had various members who belonged to various football clubs such as FC Güell, FC Barcelona, FC Martinenc, CD Europa and Sporting de Gijón, who all sent him a letter to thank him for the donations.

In 1924, Peris was a referee in a boxing match held in the Goula Hall of Sant Feliu de Guíxols.

Head of the Catalan Baseball Federation Peris was the founder and first president of the Catalan Baseball Federation, a position he held from 27 April 1929 to 1939. In fact, his strong personality caused a split in the Catalan Federation in 1931 and some clubs founded the Official Baseball League, which was run in parallel with Peris's federation until the end of the Spanish Civil War, having some of the best teams. Peris left his position in 1939 and was replaced at the head of the Catalan Federation by Luis María Jordá, the first president appointed in this sport.

Later life During the Civil War, both Peris and his brother Joaquim, who was in the military, supported the Franco side. After the civil war, Peris was appointed Mayor of the Neighborhood of the "Pelayo area", belonging to District V of the city of Barcelona. The headquarters was located in his store, which was now at Calle Tallers, and where they sold gramophones.

In 1943, Peris accepted to assume the presidency of the College of Referees of the Catalan Federation.

Death Peris died in August 1948, at the age of 68. Several leaders linked to football and baseball were present at this funeral, such as FC Barcelona's president, Agustí Montal Galobart, and the president of the RCD Espanyol, Francisco Sáenz.