Alfons Almasqué i Domènech

Alfonso Almasqué Domènech (23 September 1883 – 5 June 1960) was a Spanish journalist and footballer who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona. He is the older brother of Alberto Almasqué, who also played for Barcelona, and in doing so, they became the first Catalan brothers in the club's history. He later became a referee, officiating the 1909 Copa del Rey final.

Early life and education Alfonso Almasqué was born in the Alt Penedès municipality of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia on 23 September 1883, In 1912, he married Lilian Dunkley (1891–1943) in London, with whom he had two daughters, Carmen María (1910–1997), Lillian (1912–2003). When Almasqué finished his studies in 1901, he and his younger brother returned to Barcelona, where Alberto continued his studies. Almasqué made his official competitive debut for Barça in the 1901–02 Copa Macaya on 1 January, helping his side to an 8–0 thrashing of Club Universitari at Horta, where the surface was clay, which was common at the time.

At the beginning of the 20th century, many families had several footballers in Barça's first team, such as the English Witty (Arthur and Ernest), Parsons (John and William), and the Saint Nobles (George and Royston), as well as the Filipinos Morris (Samuel, Enrique, and Miguel), but it was the Almasqués who went down in history as the first Catalan brothers of the entity. He also played one season with the Universitari Sport Club.

International career On 8 September 1903, Almasqué participated in a match between a white and a red team made up of the best players in Barcelona, which was held on the field of Salud SC on the occasion of the Health neighborhood festivities, helping the white side to a 4–3 win.

On 29 May 1904, Almasqué earned his only cap for the Catalan national team in a match against RCD Espanyol, the then Copa Macaya champions, which ended in a 1–4 loss.

Later life After retiring, Almasqué remained linked to the world of sport, but now through journalism, being one of the founders and editor of Mundo Deportivo in 1906, where he was already in charge of the football section in its inaugural editorial, writing several sports chronicles during the first years. Between 1908 and 1909, he experienced the peak of a hectic sporting life, as he combined journalism with the presidency of the Spanish Jiu-Jitsu Club, a club that would eventually lead to the refounding of RCD Espanyol in 1909, as well as the vice presidency of the Catalan Football Federation (1908–09), whose president Juli Marial had been his teammate at Barcelona, and even with his brief refereeing career, officiating the 1909 Copa del Rey final between Club Ciclista and Español de Madrid, which ended in a 3–1 victory to the former, partly because of a first-half penalty that Almasqué awarded to Club Ciclista.

Almasqué collaborated with the newspaper intermittently until 1936, since he was an advertising advisor and consultant for the Nestlé company, in which his brother was a director of its branches in Chile, Bolivia (1916–1920), and in Cuba (1921–1931), so Almasqué had to travel constantly, especially to South America, thus living abroad for many years. In the 1930s, he wrote again for Mundo Deportivo under the pseudonym of Alfonso de Fleury, where he commented on Sunday's matches with his own personal touch. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Almasqué moved to Switzerland. He returned to writing for Mundo Deportivo occasionally between 1948 and 1950, publishing his last articles on the occasion of the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Death Almasqué died in Vevey on 5 June 1960, at the age of 76.

Honours Barcelona Copa Macaya: Champions (1): 1901–02

Copa Barcelona: Champions (1): 1902–03