Eduardo Alesson

Eduardo Alesson Gravirona was a Spanish football executive and fencing teacher. He was one of the most important figures in the amateur beginnings of football in Catalonia since he was the fundamental head behind the foundation of both Hispania AC and the Catalan Football Federation in 1900, and then serving both entities as their first-ever president. He also worked as a football referee.

Sporting career Fencing Alesson was a man of great culture and very well regarded in the sporting environments of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Barcelona, as he represented the prototype of the sportsman, a man who enjoyed all the sports and practiced most of the ones who were in fashion at that time, such as fencing and football. In 1893, he became a fencing teacher at the Gimnàs Mèdic de Barcelona (Medical Gymnasium in Barcelona), and between 1897 and 1898, he opened the armory that bore his name, where some of the best fencers were trained, such as Alfonso Ardura, a future president of the and of RCD Espanyol, or Alfredo Conde.

Catalan Football Federation and At the turn of the century, several clubs were informally playing football matches in Catalonia, so on 11 November 1900, Alesson, together with representatives of eight clubs, founded the Asociación de Clubs de Football de Barcelona (AC de F.) in a room on Carrer Archs in Barcelona. This was the body that regulated the first rules of Catalan football, and that six years later became the Catalan Football Federation. He was elected as its first president, with his mandate lasting from the entity's foundation until November 1904, when he was replaced by Josep de Togores. In the following week, on 18 November, on the occasion of the inauguration of the first FC Barcelona field, next to the Casanovas hotel, the AC de F. published its first football regulation.

Other activities Alesson was one of the promoters of the foundation of the CF Badalona in 1903, and was also a member of the Sportsmen's Club, a multi-sport entity that existed between 1903 and 1906. In the following month, on 24 February 1903, he oversaw a friendly match between Club Español and Madrid FC at the Parc de la Ciutadella, ending in a goalless draw. In May 1903, the AC de F. organized two matches between two sides made up of the best players in Barcelona, both of whom held at the Hispania field in Muntaner, and Alesson, as the president of AC de F., refereed both of them; before repeating this feat on 8 September, this time on the field of Salud SC on the occasion of the Health neighborhood festivities. At the end of the year, in December 1903, he refereed a further two matches of FC Barcelona, a friendly against Club Español and then a Catalan football championship match against Català FC on 27 December, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He went on to officiate several matches in the Catalan championship.

Later life and death Alesson then emigrated to Cuba, but returned to take charge of the Tiro Nacional fencing room in 1935. He died in 1951.