Enrique Molina Soler

Enrique Molina Soler (4 May 1904 – 15 July 1943) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for Valencia CF. Apart from football, he also played Basque pelota in Valencia, and was one of the organizers of the Volta a Peu del Mercantil Valenciano.

Early life Enrique Molina was born on 4 May 1904 in the Russafa neighborhood, which at that time had just been annexed to the city of Valencia, into a conservative and deeply Catholic family. He remained there for two seasons, until 1922, when he joined Gimnástico FC, where he played alongside the likes of Silvino and Alfredo Arróniz. While there, he became the most notable midfielder in the city, standing out for his bravery on the field of play and his extraordinary ability to recover balls in the center of the field, pushing the team towards the attack with an energy never seen in those times. Together with Cirilo Amorós and Enrique Salvador, Molina formed what was known as the "glorious media", which achieved the first feats in national football.

International career As a Valencia player, Molina was eligible to play for the Valencian national team, and together with Eduardo Cubells, Montes, and Rino Costa, he was a member of the squad that participated in the 1923–24 Prince of Asturias Cup, an inter-regional competition organized by the RFEF, being knocked out in the quarter-finals by Andalusia (2–3).

Molina was the subject of a tribute match between Valencia and the Spain national team in the Mestalla Stadium on 30 April 1933, a team that he was permanently called up to but never made his debut.

Later life and death When he retired, Molina used his player savings to start a small industrial business.

He was Falangist before the outbreak of the Civil War, three of his priestly ordained brothers were shot by alleged communist militiamen. This fueled his resentment as part of a parapolice group that pursued communists during the last months of the War and especially after the conflict ended; some accused him of "having washed the blood of his brothers with more blood in the rearguard". Filled with hatred towards Bolshevik socialism, he enrolled in the Blue Division as a volunteer, a militia that moved from Spain to provide support to the Army of Nazi Germany in the fight against the Soviet Union during the Second World War. He died after being attacked on 15 July 1943 by cannon fire while transporting two Nazi Germany drivers on a motorcycle with a sidecar during the Siege of Leningrad. The chronicles of the time relate that "he was hit by a shell and the shrapnel shattered his skull". He was interred in the Mestelevo cemetery.

Molina was not the only professional Spanish football player who joined the Blue Division and fought for Germany in the Soviet Union: Ramón Herrera (Sporting de Gijón and Atlético Madrid). Herrera returned to Spain.

Honours Valencia CF Valencia Championship: Winners (7) 1925, 1926, 1927, 1931, 1932, 1933, and 1924