José María Acha Larrea

José María Acha Larrea (4 September 1889 – 14 May 1929) was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for RCD Espanyol between 1901 and 1903. He went on to become a lawyer and a sports leader, playing a crucial role in the creation of the Spanish league in the late 1920s.

Playing career José María Acha was born on 4 September 1889 in Getxo, but it was in Barcelona where he began to play football at Club Español in late 1901, at the age of 12.

Founding the Spanish league At some point in the early 1920s, Acha became the vice president of Arenas Club de Getxo and the de facto leader of the club.

After professional football was legalized in Spain, the country's main clubs came together to create a league, inspired by the English format, and Acha, the vice-president of Arenas, was the driving force behind the project, originally proposing a tournament made up of the six Cup winners, but even though the travels was quite affordable, this option would leave out the vast majority of Spanish football. For his important role in the founding of the first League championship, he was recognized with a bronze bust given by the rest of the clubs and that today rests in the club offices.

Death Acha died on 14 May 1929, at the age of 39, in a car accident in Castillejo de Mesleón while traveling from Bilbao to Madrid, where he was going to attend Spain's first match against England, which took place the following day.

Honours RCD Espanyol Copa Macaya: Champions: 1902–03 Copa Barcelona: Runner-up: 1902–03