Josep Espada i Virgós

Josep Espada Virgós (7 June 1912 – 7 October 1989) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for Palafrugell and Espanyol. He was also international with the Catalan national team during the 1930s.

Playing career Club career Born on 7 June 1912 in Palafrugell, Espada began playing football in the youth ranks of his hometown club FC Palafrugell in 1926, aged 14, before making his senior debut two years later, in 1928. He stayed loyal to Palafrugell for six years, playing in the first-tier Catalan championship in the early 1930s. but in the end, however, he signed for Espanyol, remaining there until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. and Girona FC (1940–43), before returning to Espanyol for two more seasons between 1943 and 1945.

International career On 29 June 1934, Espada made his debut for the Catalan national team in a charity match against Athletic Bilbao, scoring once to help his side to a 5–1 win. During this match, Espada's performance impressed Oliveras de la Riva, who took him to Espanyol.

Managerial career As a coach, Espada managed Espanyol on three separate occasions, for two seasons in 1947–49, followed by a further two seasons in 1955–57, this time as the second-in-command of Ricardo Zamora. Despite this failure, the club's president decided to keep Espada on the bench, but provide him with a very special assistant: Zamora, and this decision was a complete success as they won the 1954–55 promotion play-off, thus remaining in the Spanish top division. He also coached Club León in Mexico (1961–62).

Espada died in Barcelona on 7 October 1989, at the age of 77. However, Espanyol did not hold a minute's silence or wear black armbands after his death.