Manuel Amechazurra

Manuel Amechazurra (born Manuel Amechazurra Guazo; March 8, 1888 – February 13, 1965), knicknamed "Amecha" and dubbed as "El Aventurero" and "El Capitán", was a Philippine-born Spanish, mostly known for being a footballer who played as a defender and the first Filipino/Asian-born player to play in Europe. winning four championships in Catalonia, three Copa del Reys in Spain and four Pyrenees Cups in a row. In addition to his contributions on the field, he was also one of the club's first undercover professional.

Club career Early years Born in La Carlota, Negros Occidental, Philippines, his family took him and brought him in Spain, in 1892, when he was still a kid. After his move and after he settled in Barcelona as a young man, he began playing football at his local club FC Irish in 1902. In Irish, Amechazurra stood out as an extraordinary defender, which earned him a move to FC Barcelona in 1906. Just after two years at Barça, he moved to England in 1908 where he played for several clubs such as St. Boniface's College and Stoke Chuchife. In England, he learned the most modern techniques and tactics, which he transported back to Barcelona when he returned in 1909.

Return to Barcelona He played at FC Barcelona until 1915, almost a whole decade with the brief exception of his travels around the world (Philippines, Japan etc.) which made him known among his colleagues with the nickname of "El Aventurero" (the Adventurer). He formed a great defensive partnership with José Irízar. Together with Carles Comamala, Amechazurra was the fundamental head behind piece in Barcelona's first great team, which also had the likes of Paco Bru, Alfredo Massana, the Wallace brothers (Charles and Percy), Pepe Rodríguez and Barcelona's second all-time leading goal-scorer and countryman Paulino Alcántara, but it was Amechazurra who was named the team's captain. No one disputed this decision in a time when the captain had the duty of dictating the tactics to be followed (since the coach as we know him today did not exist back then) and who had to make up the line-ups and game plans. Amecha, at that moment referred to, as "El Capitan", led and captained the blaugrana to five Catalan championships including three back-to-back titles between 1909 and 1911, along with four Pyrenees Cups in a row between 1910 and 1913, and three Copa del Rey titles in 1910, 1912 and 1913. In the latter's final, Barça needed three games to beat Real Sociedad and Amechazurra captained in all of them, including the decisive game which Barça won 2–1. Amechazurra played a total of 200 games in the first team and scored 22 goals.

He is considered to be the club's first undercover professional at a time when football was amateur. He earned 300 pesetas in disguise in exchange for teaching English to some executives, despite opposition from Joan Gamper. Thanks to his English speaking abilities and his connections in England, the first anglophone players and coaches arrived at Barça, William Charles Lambe, Jack Greenwell, Frank Allack and Alex Steel. A few months later, players like José Irízar or Alfredo Massana also started to get paid in disguise.

Managerial career Amecha, briefly, coached the Philippines National Football Team in the sixth edition of the Far Eastern Games in Osaka, in 1923. His team was influenced by the absence of several players and had to rely on some junior division players, all college students aged 16 to 18. Prior to the Far East Games he and the team had beaten a British/Spanish selection with a 2-0 win result in Manila. Amecha's first game at the tournament begun with a 0-3 loss, against Filipinos' rivals China, which saw a brawl break out leading to a full-scale battle and members of the crowd were also involved. The two sides, however, agreed to finish the game after the police managed to restore order. The next game against Japan did not start as Amecha hoped, as his team conceaded after 5 minutes, despite the rough start, the Filipinos were able to turn it around in the last minutes of the game, resulting in a 2-1 victory and a silver medal for Amecha and his team.

Personal life He was born to Alejandro Amechazurra of Basque origins and Pilar Guazo of Cantabrian origins. He studied Law and Medicine but without finishing his school education. Known more for his involvement in football, mostly as a player-captain then manager, director of Barça and referee, he practiced other sports at a high level. Athletics, swimming and especially fencing, in which, he won the first Campeonato de la Asociación de Esgrima de Barcelona in the sabre discipline in 1916. He participated in the Copa Inter-Salas for teams in 1912, Copa Alfredo Conde in 1913, Concurso Nacional in the foil discipline and in the Concurso Internacional also in the sabre discipline in 1914.

He travelled around the world even for brief moments, so the nickname of "El Aventurero". In 1916, when he returned to his "home" country, in the Philippines he went to Manila where he kicked-off his acting career and founded the Teatro Español de Filipinas, as well as being a stage director. Amechazurra was married to Luisa de Aguirre with whom he had daughters. He was an English teacher, a journalist and him being bilingual was also a translator (Agatha Christie's books, for example). Amechazurra, in his time at the Philippines, was a strong advocate of the Spanish language and its cultural heritage in the country.

In 1946 Manuel Amechazurra returned to Barcelona with more than 500 surviving Spaniards and Spanish-Filipino, accompanied by his wife and his daughters. His former club, Barça, helped him financially in this difficult return. He died in Barcelona on February 13, 1965, exactly one year after his fellow countryman and friend Paulino Alcántara.

His grandson Gerardo Amechazurra is an actor, presenter, cartoonist designer and was one of the creators of the successful children's and youth program on Spanish Television "La Bola de Cristal" (1984-1988).

Honours Player Barcelona Copa del Rey(3): 1910, 1912 and 1913 Campeonato de Cataluña(4): 1908–1909, 1909–1910, 1910–1911, 1912–1913 Pyrenees Cup(4): 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913

Manager Philippine national football team Far Eastern Championship Games (Silver medal): 1923