Manuel Rodríguez Arzuaga

Manuel Rodríguez Arzuaga (1876 – 5 September 1952 ) was a Spanish versatile athlete and a football executive. He is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the amateur beginnings of Atlético Madrid since he was one of its founders in 1903, a vice president between 1903 and 1905, and the club's first-ever patron. He invested most of his own capital in Atlético, saving the club from bankruptcy during its moments of financial difficulties. His high economic position was fundamental in helping Atlético to build the Campo de O'Donnell in 1913. He also played rugby in France and football and rowing in England. He was one of a total of eleven siblings (7 men and 4 women) who were involved in several businesses and linked to many companies that were emblematic in the Province of León and outside of it, such as Tapicerías Rodríguez Hermanos and, later, in Madrid, the popular Almacenes Rodríguez on Gran Vía, which were inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII.

During his youth, Rodríguez Arzuaga traveled a lot, and in one of his trips, to London, he discovered the game of football and developed a deep interest in it. He donated a trophy valued at 500 pesetas to the winner, the so-called Copa Rodríguez Arzuaga, so the competition was named as such.

On 8 November 1907, Rodríguez Arzuaga started in a friendly match against Club Español de Madrid, scoring the opening goal in an eventual 2–0 victory.

In the spring of 1909, a team from Alicante invited Atlético to play a match there, offering them 250 pesetas to pay for the trip. The amount was clearly insufficient, so the players who could, had to pay for their tickets, and those who could not, were invited by Rodríguez Arzuaga, who covered the rest of the expenses, thus playing a crucial role in helping Atlético make this excursion to play away from Madrid for the first time in their history.

In 1916, and at the request of the then president Julián Ruete, it was unanimously accepted to appoint Manuel Rodríguez Arzuaga as honorary president, in recognition of his essential help to the club in several very delicate moments in its history.

Rodríguez Arzuaga organized the summer camps of the School Institute in San Vicente de la Barquera and in 1912, he financed the construction of the shelter house of the Free Education Institution, in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Legacy Rodríguez Arzuaga is remembered among the whitewashed walls of their family home in . His great-great-grandson Jorge de Orueta, would become an ambassador of Spain in Cameroon.