Ricard Gallart i Selma

Ricardo Gallart Selma (17 January 1907 – 6 November 1993) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Espanyol and Real Oviedo, playing in the first-ever La Liga match of both clubs, and even scoring the first league goal in Oviedo's history.

He later worked as a manager, taking charge of several clubs in the Segunda División.

Club career Early career Born in Barcelona on 17 January 1907, (Some sources wrongly state that he was born on 22 January 1908.)

RCD Espanyol In 1925, Gallart moved to Gràcia FC and UE Sants, from where he arrived at RCD Español, then under the command of Jack Greenwell, He played as an inside right and, although small in stature, he was a player of great technical quality and great ability to score goals. He scored his first goal for the club in the form of a hat-trick against Athletic Bilbao on 5 May 1929.

Real Oviedo At the start of the 1930–31 season, Gallart lost relevance with the arrival of Patricio Caicedo,

On 5 November 1933, Gallart scored Oviedo's first-ever goal in the First Division, thus helping his side to a historic 7–3 victory over FC Barcelona, which still is the best La Liga debut of a team promoted from the Second Division. In May 1927, first against Castilla on the 15th, and then against the Welsh club Swansea on the 29th, in which he scored an equalizer in a 1–1 draw. On 10 July 1927, he played against his future club Espanyol in a tribute match to Casimiro Mallorquí and José Maria Canals that ended in a 1–4 loss.

Gallart had to wait two years until his next match with Catalonia on 12 May 1929 against FC Barcelona, in a tribute match to that ended in a 1–2 loss. Two years later, on 9 August 1931, he scored once in a tribute match to Jesús Pedret to help Catalonia to a 5–2 win.

Spain (unofficial) In 1932, Gallart was called up to the Spain national team for a friendly match against Yugoslavia on 24 April on the occasion of the inauguration of the Buenavista stadium, but while his teammate Lángara debuted, Gallart did not play.

During the Civil War, General Franco saw the opportunity to use football as a positive propaganda tool, so he arranged for a match to be played in his home region of Galicia against Portugal, whose leader Salazar was supportive of Francoist Spain. The match took place in Vigo in November 1937, but in contrast to Portugal's settled squad, the Spain pool was hastily assembled from the best available players in Nationalist areas, including Gallart, who scored his side's only goal in a 1–2 loss; the match was recognized by FIFA at the time, but currently is not.

Managerial career After his career as a player ended, Gallart remained linked to UD Orensana, now as a coach, which he oversaw in two stages (1948–49 and 1951–52). He also coached UD Tánger, Terrassa FC (1955–57), Hércules CF (1957–58), and Girona FC (1958–59), as well as UD Sitges, CF Balaguer, CF Amposta, , and UD Cassà. In 1967, he became the new manager of CE Mataró with the hopes of achieving promotion to the Third Division. He once stated that "My work is always the same [regardless of my team], since I believe that you must always work with the same enthusiasm, whether modest or powerful".

Death Gallart died in Barcelona on 6 November 1993, at the age of 86.

Honours Espanyol Catalan championship Champions (1): 1928–29

Copa del Rey: Champions (1): 1929

Real Oviedo Segunda División Champions (1): 1932–33