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José María Gayarre Lafuente (8 February 1893 – 8 February 1968) was a Spanish journalist, football pioneer, and sports leader. He was one of the most important figures in the amateur beginnings of football in Zaragoza, being noted for his prominent role in promoting football in the city and for founding and presiding over the first football clubs in the region, such as Sociedad Gimnástica Zaragozana in 1912 and Iberia Sport Club in 1917. He was the fundamental head behind the foundation of Aragonese Football Federation in 1922, which he presided for several years.

He also worked as a referee in some of those first football matches in Zaragoza.

Early life and education

José María Gayarre was born on 8 February 1893 in Zaragoza. He started his degree in Chemistry, but did not finish it.

Football career

Football pioneer in Zaragoza

When he visited Río Tinto and saw the English from the mines practicing football under the umbrella of Club Inglés Bella Vista, he fell in love with this sport. There he bought a pair of old balls, some boots, and a book about the regulations of the game, written in English, and returned to Zaragoza in order to carry out an apostolate of this new game. He taught the game to the youth of some schools and it can be said that he introduced football to Zaragoza.

In 1912, the 19-year-old Gayarre founded and presided over the Sociedad Gimnástica Zaragozana club, which began his career in the Zurita Street Field to, almost immediately, build the first proper football pitch titled Campo de la Química because it was located next to the land of the Industrial Química company. Dressed in a black t-shirt and black pants, Gimnástica was the first serious club in Zaragoza, competing with clubs from the neighboring provinces and even some from the Basque Country until, at the end of 1915, when it disappeared due to lack of financial support and fans.

Iberia Sport Club

At the beginning of 1917, the Abinzano brothers (Jesús and Julio), recently arrived from Argentina, contacted Gayarre to establish a new club taking advantage of his extensive contacts with the players that had played at Gimnástica, mostly being former students of Colegio de El Salvador, governed by the Jesuits, then the most elite school in Zaragoza. Gayarre, enthusiastic about the idea, gave them the black uniforms that he still had from Gimnástica and thus, on one of the benches in the popular Plaza del Pilar, on Saturday, 24 March, the Iberia Sport Club was formed, chaired by Ricardo Ostalé. Several of the founders had played in Gimnástica's youth team, Juvenia. Since its founding, Iberia, known as "the Wasps" due to their black-and-white uniform, was the great engine and lighthouse of football in Aragon, surrounding itself almost immediately with the staff of the Carde-Escoriaza foundry company, such as Juan Antonio Burges, the Basilio brothers, and Félix Berdejo, who worked as draftsmen at Carde-Escoriaza where, in addition to followers, it also gained players, creating a homogeneous community that constantly devoted itself to its team.

In 1918, after the board chaired by Francisco Ginés, who had replaced Basilio Berdejo and who in turn had replaced Ostalé, refused to support the constitution of the Aragonese Federation, his brother Luis Gayarre assumed the presidency, the one who held the position the longest and who built the Torrero field in 1923. He gave the society a new perspective to launch itself to the conquest of regional football, winning the unofficial regional championships of Aragon in 1918, 1919, 1920, and 1921.

Aragonese Federation

Gayarre worked enormously for the creation of an independent Aragonese Federation, since in those first moments of Aragonese football there was more than one attempt for it to be absorbed by the Catalan Federation. His efforts were crowned on 25 January 1922, when the Aragonese Football Federation was founded by Iberia SC, together with three other local clubs, with Gayarre being elected as its first president. Two months later, on 22 March, these clubs formed the Aragonese Federation of Sports Societies, which had two sections, football and athletics, and again with Gayarre as president. Later the football section was split, creating the Aragonese Federation of Football Clubs, and on 22 August, Gayarre, among others, received a letter from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), stating that "the Aragonese Federation has been admitted to the last Assembly, subject to qualifying it in the extraordinary session in September".

Gayarre gave legal support to all regional football with the foundation of the Aragonese Football Federation on 13 September 1922, of which he was its first president, and hence making Iberia's voice heard throughout Spain. Two weeks later, on 28 September, the assembly met to draft the regulations and statutes of the federation, being definitively constituted on 1 October at the request of the national assembly. He actively participated in the stormy assemblies of the RFEF where such important issues as professionalism (1926), the creation of La Liga (1928–29), and the organization of promotions and relegations were elucidated.

Real Zaragoza

Just like his brother, Gayarre eventually became the president of Iberia SC, replacing Pedro Galán and holding this position until 1932, when the club merged with Zaragoza Club Deportivo to form the current Real Zaragoza. Gayarre, last president of Iberia and first of the current Zaragoza, wrote in 1952 that "Iberia changed its name and colors, but it did not change its style, and its survival is assured as long as the essential virtues that gave him life. Iberia made possible all the brilliant performances of Aragonese football.

Spanish Football Federation

During the Spanish Civil War, he became the right-hand man of the president of the Spanish Federation of the national zone, Commander Julián Troncoso, whom he had met when they were members of Real Zaragoza. He took a very active part both in the creation of this Federation and in its development in the first months of its life in 1937.

Journalist career

Professionally, Gayarre was an administrative employee, and later a manager, of the Portland cement factory. In addition, he worked as a sports journalist in the Zaragoza newspapers Diario de Avisos [es] and El Noticiero [es], where he signed with the pseudonyms Goal and XXX.

Political career

Despite his political attempts by creating the Citizen Action party in 1922 and becoming a provincial deputy the following year, he did not go beyond a fleeting fever.

Death

After the civil war, he went to live in Madrid and completely distanced himself from football. He died there on 8 February 1968, at the age of 75.

References

1. ^ "José María Gayarre Lafuente - Real Academia de la Historia" [José María Gayarre Lafuente - Royal Academy of History]. dbe.rah.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2024.
2. ^ "Historial del Real Zaragoza, S.A.D." [History of Real Zaragoza, SAD]. lafutbolteca.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2024.
3. ^ "El Iberia cumpliría hoy 100 años" [The Iberia would turn 100 years old today]. as.com (in Spanish). 24 March 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
4. "Spain - List of Champions of Aragón - Campeonato Regional de Aragón". RSSSF. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
5. ^ "Historia del CD Caspe - Antes de 1923/24" [History of the CD Caspe - Before 1923/24]. www.cdcaspe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2024.
6. "REAL FEDERACIÓN ARAGONESA DE FÚTBOL" [ROYAL ARAGONESE FOOTBALL FEDERATION]. www.zaragozadeporte.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2024.

• 1893 births
• 1968 deaths
• 20th-century Spanish sportsmen
• Sportspeople from Zaragoza
• 20th-century Spanish journalists
• Spanish football referees