Emilio Aldecoa

Who was Emilio Aldecoa?

Emilio Aldecoa Gómez was a Basque/Spanish professional footballer who played, mainly on the left-wing, in the English and Spanish football leagues and later managed in Spain and coached in England. He was born in born the Zorroza neighbourhood of Bilbao, Vizcaya.

He arrived in England as a Spanish Civil War refugee in 1937. He made one appearance for the Spanish national team, as a substitute in a 2-1 win against the Republic of Ireland in May 1948 at the Montjuiic Stadium, Barcelona.

Emilio began his football career with Wolverhampton Wanderers, joining them in 1943 from a Staffordshire electrical works team. His first team debut came in September that year, a 2-1 victory away to Crewe Alexandra and he finished the season as Wolves’ leading scorer with 11 goals in 30 games. He moved to Coventry City in August 1945 and scored on his first team debut, a 3-1 win at home to Portsmouth. The following season, as league football resumed after the war, he played 29 times for Coventry, failing to score.

He returned to Spain in 1947, joining Atlético Bilbao making his debut on 21 September 1947 in a 5-1 defeat away to Celta Vigo. He scored 9 times in 45 games before moving to Real Valladolid in 1949 where he scored 11 times in 49 games. He joined Barcelona in 1951. In his first season with Barcelona, he scored twice in 19 games as Barcelona won the Spanish Championship. He also played in the final of the Copa Latina in 1952, a 1-0 victory over OGC Nice at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Barcelona retained the title the following season, but Emilio played only 4 times. He moved to Sporting de Gijón in 1953, playing just 3 times, and then to Girona FC in 1954 where he subsequently became manager. He later managed CD Condal and Real Valladolid. He was assistant manager of Birmingham City between 1960 and 1962.