The irundarra who scored the team’s first goal

The first goal in the history of the Spanish soccer team carried the enthusiasm and passion of a humble Irundarra worker. Patricio Arabolaza marked it on August 28, 1920 at the Antwerp Olympic Games against Denmark, a rival that the La Roja footballers face today, heirs of that first generation that conceived this sport in a very different way from how it is understood today. . «They were motivated by passion and heart, not money or fame. In fact, when he returned from Antwerp, the aitona rested for a few hours and went to work,” says Leire Arabolaza, Patricio’s granddaughter.

Today his family relives that pioneering achievement, achieved by a boy “who arrived packed to the auction, which defines him a lot, and crossed the shot,” Leire recalls. Patricio’s little granddaughter – she has a sister and two older brothers – acknowledges that “at home we have always had the issue in mind because by scoring that goal, the aitona entered the history of international football. We have grown up knowing that in Irun he was a recognized figure, even giving his name to a street. People let you know what those Olympic Games meant and that they also won two Cups in Spain. For a small city like Irun, there were high-level people. Proof of this is that in that first selection there were also two players from Real Unión.

Zamora, Otero, Arrate, Samitier, Belauste, Eguiazábal, Pagaza, Sesúmaga, Patricio, Pichichi and Acedo formed that historic lineup in the Games that were resumed after the World War and where Spain won the silver medal.

Leire and his brothers “know the stories of the aitona from what they told my father, who was only three years old when his grandfather died (before he turned 42). “Also because of things that my aunts passed on to us, who lived with him for a while longer.”

Leire has built a profile of her activity through what she received through oral transmission and also through graphic testimonies that she lovingly preserves. «What I can say is that as a footballer he was great, an idol here, one of those who did not give up a ball for lost. I was going for everything. It was about strength, about passion. And as for his personal life, he is known for being very happy, very thuggish, very loved because he was noble. “I couldn’t stand falsehoods or cheating.”

From his words it is clear that Patricio Arabolaza would not welcome the more theatrical side of contemporary football today. Furthermore, according to her granddaughter, “she had a lot of genius, for good and bad. If he didn’t like something, he showed it. I have been told that when things were not going well, in the locker room you could hear screams and things would fly. Before the end of his career, he was suspended for a year after a fight with a Barça defender. So yes, he had a lot of genius, for good and bad.

To the milestone of that first goal for the national team is added a whole life lesson from those protagonists who took what began as a game for them to the regulated and high-level competition. Leire affirms that «I tell my 12-year-old daughter less than what we have been told because she is not that into soccer either, but she is interested in family history. At home we have books, black and white photos, documents that tell stories from other times. You can see, for example, how the players were received after a Spanish Championship through photographs of people riding on horse carts, with the players on board. Grandpa Patricio’s stories are a vehicle of great pedagogical value to learn about other times.

Although the precursor of the goal in the national team has left a mark of recognition and popularity – “especially in Irun”, Leire remarks -, normality was a dominant trend in a time when the ball was part of leisure. Patricio played first for Racing de Irun and then for Real Unión, but «in those beginnings they played almost friendly matches that were organized between clubs basically because they wanted to play. There were clashes between Real and Real Unión, and with little crowd at first. “It was as if some friends were getting together to play football.”

Patricio’s granddaughter shows that that “had nothing to do with what this sport is today. They didn’t make money with the competition. Our aitona worked as a bricklayer and on the weekend he played soccer. To go to Vigo or Barcelona, ​​let alone go abroad, they had to leave work and families. They were driven by passion and heart, not money or fame. Now the protagonists are deified. I like to believe that footballers do it out of passion but sometimes nobility does not manifest itself on the field,” says Leire.

Humility and naturalness

He misses the naturalness of his grandfather and his contemporaries. «You just have to see how football emerged. I imagine that like many other sports. Racing was previously an athletics club. “A few enthusiasts give standards to a game and create quality clubs.” And it emphasizes quality. «In that first eleven in Antwerp there were two others from Real Unión, two from Athletic and two from Real. “I have not heard that they have been named when a century has passed since that time.”

Today, as that first target is commemorated, the architect’s granddaughter is clear about how she would like her grandfather to be remembered forever. «I would like him to be identified as I like to remember him, as a very noble person, very great, but with a heart. A person who, despite entering history, remained like any other, humble. “He didn’t stop working, he set up a hardware store, he had a family…” He also confesses that “I would have liked to know that slightly hooligan side that he had with his friends.”

Patricio’s great-granddaughter is not very into football, but her cousins ​​are, one from the eldest brother – also named Patricio – and two from the second brother. Will they continue the legacy of the famous great-grandfather? They have left, at least, the inheritance of nobility and passion.