Enrique Larrinaga Esnal

Enrique Larrinaga

Personal information
Full name	Enrique Larrinaga Esnal
Date of birth	20 June 1910
Place of birth	Sestao, Spain
Date of death	8 May 1993 (aged 82)
Place of death	Mexico City, Mexico
Playing position	Left Midfield
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1927–1928	CD Basconia
1928–1936	Racing Santander	136	(89[1])
1938–1939	Club Deportivo Euzkadi
1939–1942	Club Asturias
1942–1945	Club España
National team
1933	Spain	1	(1[2])
1937–1938	Basque Country	33
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Enrique Larrinaga Esnal (Basque: [en'ɾike la'rinaga es'nal] 20 June 1910 – 8 May 1993)^[3] was a Spanish footballer from Sestao^[3] in the Basque Country who played as a Midfielder.

Personal life

Larrinaga was born in Sestao in the Basque Country in 1910, but at the age of seven he moved with his family to Basauri.^[3] In 1939 he settled in Mexico, where he married Yolanda Aspiazu Suarez with whom he adopted a son called José Manuel.^[2][4]

Football career

Larrinaga started his playing career at Basconia,^[3][2] where he played two seasons, before moving to Racing Santander for the inaugural season of La Liga in 1928.^[5][2] He usually played as a left midfielder.^[3] While at Racing the team's greatest success was coming runners up in the 1930/31 season in La Liga.^[6]

With the out-break of the Spanish civil war in 1936 the national football leagues in Spain were put on hold. In the Basque Country a national team was selected to travel abroad to raise money to look after refugees fleeing the civil war and also to let the world know that there was a Basque government trying to resist the attack of the fascist rebels.^[7] Larrinaga was selected for this team.^[3] First they toured Europe, playing in France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Soviet Union, Norway and Denmark. They had great success but in the summer of 1937 the Basque Country was captured by the fascist army and so the team had to make a choice. Two players returned to Spain, but the rest decided to stick together and travel to Mexico to continue the tour there.^[8]

Due to the ongoing civil war in Spain FIFA decided in 1938 to prohibit any FIFA affiliated teams from playing the Basque National team,^[9] insisting that the players could only continue to play together as a team if they joined a league. As they all still wanted to stay together the team became a club called Club Deportivo Euzkadi that participated in the Primera Fuerza league in Mexico during the 1938/39 season.^[10] At the end of that year the members of the team decided to go their separate ways, and so Larrinaga joined a Mexican side called Club Asturias along with two others from the Basque team.^[2] In 1942 he made his final move as a player when he joined another Mexican team called Club España.^[11]

Other work

After retiring from football he worked for two companies called Homeopática Intregral and Corvamex.^[2]

References

1. "MÁXIMOS GOLEADORES DEL RÁCING DE SANTANDER". racinguistas. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
2. Zamora, Gerson. "El Equipo de futbol Euzkadi en Mexico, 1937-39, biographical section" (PDF). Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
3. "Enrique Larrinaga Esnal". Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
4. "Momentos: Un equipo de hermanos. Enrique Larrinaga". Youtube. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
5. "Ficherias Cantabras.....". El Mundo Deportivo, 24 August 1928. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
6. "Spain 1930/31". Rsssf. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
7. "Todos los futbolistas Vascos siguen a las ordenes de su Gobierno....." (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo, 14 January 1938. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
8. "La Seleccion Vasca ha embarcado para Mexico." (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo, 1 November 1937. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
9. "Una odisea de los vascos....." (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo, 2 May 1938. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
10. "Mexico Julio 29". El Siglo del Torreón 30 July 1938. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
11. "Remembranzas futboleras" (27 July 1980, page 13 B). El Informador (newspaper).