Joan Segarra

Joan Segarra

Personal information
Full name	Joan Segarra Iracheta
Date of birth	15 November 1927
Place of birth	Barcelona, Spain
Date of death	3 September 2008 (aged 80)
Place of death	Taradell, Spain
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
	Sansense
	San Pol
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
	Vilafranca
1949–1964	Barcelona	299	(17)
National team
1953–1955	Spain B	3	(0)
1951–1962	Spain	25	(0)
1954–1958	Catalan XI	3	(0)
Teams managed
1972–1973	Vilafranca
1973–1974	Figueres
1974–1975	Vic
1975–1976	Mahonés
1977–1979	Barcelona B (assistant)
1979–1980	Barcelona B
1980–1981	Barcelona (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Joan Segarra Iracheta (15 November 1927 – 3 September 2008) was a Spanish footballer, captain of the "Barça of the Five Trophies", one of the best teams that FC Barcelona have had in their history. He played in the first team as a defender for 16 seasons for the club, between 1950 and 1964, in which he played 299 matches in La Liga.

He is ranked fifth among all players, by number of starts, in the history of FC Barcelona.

Segara was renowned for his nobility and grace when playing on the field, which won him the admiration of fans all over the world. His charisma earned him the nickname of "the Great Captain". He was a true gentleman on the pitch, and his noble attitude earned the respect of the most bitter of opponents. He was a predecessor of the "total footballer", which would later be epitomized by Johan Cruyff(who was, not coincidentally, a great admirer of Segarra's), but was played mostly at left- and center-back. He was brave and totally dedicated to the team, never ceasing to yell encouragement to his team when they were down and pushing them when they were ahead. He was an excellent marker who was rock-solid. Though he was a defender, he was a courageous player who would push forward and had a stunning shot; he scored several decisive goals. However, he missed what was perhaps his best opportunity to show his skills to the continent during the 1960–61 European Cup final, when Barça lost to S.L. Benfica 3-2; Segarra was sidelined with an eye injury.

After retirement, he stayed on as a youth team coach, eventually becoming first team assistant coach to Helenio Herrera.

Honours

FC Barcelona

• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1955–58, 1958–60
• Latin Cup: 1952
• Spanish League: 1951–52, 1952–53, 1958–59, 1959–60
• Spanish Cup: 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1962–63
• Eva Duarte Cup: 1952, 1953

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Joan Segarra at National-Football-Teams.com
• FC Barcelona web profile
• FC Barcelona profile
• FC Barcelona archives (Spanish)
• Joan Segarra – FIFA competition record