1911 Copa del Rey

Controversies

To put an end to the schism of the previous edition (which led to the celebration of two championships), the Spanish Federation accepted to hold the tournament in Vizcaya for the first time.

This tournament had 13 teams enter, but three teams withdrew before it started, and another three teams withdrew during the competition, probably a world record in a European national championship. RC Deportivo de la Coruña and Academia de Ingenieros withdrew before the draw to protest fielding foreign players in the tournament.

During the tournament, there were more protests and threats of withdrawal from some teams for this very fact. For instance, after the first round match between Athletic Bilbao and Fortuna Vigo, Real Sociedad protested the match, claiming the illegal selection of two English players in Athletic's side (Sloop and Martin), who had not been residing in Spain for the necessary time (six months) and barely spoke Spanish, and who were even suspected of being hired professionals. The Spanish FA rejected the protest and Real Sociedad immediately withdrew in protest. After the remaining teams, except the military academies, supported Real Sociedad and most of them threatened to also withdraw, Athletic decided not to use these players in their matches, but declined Fortuna Vigo's request to replay their match, which caused a general discomfort in the rest of the contenders and a feeling of comparative grievance that degenerated into more incidents and withdrawals.

In the quarter-finals, Barcelona defeated Sociedad Gimnástica 4–0, but Gimnástica challenged the match due to improper alignment of goalkeeper Luis Reñé, who had played with FC Espanya less than a month ago (thus failing to fulfill the six-month regulation). Faced with this complaint, the Spanish FA ordered a replay of the match, but Barcelona refused to do so citing the case of English players at Athletic Bilbao, so Barcelona was disqualified and Gimnástica qualified for the next round.

Both semi-final matches ended in withdrawals, with Sociedad Gimnástica retiring in the second half (with Athletic Bilbao leading 2–0) in protest at the referee's permissiveness of rough conduct of their opponents (although another version states that they only decided to end the game early to not miss the train they had to take that same day to Madrid). In the second semi-final, both teams withdrew before the game, Academia de Caballería because its players were urgently needed in their regiment while CD Español did so in solidarity with Fortuna de Vigo. The tournament was going to end in a regrettable and chaotic manner, without a final being played, but finally CD Español reconsidered their boycott stance and decided to stay in Getxo and challenge Athletic for the title in the final, losing 3–1.

This dispute was a major factor in Athletic Bilbao's decision to select only local Basque players from then on, a club policy which survived into the 21st century. English forward Andrew Veitch (who was not part of the protest as he had already played for the club in the previous year's competition) was the last foreigner to make a competitive appearance for Athletic outside the boundaries of their self-imposed criteria.

Preliminary round

Alejandro Smith Ybarra

Quarterfinals

Alfredo Massana Armando Giralt

George Patullo Francisco Baonza

José María Belauste Remigio Iza Evaristo Arbaiza

Semifinals

Severino Zuazo

Final

Main article: 1911 Copa del Rey Final

Luis Belaunde Manuel Guernica

Notes

References

References

1. (13 January 2000). "Spain - Cup 1911". [[RSSSF]].
2. "Copa del Rey Alfonso 1911".
3. "Barcelona - Gimnástica Española (4 - 0) 12/04/1911".
4. (18 November 2011). "Athletic de Bilbao, cien años sin extranjeros". [[La Vanguardia]].
5. [https://www.anglopremier.com/blog/?p=960 The true identity of Athletic Bilbao’s last Englishman is finally unearthed], Lartaun de Azumendi on [[Twitter]] via Jonathan Carr, Anglo Premier Translations. 27 May 2020
6. "Official Athletic Club Website".
7. "Barça partidos 1910-11".
8. "Official Athletic Club Website".
9. The match was abandoned at half-time with Athletic leading 2–0 after Sociedad Gimnástica refused to continue to protest the [[Referee (association football). referee]]'s alleged failure to penalise Athletic's foul play.
10. "Official Athletic Club Website".
11. Academia de Caballería, a military team, were recalled back to their regiment; therefore, the match was scratched and CD Español advanced to the final.
12. "Official Athletic Club Website".