February 10th, 1929 was an important date for 19-year-old Gregorio Blasco Sánchez.
The young Spaniard was about to make his debut with Athletic Bilbao, in the club’s inaugural league game. The opponent – a Basque team from San Sebastian, also known as Real Sociedad.
The young talent from the tiny picturesque Basque village of Mundaca made history as the first goalkeeper to play for the club in the Spanish league. Hold on, it gets better. The following season, he won the Zamora trophy, given to the goalkeeper with the least amount of goals allowed per game. His outstanding average played a crucial role in Athletic Bilbao winning their first-ever championship, while only playing the Spanish league for two seasons. Not only did they snag the league title, but Bilbao also won the Copa del Rey that season. That was the beginning of the legendary Athletic Bilbao, without a doubt the best team in Spain at the time. Nobody knew It back then, but this great team was about to disappear soon, for reasons that had nothing to do with sports.
On April 14th 1931, King Alfonso the 13th was exiled from Spain, and the Second Spanish Republic was declared. This sudden change impacted people’s lives in different ways, but football went on as usual, with one team well above the rest. Bilbao won their 2nd double in a row, the league title but also the recently renamed Copa Presidente de la República. During the days of the republic, Bilbao won 3 championships and 3 Cups of the republic. If we add the first double before the republic, Bilbao won 4 Championship and 4 Cups between 1930 - 1936. While Blasco was an important part in this historic team, there were many other great players: Jose Muguerza, Ignacio (Chiri) Aguirrezabala, Jose Iraragorri & Guillermo Gorostiza among others.
On 17th of July, 1936, a sect of the army rebelled against the democratic government of the republic, leading to a terrible and horrendous civil war that lasted for more than 2.5 years, followed by a dictatorship that lasted until the death of Francisco Franco and the issuing of the democratic constitution in 1978. Franco did restore football after he won the war, with Club Aviacion (today Atletico de Madrid) winning the league in the first season after the civil war. Naturally, the league ceased activity during the war, meaning the end of that legendary Athletic Bilbao. But even when there is a war, football always find a way.
In 1937, deep in the war, the first Lehendakari (President of the Basque country), José Antonio Aguirre, decided to create a regional team under the name of Euskadi. This team’s role was to play all over Europe in order to generate income for the Basque authorities, as well as to generate sympathy to the Basque cause during the civil war. This team was based on players from that great Athletic with a few other Basque players like Serafín Aedo (champion with Betis in 1934-1935), Enrique Larrinaga from Racing Santander, Luis Regueiro from Madrid F.C. (during the republic days, Real before a club name was forbidden denomination) and Isidro Lángara from Oviedo CF.
Young Blasco in a rare moment when he’s let one slip past him
Euskadi started its European tour playing against the French champion Racing de Paris in the Parc des Princes. The Basque team played and won against Marseille as well. The most important part of this tour was playing in the Soviet Union. Russia was one of the few allies of the Spanish republic.
It was only natural that Euskadi, representing a region that supported the republic during the civil war, will play there - Especially for propaganda purposes. It was a very successful campaign. Out of 9 games, Euskadi lost one game and had a draw in another, winning against giant clubs such Lokomotiv & Dinamo Moscow, Dinamo Kiev, Dinamo Tbilisi and the Georgian national team. Before heading back home to Spain, Euskadi played twice more against Racing de Paris and several other national teams like the Czechoslovakia, Norway and Denmark as the last game. They won it 11:1, setting a record that is still valid today.
The plan was that Euskadi will come back home as heroes, but the war had its own plans. The Spanish Nationals conquered the Basque country, so instead of coming back home, the team decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Euskadi played in Cuba and won most of its games there, but a significant part of this team history happened when they arrived at Mexico, the only country except the Russian Union that supported the Spanish republic government. Mexico of those days was a in recovery from the turbulence of the Mexican Revolution. The Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas did took extreme measure to rehabilitate the country, like nationalizing the train & oil infrastructure. Regarding the war in Spain, he actively supported the republican army by sending it arms and supply.
Back in those days, Football in Mexico was not yet professionally played. The Mexican federation maintained a league that was based on teams exclusively from Mexico City. Although not all, but most of those teams were created by immigrants, with a majority of “Spanish” teams. Most of those immigrants came to Mexico to work and find new opportunities, and so football was a just a hobby and the league remained amateur. All of that changed with the arrival of Euskadi. The Basque team was so well-known, that the Mexican Federation offered them to play in the Mexican league as a team. The Spanish couldn’t go back home, so they decided to accept the offer of the Mexican federation and registered in the league as Club Deportivo Euskadi. The Basque team finished the 1938-1939 season in the 2nd place behind Asturias FC.
On April 1st, 1939, Francisco Franco declared the end of the war and the Nationals’ victory. The Basque authorities left Spain on exile to France, and so the Euskadi ceased to formally exist. Some players like Roberto Etxebarria and Guillermo Gorostiza returned to Spain after receiving amnesty from the Franco regime. Most of the players of the Basque team decided to stay in Latin America, most of them in Mexico. Players like Larrinaga and Regueiro moved to Asturias FC, while others like Aedo and Blasco moved to Real Club España. Their contribution was so significant, that 3 years later, in 1943, the Mexican league turned professional. Some of the Euskadi players who went to play in Argentina came back to play in Mexico.
Lángara, one of the best strikers of his time and went back home to Spain to fulfil his dream of retiring in Real Oviedo. Many other Spanish players decided to stay in Mexico, although they could get an amnesty from the Franco regime and come back to Spain. Luis Regueiro, who played for Spain’s national team before the civil war and represented Spain in the 1934 World Cup, had a son that carried his name and legacy, later representing Mexico in the 1966 World Cup.
Gregorio Blasco never went back to the tiny Basque village near Bilbao. He died in Mexico as one of the best Goalkeepers in the history of the Mexican league on January 31st, 1983, only several months before his beloved Athletic Bilbao won its first title since the Spanish civil war.