Emilio Aldecoa Gómez

Emilio Aldecoa Gómez was born on 20th November 1922. At the age of 15 he arrived in England as a refugee from the Spanish Civil War.

Aldecoa worked for an electrical company in Staffordshire. He played local football before being signed by Major Frank Buckley in 1943. His first team debut came at 20 years old against Crewe Alexandra. Aldecoa, who played on the left-wing, finished the 1943-44 season as Wolves’ leading scorer with 8 goals in 31 games.

Aldecola moved to Coventry City in August 1945 and scored on his first team debut, a 3-1 win at home to Portsmouth.

Aldecoa returned to Spain in 1947, joining Atlético Bilbao. The following year he played for Spain against the Republic of Ireland. He scored 9 times in 45 games before moving to Real Valladolid in 1949 where he scored 11 times in 49 games.

In 1951 Aldecola joined Barcelona. In his first season with the club he scored twice in 19 games as Barcelona won the Spanish Championship. Aldecola also played for Sporting de Gijón (1953) and Girona (1954). He was also assistant manager of Birmingham City (1960-62) and manager of Real Valladolid (1966-67).

Emilio Aldecoa Gómez died in 1999.