Josep Samitier, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Josep Samitier

Spanish footballer

Date of Birth: 02-Feb-1902

Place of Birth: Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Date of Death: 04-May-1972

Profession: association football manager, association football player

Nationality: Spain

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Josep Samitier Vilalta (Catalan pronunciation: [?u'z?p s?miti'e]; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish footballer, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, OGC Nice, the Catalan XI and Spain.
He later coached Atlético Madrid, OGC Nice and FC Barcelona and worked as a scout for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. During his playing career with FC Barcelona he scored 184 official goals and currently is the club's all time fifth top goalscorer behind Luis Suárez, who scored 187 goals; Ladislao Kubala, who scored 194 goals; César, who scored 232 goals and Lionel Messi, who scored 613 goals.
As a player, he pioneered the midfield general role and was nicknamed Surrealista (The Surrealist) and Home Magosta (The Grasshopper Man) due to his style.
As a manager, he led Barcelona to a La Liga title in 1945 and as a scout he recruited another CF Barcelona legend Ladislao Kubala.
However, he was later accused of acting as a double agent when the club tried to sign Alfredo Di Stéfano and in the 1960s he fell out with Helenio Herrera and went to work for Real Madrid.
Despite his role in the Di Stéfano affair, twice defecting to Real Madrid and his friendship with Francisco Franco, he remained a legendary figure at FC Barcelona.
When he died in 1972 he was given a state funeral and a street that leads to Camp Nou.