Ricardo Zamora: The First Spanish Football Idol

Abstract

One of the most famous icons in pre‐Civil War Spain was the football goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora. Between 1920 and 1936, football grew rapidly into a mass entertainment industry that rivalled bullfighting, and it was Zamora who presided over this change as the period’s most famous player. His background lay in the rich athletic culture of early‐twentiethcentury Barcelona and his youth reflected the social divisions within that vibrant community. During his career he became the first de facto professional footballer, the first high‐profile transfer between Barcelona and Madrid, and the leading protagonist behind the commercialization of the game. Further, his fame grew beyond Spain and football, producing a new type of cultural icon and a symbol for Spanish national pride. Zamora’s life and career provide an example of successful cultural modernization despite political and economic weakness and of Spain’s development into a modern, European nation.