Antonio Neyra

Antonio Neyra
Personal information
Full name Antonio Sánchez de Neyra Castro
Date of birth (1884-03-16)16 March 1884
Place of birth La Habana, Captaincy General of Cuba, Cuba
Place of death Spain
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1899–1900 Sky Football club
1900–1903 Madrid FC
1903–1906 Club Español de Madrid
1906–1908 Madrid FC
1908–1910 Club Español de Madrid
1910–? RCD Espanyol
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Antonio Sánchez de Neyra Castro (16 March 1884 – Unknown) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Madrid FC, Club Español de Madrid and RCD Espanyol.[1] He was one of the most important footballers in the amateur beginnings of Madrid FC, being one of the main architects of the team's rise to national dominance in the 1900s. He was one of the members of the first Board of Directors of Madrid FC presided by Juan Padrós in the club's official establishment on 6 March 1902.[2][3][4]

Outstanding goalscorer and a skillful dribbler, he reached the final of the Copa del Rey numerous times with three different clubs, becoming over the years one of the footballers who added the most presences in finals, but only won one. Despite being an outstanding football player, a sport to which he owes his career, he was also an outstanding athlete who also performed in other modalities such as baseball, cycling, swimming, gymnastics, and discus throwing among others, even participating in the Spanish Athletics Championships.[5]

His brother Pedro Sánchez de Neyra Castro, was one of the founders and the first president of the Spanish Football Federation in 1909 as well as the first president of the Spanish Velocipedism Federation in 1896.[6]

  1. ^ "Neyra, Antonio Sánchez de Neyra Castro - Footballer". www.bdfutbol.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  2. ^ Tomás Guasch (27 December 1992). "A Catalan founded Real Madrid". Mundo Deportivo. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Los 100 años del Real Madrid, uno a uno: 1902" [The 100 years of Real Madrid one by one: 1902] (in Spanish). Diario El Mundo. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  4. ^ "La primera junta directiva del Madrid Foot-ball Club" [The first Board of Directors of Madrid FC] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Fútbol y atletismo: una conexión evidente" [Soccer and athletics: an obvious connection] (PDF) (in Spanish). Real Federación Española de Atletismo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  6. ^ Juan Gutiérrez (13 November 2015). "La Federación Española de Ciclismo cumple... ¡120 años!" [The Spanish Cycling Federation turns... 120 years old!] (in Spanish). AS. Archived from the original on 6 December 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2022.