Spanish Civil war refugees who became footballers

(Thank you to Amnesty International UK for information included in this handout)

In May 1937 around 4000 unaccompanied child refugees from the Spanish Civil War arrived in Southampton on a boat from Bilbao. Six of the boys went on to become footballers here, making them some the first refugees ever to do so.

Antonio/Tony Gallego signed for Norwich in 1947, making one appearance for the club.

Norwich City Football Club supports Amnesty International's footballwelcomes initiative

The EFL is proud to support Football Welcomes – a part of Amnesty International’s I Welcome campaign for a better international response to the global refugee crisis. The campaign encourages local communities to work together to create a more welcoming environment for people fleeing conflict and persecution.

Norwich City Football Club is proud to be one of many EFL clubs supporting Amnesty International’s Football Welcomes initiative, celebrating the contribution they made, and that refugees continue to make, to the game.

EIGHTY years ago, when General Franco ordered Nazi planes to drop 22 tons of explosives on Guernica during the Spanish Civil War - killing hundreds of civilians and leaving the historic Basque town in ruins - he committed an atrocity that would become an enduring symbol of the horrors of war, immortalised in Picasso’s painting Guernica.

Thousands fled the bombs raining down on the Basque Country, including nearly 4,000 children who arrived in Southampton from Bilbao on a recommissioned cruise ship a few weeks later. No-one knew it then, but six of the boys on the boat would become professional footballers in England, making them some of the first refugees to play in the English league – including Norwich City’s Antonio Gallego.

When news of what had happened in Guernica reached British newspapers, a public outcry convinced a reluctant Prime Minister – Stanley Baldwin – to finally offer the children to safe place to live and the chance to rebuild their lives in the UK. It was the British public too who then welcomed the children into communities all over the country. To help raise funds for their upkeep, the girls would put on performances of Basque dance, and the boys played football matches against other local teams.

The practice served them well. Emilio Aldecoa, who was 14 when he boarded the SS Habana in Bilbao, turned out to be a skilful left-winger. In 1943 and aged 20, he was spotted by a scout for Wolverhampton Wanderers. He proved to be an effective signing, finishing the season as Wolves’ top scorer, with 11 goals in 30 games. He moved to Coventry for two seasons in 1945, before returning to Spain to join Athletic Bilbao and then later, Barcelona. He played once for Spain, before coming back to the UK as assistant manager of Birmingham City in 1960.

Meanwhile, five others were making their way into the English game – Jose Bilbao joined Aldecoa at Coventry for the 1945-46 season, and Sabin Barinaga signed as a forward with Southampton’s reserves, before returning to Spain and Real Madrid, scoring the first ever goal in the newly-built Bernabeu stadium in December 1947. Raimundo Perez Lezama played in goal for Southampton, and Antonio Gallego took up the same position at City, making once appearance in 1947. His brother Jose, played on the wing for Brentford, Southampton, Colchester United and Cambridge United.

WolvesEmilio Aldecoa was probably the most successful of the Spanish refugee players, playing two seasons with Wolves 1943-45, before moving to Coventry and then back to Spain, signing for Bilbao, Real Valladolid and then Barcelona.http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/a-spanish-refugee-boy-78-years-ago-blazed-the-trail-for-david-silva-and-cesc-fabregas-10488958.htmlhttp://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/wolves-birmingham-city-star-emilio-7173150

BirminghamEmilio Aldecoa returned to the UK as assistant manager of Birmingham City 1960-1962.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Aldecoa

CoventryEmilio Aldecoa played for Coventry 1945-47 before returning to Spain to sign for Bilbaohttp://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/new-documentary-tells-child-refugee-7175387

SouthamptonSabin Barinaga (1938-39), Raimundo Perez Lezama (1939-40) and Jose Gallego (1948-50). When Sabin Barinaga returned to Spain he signed for Real Madrid and scored the first ever goal in the then-newly built Santiago Bernabeu stadium ina 3 –1 win over Portugal's C.F. Os Belenenses on 14 December 1947.

BrentfordJose/Joe Gallego played for them 1947-48, before moving on to Southampton.

ColchesterJose/Joe Gallego played for Colchester in 1950-52 before signing for Cambridge Utd.

Cambridge UnitedJose/Joe Gallego played for Cambridge United in 1952-57. His brother Antonio (Tony) Gallego played for Cambridge Town. There’s an interview here with Tony a couple of years before he died in 2015 – he talks about his brother and how much the family loved Cambridge.http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/05/22/inenglish/1337695459_091784.html

Jose Bilbao also played for Coventry at the same time https://theeelzine.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/basque-magic.pdfhttp://www.ccfpa.co.uk/?p=11205

Football Players who were refugees

Current - UK

Mario Vrancic – Norwich/BosniaVrančić was born in the city of Slavonski Brod in the former Yugoslavia on 23 May, 1989. When war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994, with Vrančić and his family were granted asylum in Germany. Aged just five at the time of moving to the country, Germany became 'home' to Vrančić, and he went on to represent the nation at a number of youth levels.

Interviewed for the Refugee 11 documentary while playing for SV Darmstadt 98, Vrancic said he had escaped thanks to his parents.

“After the collapse of Yugoslavia war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said. “My parents saw it coming, thank God. And that is why we came to Germany in 1994. Me, my mother and my brother.”

His father had made his way to Germany first, following a long tradition of guest workers from communist Yugoslavia. The country they left behind was shattered along new borders and ethnic lines.

The situation improved rapidly after the war. By 2002 the football league contained teams from all of Bosnia’s ethnic groups. Two years ago, Vrancic was able to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first time. At the time he spoke in German newspapers of his immense pride.

“No one would be happier than me to play for the national team because Bosnia and Herzegovina is my homeland,” he said. “Regardless of where I would live, that Bosnian spirit and pride is always in me.”

Dejan Lovren – Liverpool/CroatiaAt the outbreak of the Bosnian civil war, when widespread violence and brutal killings came to Dejan Lovren’s childhood village, he and his family fled, starting out on a 500-mile journey to Germany. Safe in Munich, Lovren learnt German, made friends and played in a small football club where his father was coach. However, after seven years, he and his family were told they would have to return to Croatia after their request for permission to stay longer was declined. Despite the difficulties caused by being uprooted once again, Lovren continued to play football for local teams, until he joined GNK Dinamo Zagreb in 2004, and his career as a footballer began.

Granit Xhaka - Arsenal/Switzerland Granit Xhaka was born in Switzerland after his mother and father, with the aid of Amnesty International, moved from the Kosovan capital of Pristina to Basel. His father had been imprisoned for three-and-a-half years after having been arrested for having campaigned against Serbian rule in the former Yugoslavia. Amnesty had taken up his case and ultimately helped to secure his release. He encouraged both his sons to play football, and by the age of four Granit registered with his older brother Taulant (see below) for FC Basel’s junior club.

Christian Benteke - Crystal Palace/BelgiumAt the age of three, Christian Benteke moved to Liège with his mother and father from his birthplace of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His father, who was in the military, had deemed the Mobutu regime too dangerous for his family.

Victor Moses – Chelsea/NigeriaMoses was just 11 when he arrived in England as an asylum seeker after both his mother and father were killed during religious clashes in Nigeria in 2002. He was placed with foster carers in south London, signed a schoolboy contract with Crystal Palace and graduated to their senior team, leaving in 2010 to join Wigan, before singing for Chelsea in 2012. He went on loan to Liverpool (2013-14) Stoke (2014-15) and West Ham (2015-16), and returned to Chelsea in 2017.

Xherdan Shaqiri - Stoke City/Switzerland – MidfielderXherdan moved to Switzerland as a toddler with his parents and three siblings to escape the violence of the Bosnian war. He began his career at FC Basel, and now plays on the Swiss national team and for Stoke City. He plays with three different flags on his boots: Albanian, Kosovar, and Swiss.

Saido Berahino – Stoke CityHaving fled his native Burundi as a child, where his father was killed in the Civil War, he received political asylum in Birmingham, where he claimed that his interest in football helped him integrate into English society. Has played for West Bromwich Albion, Northampton Town, Brentford and Peterborough United.‘I’ve been given a second chance in England. I’m so grateful for the support I’ve been given and the chance to turn your life around is something that every refugee deserves’

Asmir Begovic – Bournemouth/Bosnia Asmir Begović came to Germany, and then Canada as a four-year-old refugee from the war in the former Yugoslavia. He spent his formative years in Canada, where he made friends, took citizenship and as he made his way through the ranks, started to represent the national teams at a youth level.

Nadia Nadim – Manchester City Women/DenmarkOne of five sisters, Nadia was born and grew up in Afghanistan where her father, Rabani, was a general in the Afghan army. When she was 10 the Taliban summoned her father to a meeting. He was taken into the desert and executed. The family fled, first to Pakistan and then to Italy, where they boarded a lorry thinking the driver would take them to London, instead they were dropped in Denmark and sent to live in a refugee centre. Nadia started playing football in public and to train at a nearby club. She became the first naturalised Dane of either gender to win a cap, and will join Manchester City from US team Portland Thorns in January 2018.

Gaël Bigirimana (Burundi) – MotherwellGael Bigirimana came to England from Burundi in 2004 as a refugee, where on an errand to buy milk he spotted Coventry City Academy’s training facility. The next day, he went in and asked for a trial, much to the bemusement of the coaching staff. They said they would send a scout to watch him, but as he was running off to leave, the athleticism he displayed prompted a coach to stop him and ask him to come back the next day for a trial. He came back and they took him on for the rest of the season, and so began Gaël’s footballing career.

Alhassan ‘Al’ Bangura – Nuneaton TownAl Bangoura grew up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, but left the country when the death of his father would have obliged him by custom him to take his father’s place in the Poro Secret Society, something Bangoura was not happy with. At first he moved to Guinea, where he met a man who brought him to France, only to try and traffic him into prostitution. The same man brought him to the UK, where Bangoura escaped and went to Home Office to seek asylum. Here, his fortunes changed when he was scouted while playing football in a public park, where he played to stay fit. His flair for the sport soon saw him being introduced to the Watford Academy. He went on to captain the team and helped them win promotion to the Premiership in 2006.

Current - International

Steve Mandanda – Olympique de Marseille/FranceSteve Mandanda and his family were forced to leave their hometown of Kinshasa in former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo during the reign of Mobutu Sese Seko, and emigrated to Liege in Belgium. He moved back to Olympique Marseille in July 2017 after one season with Crystal Palace.

Taulant Xhaka – Basel/AlbaniaHis father had been imprisoned for three-and-a-half years after having been arrested for having campaigned against Serbian rule in the former Yugoslavia. Amnesty had taken up his case and ultimately helped to secure his release. He encouraged both his sons to play football, and Taulant registered with his younger brother, Granit (Arsenal/Switzerland), for FC Basel’s junior club

Valon Behrami - Udinense/Switzerland Valon Behrami moved to Switzerland with his family just before the Kosovan War started in earnest, but his parents had been forced to leave their jobs due to ethnic tensions and the future in his hometown of Mitrovice did not look bright. With help from the Swiss government, they settled in the Swiss-Italian border town of Stabio and started a new life. In 1996, when the Behrami family were facing the prospect of having to return home, a local petition started by Valon’s athletics club was circulated and one day at one of his matches, his father found himself standing next to a local politican, who after hearing the situation Valon and his family were in, fought for, and won their right to stay. Transferred from Watford to Udinense for the 2017-18 season.

Luka Modric - Real Madrid/Croatia Luka Modric was born in a remote Croatian village on the 9 September, 1985. Growing up during the outbreak of a gruesome civil war, Modric and his family fled their village, Modrići, after the murder of his grandfather and a series of death threats. The family ended up as refugees in the coastal town of Zadar. They were housed in a hotel just around the corner from NK Zadar's stadium, where Luka’s career as a footballer began.

Lorik Cana - Nantes and Albania At seven years old, Lorik Cana and his family left war torn Kosovo for Switzerland where they lived as refugees for eight years. Forbidden from leaving the country, not only was Cana separated from the rest of his family and friends, he was also unable to accept Arsène Wenger's invitation to take part in trials with Arsenal. Despite this missed opportunity, Cana went on to become a professional footballer, playing for Nantes and Albania.

Vedran Corluka - Lokomotiv Moscow/Croatia Defender Vedran Corluka was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1986. Corluka and his family relocated to Croatia in 1992 amid violent conflict across the region.

Former - UK

Eric Cantona – Leeds, Man Utd - grandparents were refugees from Spanish Civil War.Escaping the oppressive Franco regime, Cantona’s maternal grandparents journeyed across the Pyrenees on foot seeking refuge in France. This family history has made Cantona an advocate of welcoming refugees, and he’s paying for a house for refugees in Marseille.

Fabrice Muamba – Bolton Wanderers. One of England’s most capped players at Under-21 level, Fabrice Muamba was born in Democratic Republic of the Congo. and came to England in 1999 as a refugee. His father had been forced to leave in 1994 due to his political views, but in England Muamba and his family were reunited and granted indefinite leave to remain. Muamba settled in East London, attending school and making friends through playing football. He took his first steps in his career as a footballer playing for Arsenal’s Youth Academy, and went on to sign his first professional contract with them in 2005 at the age of 17.

Christopher Wreh Former Arsenal footballer and Liberian refugee Christopher Wreh left Liberia, aged 14, when a bloody civil war broke out in the 1990s, displacing more than 200,000 people. He joined Arsenal in 1997 and is the only Liberian national to have played in a Premier League winning team (1997-98).

Lauren – former Arsenal/PortsmouthLauren’s family fled to Cameroon just before he was born in 1997 to escape the Macías regime in Equatorial Guinea. They stayed there for three years before moving to Montequito, Spain, where his father got a job with the local government and started a new life. Lauren began playing for the local team, scoring 56 goals in the season and ultimately being signed by Sevilla and later joining Arsenal.

Tresor LuaLua - Colchester United, Newcastle United and Portsmouth. Tresor was born in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, and moved to England with his father when he was nine as an asylum seeker. He and his father were held in a detention centre for two months before leaving to live with Tresor’s aunt in East London. In sixth-form he played for his school’s team, where he was spotted by a Colchester United scout who invited him for a trial. He was subsequently signed by the club, and went on to play for Newcastle United and Portsmouth.

Lacine Cherif - Rangers.Lacine fled from the bloody civil war in the Ivory Coast when he was just 12. The conflict began in 2002 between the government in the South and rebel forces in the North. Thousands of civilians have been killed and many children were forced to join the armed rebels. When the rebels tried to snatch Cherif, his father tried to protect him, and as a result was murdered in front of Cherif. He escaped, arrived in Glasgow at the age of 12 not knowing where he was, and without family. However, he was signed for Rangers under-19s squad and later for Kilmarnock. In 2008, the Red Cross helped him find his mother.

Calvin Zola – Newcastle, Oldham, Crewe among othersCalvin Zola-Makongo fled the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo with his mother in 1999 and was granted asylum in Britain.

Liban Abdi – Sheffield UtdLiban Abdi is thought to have been the first Somali to become a professional footballer in England when he signed for Sheffield United in 2006. He was born in Burao, Somalia and spent the majority of his childhood in Oslo. He moved to England with his family at the age of 14 and joined Sheffield United’s youth academy soon after arrival. After some time with non-league clubs he was scouted by United when with the help of the Football Unites, Racism Divides programme he moved to Sheffield.

Shefki Kuqi (Vuˇcitrn, Kosovo) – Oldham, NewcastleShefki Kuqi grew up in Kosovo when it was part of the former Yugoslavia. At the age of 12, his family moved to Finland to escape the conflict between Serbs and Kosovans. With the backdrop of growing ethnic tensions, when Kuqi’s brother turned 16 and was due to be called for his military service his family decided to leave. After a tense journey through Yugoslavia, they made it to Finland where they spent some time in refugee camps before being reunited with their father, who had gone ahead of them. Shefki joined a local football club Ka-Pa51 and went on to play with English clubs later in his life.

Pedram Ardallany (Tehran, Iran) – CelticArdallany is a midfielder from Tehran, Iran. Born in 1989, political tensions caused him to flee Iran with his father when he was 15, and does not like to go into any more detail about what forced them to leave his mother and sister. They arrived in Britain speaking no English and were sent to live in Glasgow while their claim for asylum was being considered. In Scotland, he was spotted by Celtic while playing for Greenview in the Strathclyde Evangelical Churches Football League. Celtic offered him a contract, but he did not have the necessary work permit at the time. Then in 2007, after months of lobbying, he was granted a work permit by the Home Office. Speaking to the Telegraph, Ardallany said that “football has been a great way for me to integrate into Scottish life. It is a universal language that people speak all over the world, no matter where they are from”.

Mario Stanic –Former Chelsea midfielderStanić played for Sarajevo F.C. who were targeted during the Bosnian War. He was considered to be one of the most talented young players in former Yugoslavia, but fled in 1992 to escape the war. After moving around for a while, went to Italy where he played for Parma for four seasons, and then eventually moved to the UK in 2000 when transferred to Chelsea.