Fred Spiksley was a great player and coach and did well at Badalona FC, Spain in the early 1930s

 

Having won titles as a coach in Sweden, Mexico, America and Germany, Fred Spiksley coached briefly at Badalona, just outside Barcelona and did well.

The Club by The Coast

Coaching at Badalona FC

In 1903, four years after near neighbours Barcelona FC were formed in 1899, Badalona FC was founded. Now the third largest city in Catalonia, Badalona stands on the left bank of the Besos River and on the Mediterranean Sea. Playing near the beach, Badalona FC soon became known as The Club by the Coast.

In 1929 Badalona FC competed in two league competitions. Before Christmas there was the local Catalan Championship, which was more often than not won by Barcelona. Those clubs finishing in the top three, which had never previously included Badalona, would qualify for Spain’s most prestigious knockout competition, the Copa del Rey.

From late December Badalona would then compete in the newly-formed fourth tier of the Spanish National League. This offered the opportunity to work their way up to the recently-established La Liga. Here the familiar Spanish giants that we know today lay the foundations of what was to come and in 1930 Atletico Bilbao had just beaten Barcelona, the first winners, into second place to become the second La Liga Champions. With Barcelona located just 6 miles south, it’s easy to see why Badalona’s directors became ambitious to achieve greater success with their small club, and in 1930 they decided to invest in a world class coach.

That same year, the local professional basketball team, known initially as Penya Spirit of Badalona, was formed and which ever since has been one of the best sides in Spain. If the football club was to compete for local sports fans’ affections, then it would need to rise up the pyramid and play in a higher league. The club were ambitious with enthusiastic owners. They had sought to persuade Bilbao head coach Fred Pentland, who after a mixed career as a player went on to become a highly successful coach on the continent, to join them, but the Englishman chose to stay in the Basque country instead.

Barcelona head coach Jim Bellamy, who had earlier managed in Italy with Brescia, recommended that Badalona FC appoint another English coach in Fred Spiksley, who was then in his sixties. The Gainsborough man, who, of course, spoke Spanish as a result of his time in Mexico in the 1920s, arrived on an overnight train from France at Barcelona train station early on Wednesday, 2 July 1930.

A profile of what the former England international hoped to achieve appeared in the El Mundo Deportivo edition of 15 August 1930. The reporter had visited the ground, where football was played within the centre of a running track, to observe Spiksley taking a coaching session with the players.

Club president Mr Vea said that the players were on good salaries and it was hoped to play bigger clubs of international renown. He said of Spiksley ’I really like his training techniques and our players are amazed by him… he has a persuasive smoothness and is energetic at the same time in the way that he organises.’ There are comments about players dribbling around imaginary enemies, possibly posts stuck in angles in the ground.

Accompanied by Rosa, Fred, who was at pains to highlight how much the pair enjoyed swimming in the warm Mediterranean Sea, was later interviewed by Olle Bertran for the El Mundo Deportivo on 1 December 1930. This was one of four articles in the paper during Spiksley’s time in Catalonia. The coach explained that football in Spain was very different as ‘Here you play much faster. Good football is played on the ground and in short passes moving forward. Here you dribble with your legs, dribbling should be done with the body naturally and without exaggeration.’ Spiksley complained that the players did too much running that tired them out quickly.

He praised Barcelona, who had finished top of the recently-ended Catalan League, but he was disappointed that his new club had finished in third place, with Sadabell finishing in second after the latter won away against his side in a rough encounter. Spiksley was now hoping to do well in the upcoming Spanish Championship season.

In the 1930 Catalan football championship, which consisted of six clubs, Barcelona had won eight, drawn one and lost one of their ten matches. The solitary defeat by one goal to nil on 26 October 1930 was at Badalona, whose success was reported in the papers under the headline ‘In a splendid display of enthusiasm the Badalona gave the great surprise by beating the Champions.’ This was clearly no fluke as Badalona also drew 0-0 in a home friendly during the season with Real Madrid, whose team included Ricardo Zamora, often regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. The annual award for the best ‘keeper in La Liga, the Ricardo Zamora Trophy, is named in his honour. Amongst others, Zamora also played for Espanyol, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

In the National League, Badalona managed to beat Sadabell 4-1 at home and ended the season second out of six, behind Valencian side S. Sagunto. In the Copa Del Rey, Fred’s team were given a bye in round one and played Real Betis in round two, beating them 1-0 at home, but losing 2-0 away to go out 2-1 on aggregate. Real Betis, who won promotion from the Second Division at the end of the season, went on to reach the cup final, where they lost out to Pentland’s Atletico Bilbao side that also won La Liga.

It was clear that on its day, Badalona under Fred Spiksley was capable of competing with the bigger clubs, but this had come at a cost. One that meant the football club was unable to afford the wages of its players or coach and at the end of the season and with his squad dismantled, Spiksley headed for home on 25 May 1931.