Manager in Spain
In 1920 Pentland joined Racing de Santander but after one season he was poached by Athletic Bilbao. He revolutionised the way Athletic played, favouring the short-passing game and in 1923 he led the club to victory in the Copa del Rey. However in 1925 he left Athletic and went onto coach Athletic Madrid, leading them to the Copa final in 1926. He then left the Madrid club for one season and coached Real Oviedo. In 1927 he returned to Athletic Madrid and guided them to victory in the Campeonato del Centro. He was also manager at the Madrid side during the inaugural La Liga season. In May 1929 he helped coach Spain (under manager José María Mateos) when they beat England 4-3 at Athletic Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium. As a result Spain became the first non-British team to beat England.
In 1929 Pentland rejoined Athletic Bilbao. He subsequently led them to La Liga/Copa del Rey doubles in 1930 and 1931. He also guided the club as they won the Copa del Rey four times in a row between 1930 and 1933 and finished as La Liga runners-up in 1932 and 1933. Pentland’s Athletic were notable for their prolific goalscorers including Bata and Guillermo Gorostiza. In 1931 he also masterminded Athletic’s 12-1 victory over FC Barcelona, the latter’s worst ever defeat. In 1933 he joined Athletic Madrid for a third time but returned to England at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
Read more about this topic: Fred Pentland
Famous quotes containing the word manager:
“I knew a gentleman who was so good a manager of his time that he would not even lose that small portion of it which the calls of nature obliged him to pass in the necessary-house, but gradually went through all the Latin poets in those moments. He bought, for example, a common edition of Horace, of which he tore off gradually a couple of pages, read them first, and then sent them down as a sacrifice to Cloacina: this was so much time fairly gained.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)